Open/Entire Community

Join us next spring at the ACS Spring 2024 Meeting & Expo from March 17th - March 21st in New Orleans, LA, USA & Hybrid. ACS Meetings & Expositions are where chemistry professionals meet to share ideas and advance scientific and technical knowledge. By attracting thousands of chemical professionals, the meetings provide excellent opportunities for sharing your passion for chemistry, connecting with one of the world’s largest scientific societies, and advancing your career in this ever-changing global economy.

Beyond Benign Presentations:

Sunday, March 17th

• Dr. Juliana Vidal, Presenter; Dr. Amy Cannon, Dr. Natalie J O’Neil, Dr. Nimrat Obhi
  • Green Chemistry Commitment: A pathway for achieving the new ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs 
  • 10:00 AM (CST) – 10:20 AM (CST) Hall B, Room 6
• Dr. Jonathon Moir, Presenter; Dr. Amy Cannon
  • Using the newly launched Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community (GCTLC) platform to address the updated ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs
  • 4:55 PM (CST) – 5:15 PM (CST) Hall B, Room 6
• Dr. Amy Cannon, Presenter
  • Turning Passion for Sustainability into a Career in Green Chemistry Education
  • 2:20 PM (CST) – 2:35 PM (CST) Great Hall, B/C

Monday, March 18th

• Dr. Nimrat Obhi, Presenter; Dr. Natalie J O’Neil, Dr. Juliana Vidal, Dr. Amy Cannon
  • Green Chemistry Education: A Key Tool for Environmental Justice
  • 04:50 PM (CST) – 05:10 PM (CST)

Tuesday, March 19th

• Dr. Monica Nyansa, Prenter & Session Presider
  •  Student-led Community Engagement in Action
  • 3:20 PM (CST) – 3:40 PM (CST) Room 224

Beyond Benign Booth  #3231 Activities Schedule:

Come see us at booth #3231! Expo hours are 11 AM (CST) - 5 PM (CST) Monday (03/18) - Tuesday (03/19), and ends on Wednesday (03/20) at 2 PM.

Daily Raffle

(all day during expo hours)

When you come visit our booth and have your conference ID scanned, you will be entered into a raffle for a signed copy of Green Chemistry by John Warner and Paul Anastas. Winners will be announced daily during the final hour of the expo. If you are unable to retrieve your prize, it will be given to a runner up.

Meet the Expert with John Warner

(03/18 4-5 PM CST & 03/19; 12-1 PM CST)

Our co-founder, Dr. John Warner, will be visiting our booth to mingle with community members on Monday and Tuesday from 12 PM - 1 PM. Stop by to ask questions, or just to chat! See you there.

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control's Safer Consumer Products Program is hosting an Open House event via Zoom to provide information about the SCP Program, our work culture, benefits, the state hiring process, and more. This is particularly timely given that we have two current openings for Senior Environmental Scientists (see job opportunities page) and will have supervisory-level scientist and engineer positions coming soon. 

Sustainable action begins with a conversation! Join CHEMRAWN, IUPAC, and Beyond Benign for a Global Conversation about Sustainability around e-waste management! During this 60 min event, you will hear from several approaches developed by the education community in Brazil to achieve a more sustainable future. Guest Speakers: - Cintia Milagre, Associate Professor, Institute of Chemistry - Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) - Marcela Cordeiro Cavalcante de Oliveira, Graduate of the Professional Master's Degree in Chemistry on a National Network - PROFQUI - Chemistry Department - UFRPE - Karen Ouverney dos Santos, High School Chemistry Teacher and her students at Colégio Talentos Internacional Moderators: - Francesca Kerton, Professor, Memorial University of Newfoundland - Juliana Vidal, Program Manager, Beyond Benign This meeting is free to attend wherever you are, and will be recorded and further shared with participants. We are looking forward to beginning and continuing this conversation with you! #GCSDay #Sustain4All

Join the Chief Editor of the newly launched Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community (GCTLC) platform for the first ever 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. 

To accommodate various time zones, there will be two dates and times to participate in this event!

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! 

All are welcome and encouraged to sign up for a GCTLC user account ahead of time. Have questions about signing up? Come without an account and we can create one together!

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

Happy hacking! To register, visit the link below.

The GCTLC team is now doing regular virtual drop-in office hours. If you have questions for the Chief Editor, Chief Moderator, or administrators about any of the following:

• GCTLC library or review process
• help with submitting resources to the library
• moderation and training for moderators
• posting in forums
• creating and moderating groups
• or even just how to get started!

you can always drop in and ask us! The Zoom link is provided below and is also available in the Guidelines for Submission and Review of Learning Objects on the GCTLC.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88282251706?pwd=Kzdqa2FtZUFoRk1HVVVRSk5kWFU4Zz09 

Meeting ID: 882 8225 1706

Passcode: 032096

A one-day Youth Forum will be hosted in Bonn (Germany at the eagerly anticipated Fifth Session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM5). Sessions will include four thematic panel presentations, a moderated intergenerational dialogue between youth and key decision-makers, and the official launch of the “Global Youth Declaration on Chemicals and Waste.”

The Youth Forum at ICCM5 will mark a historic moment for the UN and governments to hear directly from children and young people about their needs and priorities for the future of chemicals governance. Young people want to see targeted policies and programmes developed that will specifically address youth/children’s environmental health, rights, and justice in the context of chemical exposures, monitoring and risk assessments. Come join us at the Youth Forum!

Featured Panel

Educational Needs for the Transition to a Green and Sustainable Chemistry Revolution 

11:30AM-12:20PM CET

With Dr. Juliana Vidal, Higher Education Program Manager at Beyond Benign

Official Session Description:

“Remember, please remember reinforcements are on the way – they’re sitting in lecture halls now, venturing into the field for the very first time, writing theses, leading marches, organizing communities, learning to turn passion into progress, potential into power.” – Harrison Ford

With ambition high to complete the final stages of negotiations and deliver a new, effective global chemicals management framework at ICCM5, the imminent focus will soon shift to implementation. How do we couple the goals of SAICM Beyond 2020 with transformations in chemistry education already underway, that will empower current and future chemists with the skills to put sustainability and safety at the center of their work – from research, to industry, to start-up initiatives? Moreover, how can we strengthen the role of academia in capacity-building efforts for chemicals management across countries and regions?

In this session, a panel comprising young professionals/scientists, chemistry students, and representatives of institutions who are building resources and increasing access for students in green chemistry education, will reflect on the challenges and opportunities in educational systems “meeting the moment.”

Event Details

• Who: Youth, Governments, Industry, Scientists
• When: September 25th-29th
• Where:World Conference Center Bonn (WCCB)

Official Event Description:

The Dwain L Ford Lecture Series is co-sponsored by the Chemistry Honors Society, Andrews University Office of Research & Creative Scholarship, and Andrews University Community Engagement Council. It seeks to bring community relevant science to professionals, nonprofessionals, scientists, nonscientists, students and the general public.

Green Chemistry: The Missing Elements

Join us on Thursday, October 12th, for a lecture given by Beyond Benign Co-Founder and Board Member, Dr. John Warner. More information about this free, hybrid event is forthcoming!

Event Details

• Who: Open/Entire Community
• When: October 12th at 4:30 PM
• How: Find Zoom information here, or attend in-person at Andrews University

Join us at this year's online Commonwealth Chemistry Posters!

A unique opportunity awaits you at this year’s online 4th Commonwealth Chemistry Posters, the only virtual chemistry posters event that is delivered by and for Commonwealth countries, to bring together chemists from across the Commonwealth working on similar and complementary challenges to tackle the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Do you want to connect with other chemists working in similar areas and facing similar challenges? Would you like to grow your networks and seek new connections and collaborations? Then join us for our 4th annual online poster event.

If you are an early career chemist, you will also have the opportunity to present a poster of your work to a wider audience – a potential springboard to new opportunities and collaborations. If you want to present a poster, submit your abstract by 14 September.

Early career chemists:

• Present a poster of your work to scientists from across the Commonwealth and reach a wider audience. You could also win a ‘best poster’ prize and be featured the commonwealth chemistry website
• Discuss your work with those who may be addressing the same sustainable development goals, share methodologies and challenges
• Grow your network and the potential for new collaborations at a critical time in your career

For established chemists:

• Expand your networks and discover new talent in your field
• Find out about research taking place around the Commonwealth, related to your area of interest
• Seek out potential new collaborations
• Help guide early career chemists by sharing your knowledge and experience

This event is free to attend and will take place in three two-hour sessions over 36 hours. All participants should attend two of the three sessions in order to maximise their networking opportunities with chemists from different countries. There will also be an opening ceremony.

Please note that Commonwealth Chemistry Posters is only open to those currently residing in a Commonwealth country, or those who are Commonwealth nationals.

For more information and registration, visit the official event site, linked here.

A Systemic Change for Addressing the UN SDGs: The Green Chemistry Commitment.

Dr. Juliana Vidal, Program Manager, Higher Education

Dr. Vidal's poster will present the ways in which Beyond Benign's Green Chemistry Commitment connects to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

From the abstract: In this poster, insights into the GCC program and green chemistry adoption around the world will be discussed, as well as the benefits of implementing green chemistry principles and practices in chemistry education towards the achievement of a sustainable future. 

The Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community (GCTLC): Fostering transformative change in STEM education for a sustainable future

Dr. Jonathon Moir, Senior Program Manager, Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community and Dr. Amy Canon, Co-Founder and Executive Director

From the abstract: Developed in partnership with the ACS Green Chemistry Institute, the GCTLC is a new online community platform where teachers and faculty educators at all levels (from elementary school through to university/college) can collaborate and share their knowledge and best practices around bringing green chemistry into the classroom. Community members can access a searchable library of community-contributed green chemistry educational materials on the GCTLC (including alternative greener lab experiments, in-class activities, lecture slides, and more). The platform also includes forum spaces to discuss the latest resources, give and receive mentorship, and discuss challenges and opportunities in reforming chemistry education with a focus on sustainability and green chemistry. This presentation will highlight work over the past two and a half years in developing the site as well as some of the principal features of the platform. 

Join a worldwide discussion of our environmental issues and how to achieve a more sustainable future on September 25th! The Global Conversation on Sustainability (GCS) is a project organized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the International Younger Chemists Network to connect scientists around the world, engage young researchers, and inspire our whole society to take action and address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals!

Sustainable action begins with a conversation, so invite your institution and organize your event! More information about the GCS project, important resources for initiating the discussion, and guidelines on organizing your own Conversation on Sustainability can be found here!

#Sustain4All

• Who: Open/Entire Community
• When: September 25th
• How: Find out here.

This premier conference is convened by the ACS Green Chemistry Institute to advance green chemistry and engineering through scientific exchange, professional development opportunities, and community networking. The conference starts with a day of workshops on Sunday, June 2 and the GC&E Awards Ceremony Dinner on Sunday night. The technical sessions kick off Monday morning. 

The Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference (GC&E) holds around 42 technical sessions covering a wide variety of research areas and industrial applications. This year, the conference explores the forefront of technology with its theme, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Enabled Green Chemistry.

Chemistry education sessions and workshops are a central part of the conference.

Key Dates:

• Call for Abstracts is open through February 12. 
• Early registration opens February 14 and runs through April 30. 

Beyond Benign Talks:

Teaching Green Chemistry: Systems Thinking, Assessments, and Curricular Design

Use of ChemForward for Chemical hazard evaluation and assessment in academic settings (30 mins) during the Teaching Green Chemistry: Systems Thinking, Assessments, and Curricular Design

8:00am - 5:00opm - June 2, 2024 | Room: Maplewood Room (A&B)

Monica Mame Soma Nyansa, Cynthia Woodbridge

Exploring and championing professional education in Green Chemistry and Toxicology

04:25pm - 04:45pm EDT - June 4, 2024 | Room: Ravinia Ballroom (DEFG) (Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia)
Monica Mame Soma Nyansa, Presenter; Natalie O'Neil; Amy Cannon

Reimagining chemistry education: The green chemistry commitment at Beyond Benign

05:05pm - 07:05pm EDT - June 4, 2024 | Room: Ravinia Ballroom (ABC)

Juliana Vidal, Presenter; Natalie O'Neil; Amy Cannon

Utilizing Drupal and CiviCRM to optimize an open-access database of green chemistry educational materials on the new GCTLC platform

10:15am - 10:35am EDT - June 5, 2024 | Room: Camellia (Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia)

Jonathon Moir, Presenter; Sarah Prescott; Nimrat Obhi; Amy Cannon

Uniting and engaging a diverse, global community of green chemistry educators and practitioners through a virtual open-access platform

10:35am - 10:55am EDT - June 5, 2024 | Room: Camellia (Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia)

Nimrat Obhi, Presenter; Jonathon Moir; Sarah Prescott; Amy Cannon