Open/Entire Community

The Institute of Chemistry Ireland (ICI) is delighted and honoured to be organising the 9th EuChemS Chemistry Congress (ECC-9), to be held in Dublin, Ireland, from 7th – 11th July, 2024.

The 9^th EuChemS Chemistry Congress will have an exciting scientific programme with world-leading plenary speakers, invited speakers and short oral presentations, supplemented with a series of poster presentations, focused around eight scientific themes:

• Advances in Synthetic Organic Chemistry (including Asymmetric Methodology, Inorganic Methodology, Green Synthetic Methodologies)
• Catalysis (including Organometallic Catalysis, Organocatalysis, Biocatalysis, Photoredox Catalysis, Electrocatalysis)
• Chemistry Meets Biology For Health (including Medicinal, Bioinorganic, Bioorganometallic, Radiochemistry, Food and Nutrition)
• Education, History, Cultural Heritage, and Ethics in Chemistry
• Energy, Environment and Sustainability (including Emerging Sustainable Chemistry, Technologies, Biomass Valorisation, Green Synthetic Methodologies, Circular Bioeconomy, Food)
• Nanochemistry/Materials (including Organic and Inorganic, Material Science, Devices, Circuits, Systems, Neuromorphic Networks, and Bio-Inspired Computing)
• Physical, Analytical and Computational Chemistry (including Physical chemistry of materials, Advances in physical chemistry and new techniques, New analytical methodologies and applications, Sensors, Theory and applications of computational chemistry and Machine Learning/AI)
• Supramolecular Chemistry (including Chirality, Molecular Machines, Dissipative Systems, MOFs, Molecular Nanotopology, Sensors, Metallo-Supramolecular Chemistry, Molecular Logic, Host-Guest Chemistry, Self-Assembly Materials and Higher Order Structures)

The programme will feature dedicated sessions organised by the EuChemS European Young Chemists´ Network of EuChemS (EYCN) and the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland (ICI), and will be completed by a series of joint seminars and mini-symposia on:

• New strategies and requirements for analytical chemistry in environmental assessment
• Homogeneous catalysis and applications in synthesis
• Recent advances in pharmaceutical chemistry and manufacturing

This Congress is the 9th in a series that started in Budapest in 2006, and since then has been held in several cities across Europe before reaching Dublin. The EuChemS Congresses are noted for their excellent scientific level, and have a reputation for giving all the attendees and participants the opportunity to listen to and interact with some of the most celebrated researchers in the world.

We look forward to welcoming you in Dublin in 2024!

My Green Lab's annual virtual summit is back in 2024. This year's event will unveil new tools and program updates, emphasizing the importance of continuous improvement based on the input of our expert stakeholder community. As the green lab movement grows and matures, the need for better data, tools, and third-party verification is crucial. Join us as we reshape the future of sustainable laboratory practices worldwide.

The full schedule is available below:

Registration for the summit is now open as well! We are glad to make the summit available for free for our non-commercial community members. Don't forget to register for the summit here.

The American Chemical Society invites your participation in the ACS Fall 2024 conference in Denver, Colorado August 18-22, 2024. The conference theme is Elevating Chemistry. Registration and housing open in May. 

In June 2023 AASHE piloted the first Sustainability Education Forum. Over 140 registrants from 13 countries across five continents came together to discuss and listen about the challenges and opportunities for sustainability education. Attendees felt that the event facilitated “inspiring, engaging, and meaningful discussions,” provided “a very holistic way of structuring learning and sharing,” and fostered “an inspirational sense of community.” Read more about the 2023 event in this article and these testimonials.

We’d like to build upon that experience and invite you to join the Sustainability Education Forum 2024 on June 6 & 7! Let’s come together, share our expertise and co-create our emerging future. What and how do we teach students given the urgency of the times? How do we “fall-forward” on issues related to sustainability teaching and learning in higher education? Let’s use this opportunity to listen and speak about the issues that matter to interdisciplinary sustainability educators.
 

Are higher education institutions simply reverting to how things were done pre-pandemic or can we use this opportunity to truly redesign systems? New and different voices need to be heard and conversations need to catalyze actionable change. On June 6 and 7, let’s talk with each other, think with each other and respectfully challenge each other’s ideas in order to advance sustainability education across the curriculum.

The Sustainability Education Forum (SEF) will provide space to explore these possibilities and more. Per the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a forum is “a public meeting place for open discussion” and this is what the SEF offers – a space for authentic conversations, where we can engage as a community and with each other. Throughout the SEF, you will have plenty of chances to exchange ideas and make new professional connections, while gaining inspiration and an opportunity to recharge your own efforts. 

Intended Audience
 

This is the event to attend if you’re:

• a faculty in any discipline who is engaged with sustainability education
• interested in or just starting incorporating sustainability literacy in your courses
• considering building a sustainability curriculum development program at your institution
• new or a veteran at building sustainability across the curriculum programs
• involved with sustainability-degree programs
• a sustainability staff who is involved with curriculum initiatives
• an instructional designer supporting faculty incorporating sustainability in their courses
• anyone interested in sustainability education and research at higher education institutions.

At this event, you will connect with others who approach their work with the same sense of urgency that you do. It is these types of connections that serve us throughout the years; they make the hard times manageable and the good times fun. Join us and let’s make some good times — together!

Event Dates: The SEF will take place on Thursday, June 6 and Friday, June 7 spanning multiple timezones. See tentative schedule.

In partnership with Habitable we are thrilled to share this invitation to our undergraduate student-led webinar presentation on safer alternatives to hazardous chemicals found in building insulation. With the support of many partners and collaborators, these students spent the semester learning about green chemistry, hazard assessment, environmental justice impact, chemicals policy, and technical performance metrics in order to create products that are safer for humans and the environment. Come learn from them and celebrate their hard work this semester!

This webinar is free and open to anyone to join. Visit the following Zoom link at the date and time of the event to join: https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/93812801092

And use the passcode: CHEM171

Discover the latest addition to the 4-H STEM Curriculum for Grades 9-12: Sustainable Polymers: Confronting the Plastic Crisis. This curriculum was created in partnership with the CSP and is designed to engage youth in understanding and addressing the environmental impacts of plastic waste.

Webinar Details:

#1: May 15, 2024

10am PDT | 11am MDT | 12pm CDT | 1pm EDT

Register at https://bit.ly/Polymer1 

#2: May 23, 2024

9am PDT | 10am MDT | 11am CDT | 12pm EDT

Register at https://bit.ly/Polymer2 

Share your photos for a chance to win $100 and a Beyond Benign t-shirt!

As part of the green chemistry education community, you’re doing amazing things in your classrooms, labs, and communities all the time. We want the world to be able to take a behind-the-scenes look at what makes your green chemistry work exciting and special!

From now until April 24, share your photos for a chance to win $100, a Beyond Benign t-shirt, and a special feature in an upcoming Beyond Benign article and newsletter.

Not sure what to submit? We’re looking for photos of you and your community in action. Show us your classroom working on a green chem project or your peers running experiments in the lab. Think about ways to show our community what it means to be an active part of green chemistry education.

Poor indoor air quality poses a significant threat to human health, with various construction products such as paint, furniture, wood flooring and carpets being potential contributors to unhealthy indoor air. These materials often release harmful chemicals into the environment, posing risks to occupants over an extended period after installation. The resultant health issues are diverse and underscore the multifaceted impact on individuals within built environments.

Addressing these risks necessitates a strategic shift towards the utilization of soy and other bio based building materials, which not only enhance indoor air quality but also align with sustainable practices. Biobased materials offer a myriad of advantages, including a reduced carbon footprint, lower volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, and improved performance compared to their petrochemical-based counterparts. Beyond their environmental benefits, these renewable and low-toxicity materials actively contribute to meeting compliance standards, such as the International Green Construction Code and the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification system.

Abstract: 

Green chemistry is an upstream, preventative approach that can address global sustainability challenges, including fulfilling the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (U.N. SDGs). Green chemistry is not a discrete field of chemistry but rather a framework grounded in twelve principles that teaches chemists to “reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture, and application of chemical products”. Green chemistry can help practising chemists undertake research and product design more efficiently, safely, and with fewer environmental and human health impacts. Currently, green chemistry is not taught ubiquitously in schools and university programs globally, despite being an essential framework. However, the green chemistry educational community has been growing rapidly and its importance is becoming more widely recognized. This is exemplified in the recently updated American Chemical Society (ACS) Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs, which now require undergraduate students to have a working knowledge of green chemistry and the twelve principles that underpin it upon graduation from an accredited program.

To help schools to achieve these transformations and shift how chemistry is taught, Beyond Benign—a registered 501(c)3 non-profit based in the U.S. —supports educators (including higher education faculty and K-12 teachers) to teach chemistry through the lens of green chemistry. Our programs provide opportunities for peer-to-peer networking and mentorship for educators, access to freely available curriculum resources (including greener lab experiments, lesson plans, modules, and more), access to grants and professional development opportunities, and more. Beyond Benign recently launched the Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community (GCTLC) in partnership with the ACS Green Chemistry Institute. The GCTLC is a virtual platform that provides a one-stop shop for all things green chemistry education. Users can search for and find other users and community members from across the world, post questions and share information in forums, search the community events calendar, find green chemistry job opportunities, contribute to the GCTLC’s searchable library of open-access resources, and more.

This presentation will provide an overview of Beyond Benign’s programs and in particular a discussion of the newly launched GCTLC platform. Our approach to creating an inclusive and welcoming space that fosters a sense of belonging will be emphasized. Ultimately, we will discuss how the GCTLC creates opportunities for ongoing engagement through a global community of practice for green chemistry education.

Biographies: 

Dr. Jonathon Moir (left) completed his B.Sc.H. at Queen’s University in 2010 (Chemistry, minor in Physics) and his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto in 2016 in Inorganic Chemistry where his research focused on the synthesis and development of nanostructured metal oxide semiconductor thin films for photoelectrochemical applications. During his doctoral studies, Jonathon was a founding member of the Green Chemistry Initiative (GCI), a group of graduate students dedicated to promoting green chemistry principles and practices within the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto. In addition to co-leading numerous initiatives, Jonathon redeveloped a third-year undergraduate organic chemistry lab in collaboration with Professor Andy Dicks to include more concepts related to green chemistry, and later attended the ACS Green Chemistry Summer School in 2016. Following graduate school, Jonathon transitioned to the not-for-profit sector, where he has helped manage and support the development of international, interdisciplinary research programs, scientific projects, workshops and symposia as well as a national scholarship program in Canada for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. He is currently the Senior Program Manager at Beyond Benign for the Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community (GCTLC) platform and lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Dr. Nimrat Kaur Obhi (right) is from Ottawa, Canada and obtained their HBSc in Biomedical Sciences (Medicinal Chemistry) at the University of Ottawa in 2014. They completed their PhD in chemistry at the University of Toronto in 2020, where their research focused on the synthesis and investigation of carbon-based semiconducting polymers with complex architectures for electronic applications. During this time, Nimrat also completed a Chemistry Teaching Fellowship Award to design and implement a green chemistry course module into an upper-year chemistry course at the University of Toronto. They are committed to justice, equity, and diversity and have worked with local and national teams on advocacy and policy initiatives since 2014. Nimrat joined Beyond Benign as a Higher Education Program Manager in 2021 where their past work includes open-access curriculum development and supporting green chemistry education at Minority Serving Institutions. Currently, Nimrat is a Program Manager for the Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community (GCTLC), where they develop community engagement and equity and justice initiatives for the platform.  Nimrat currently lives in Ottawa, Ontario, and outside of work they are an avid skier, cook, outdoor sports enthusiast, swimmer, stationery lover, and bookbinder.

This webinar is a certified green event by the University of Illinois' Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment. 

Join the Chief Editor of the Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community (GCTLC) platform for a GCTLC Resource Hackathon! We’re calling all community members to join us for a virtual get-together to populate and expand the GCTLC’s library of green chemistry curriculum materials and resources.

Bring your favorite resources including:

• greener lab experiments
• published journal articles
• green chemistry textbooks
• tools (e.g., metrics calculators)
• websites
• and more!

Our team members will give you a step-by-step walkthrough of the upload process for submitting to the GCTLC. Don’t have a favorite resource in mind? Fear not! We will provide a list of Beyond Benign resources you can use to help in our library build-out!

We invite you to share this event with your friends and colleagues, the more the merrier!

Happy hacking!