It’s that time of year again! We are proud (and excited) to announce the projects selected to receive funding through the 2025 Green Chemistry Education Challenge Awards, sponsored by Dow. Congratulations to the winners!

The Green Chemistry Education Challenge Awards provide financial support for the integration of green chemistry education into courses and curricula. Award winners receive funding to support work to:

• Increase the awareness of green chemistry and the GCC program across the chemistry department and institution.
• Increase awareness of the institution’s dedication to green chemistry education through conference attendance, webinars, publications, social media campaigns, and other opportunities.
• Transform curriculum and lab procedures to achieve the GCC’s Green Chemistry Student Learning Objectives. The objectives aim to provide all chemistry graduates with proficiency in essential green chemistry competencies of Theory, Toxicology, Application, and Laboratory skills.

A new round of Green Chemistry Education Challenge Awards will be open soon. Keep an eye on our awards page to learn more, and subscribe to our newsletter for updates!

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Depaul University

Project Lead: Dr. Kyle Grice

A team of faculty and staff at Depaul University led by Dr. Kyle Grice is pursuing a redesign of their undergraduate organic, inorganic, and biochemistry labs– eliminating dichloromethane (DCM) and incorporating innovative and sustainable practices. The project will align lab experiments with green chemistry principles by reducing hazardous chemicals, solvent use, waste, and energy-intensive procedures. Undergraduate students will test redesigned labs to ensure they are practical and safer, with implementation planned for the 2025–2026 academic year. The initiative will impact over 270 students annually and engage faculty and staff in promoting a long-term shift toward greener, more environmentally responsible chemistry education.

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Hofstra University

Project Lead: Dr. Yalan Xing

Faculty and staff from Hofstra University will be supported in their plan to launch a one-week summer workshop introducing underrepresented high school students to green chemistry. Through the university’s Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) the workshop will feature hands-on experiments, lectures, and mentorship from faculty and undergraduate students. Students will enrich their understanding of sustainability topics like atom economy, pollution prevention, and energy efficiency. With support for transportation, meals, and materials, the program will directly engage 10 students and indirectly benefit over 200, aiming to inspire future STEM careers and foster environmental responsibility in the next generation of scientists.

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Leuphana University

Project Lead: Prof. Dr. Dr. Vânia Zuin Zeidler

Alongside a team of faculty and staff, Prof. Dr. Vânia Zuin Zeidler of Leuphana University has received a Green Chemistry Education Challenge Award to embed green chemistry into the core curriculum of the university’s Sustainability and Environmental Science programs. The project will address current curriculum gaps by developing and implementing new teaching modules and laboratory experiments aligned with green chemistry principles, reaching approximately 200 students per semester. It will also incorporate digital tools for assessment and interactive learning, while engaging faculty and staff to build institutional support for sustainable chemistry education. The initiative aims to transform how chemistry is taught in environmental programs and share outcomes through publications, the GCTLC platform, and international networks, helping to establish green chemistry as a central pillar of sustainability education at Leuphana and beyond.

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University of Toronto

Project Lead: Dr. John De Backere

Dr. John De Backere and colleagues at the University of Toronto have received a Green Chemistry Education Challenge Award to host a two-day workshop in July 2026 for 30 Greater Toronto Area high school chemistry teachers. The workshop aims to equip educators with practical tools to incorporate green chemistry principles into their Grade 12 classrooms, aligning with Ontario curriculum standards and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Participants will attend seminars and hands-on labs led by university faculty, experienced teachers, and a Beyond Benign representative, fostering curriculum renewal and long-term mentorship connections. The initiative emphasizes accessibility by offering the program at no cost and is supported by both the Department of Chemistry and external funding.

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University of Victoria

Project Lead: Dr. Michelle Mills

Led by Dr. Michelle Mills, the University of Victoria’s (UVic, BC, Canada) Department of 

Chemistry is a recipient of the Green Chemistry Education Challenge Award for its initiative to embed green chemistry principles throughout its laboratory curriculum. With a goal of creating a comprehensive, scaffolded lab experience aligned with the Green Chemistry Commitment’s Student Learning Objectives, this project targets both first-year general and second-year organic chemistry courses—impacting over 1,700 students annually. The grant enables the development of new, focused experiments and the greening of existing labs through the   dedicated work of a graduate RA/TA and undergraduate researchers. This collaborative effort will enhance student proficiency in sustainable lab practices while cultivating future green chemistry leaders. UVic’s commitment to environmental responsibility, combined with institutional support and a strong team of educators and student leaders like Georgia Douglas, positions this project to serve as a model for sustainable curriculum transformation.

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West Virginia State University

Project Lead: Dr. Micheal Fultz

Dr. Micheal Fultz and Robert Morris, of West Virginia State University have been awarded the Green Chemistry Education Challenge Award to modernize their organic chemistry lab curriculum through the integration of greener, safer, and more sustainable laboratory experiments. With a focus on replacing traditional Diels-Alder and Fischer Esterification experiments with microwave-assisted versions, this project emphasizes key green chemistry principles such as energy efficiency, the use of safer solvents, and renewable feedstocks. The grant supports the purchase of a vented microwave reactor and necessary reagents, enabling the transition away from hazardous substances like dichloromethane  (DCM) and benzene. Serving approximately 60 students annually, this initiative will enhance learning outcomes while reducing environmental impact. By embedding green chemistry into foundational lab experiences, the project not only advances sustainability in chemistry education but also empowers students with a modern, responsible approach to scientific practice.

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Federal University Wukari 

Project Lead: Dr. Chrysanthus Andrew

Dr. Chrysanthus Andrew and his team at Federal University Wukari have received the Green Chemistry Education Challenge Award to lead a transformative green chemistry initiative in Nigeria’s Taraba State. Their project will establish a Green Chemistry Student Group, conduct a multi-day workshop for 120 participants, and lay the groundwork for integrating green chemistry principles into the university’s science and engineering curricula. Through targeted training, environmental audits, and the development of sustainable lab guidelines, the project aims to empower faculty, students, and local educators with practical knowledge of waste reduction, safe chemical practices, and eco-conscious lab operations. The initiative also includes broad outreach to six academic departments and aligns with the UN’s SDG goals for quality education and health. By fostering awareness, professional development, and institutional change, this project seeks to build a lasting culture of sustainability in chemical education at Federal University Wukari and beyond.

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University College Cork

Project Lead: Dr. Gillian Collins

Dr. Gillian Collins and her team at University College Cork have received the Green Chemistry Education Challenge Award to elevate green chemistry education in their Physical Chemistry laboratories. This project addresses a key curricular gap by replacing a hazardous dichloromethane (DCM) based experiment with a safer, greener alternative investigating liquid–vapor equilibrium in a water-acetic acid system. The grant supports the purchase of specialized lab equipment, including DrySyn heating kits, waterless condensers, and thermocouples, to enable individual hands-on student experiences—essential for quality learning. In addition to experimental updates, the project introduces impactful visual aids: professionally framed posters on the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, fostering a systems-thinking approach among students. Targeting over 100 second-year undergraduates annually, with ripple effects across upper-level courses, this initiative is set to serve as a catalyst for wider departmental adoption of sustainable practices in chemistry education.

 

 

A single question from a student research project sparked Brown University’s broader commitment to the principles of green chemistry. This idea emerged from Reimagining Chemistry, a course first taught in 2024 by Lecturer Jesse Morin, and a project that challenged students to rethink an aspect of chemistry at the university or within the Providence, Rhode Island, community. While seeking answers to their question, Brown students Nicholas Albaum and Steve Bella expanded awareness of green chemistry among their peers as well as faculty and administrators. They also gained hands-on experience in outreach and practical applications — skills they can carry into their future careers, creating ripple effects far beyond Morin’s classroom. 

Like many other universities, Brown courses have incorporated principles of green chemistry for years. With the new Reimagining Chemistry course, Morin saw an opportunity to devote a section to green chemistry and encourage students to broaden their thinking about the long-term implications of lab experiments and research. “Green chemistry is a really good way to introduce how chemistry can be a solution, instead of talking and focusing on history and problems. It’s more forward-thinking,” Morin says. “In the class, we’re talking about the ways that chemistry impacts the world around it, both positive and negative.”

For Albaum, a senior with a concentration in biochemistry, the Reimagining Chemistry project sparked questions about what happens downstream, literally and figuratively, with chemicals used in experiments. “It stemmed from chemistry labs, when we had excess reagent or excess product, and I was trying to figure out how to properly dispose of this,” he says. “It just really got me curious about what is the pathway for these things that we’re using to synthesize and the product that we’ve synthesized — where’s this going to end up?” 

Albaum and classmate and research project partner Bella started by taking their question to the university’s Environmental Health and Safety Office, which regulates all campus labs and lab waste at Brown University. “In talking with them, one of the problems that we found was there’s not really enough attention given to this process of what actually happens to the waste that’s going through our labs, its end fate and the consequences,” Albaum says. 

As the students explored potential pathways to address lab waste, Morin pointed them to Beyond Benign’s Green Chemistry Commitment (GCC) — a framework to unite the green chemistry higher education community around a common vision. Through the GCC, educational institutions can connect with a community of chemistry education experts, get access to funding opportunities, expand the community of green chemists, and more. GCC signers include more than 215 educational institutions around the world.

Although Morin helped connect the students with the GCC, she attributes the program’s progress at Brown to their curiosity and determination. Brown became the first Ivy League university to sign the GCC, a distinction among the eight prestigious institutions known for their rigorous academics and selective admissions. “I was aware of the Green Chemistry Commitment before this class, but it was the students who took the initiative to get us signed on,” Morin says.

According to Morin, having students spearhead the GCC initiative was likely a key factor in its success at Brown. “Getting students involved is a tremendous advantage because, in many ways, they have more influence than I do in driving change,” she explains. “Students have the power to question existing systems and push for new approaches.”

The GCC signing process served as an additional learning experience for the students, as they navigated getting approval from the chemistry department chair and a university administrator at Brown. “It’s an opportunity to have a conversation (about green chemistry),” Morin says. “People across Brown know about it a little bit more than they might have.” 

 

 

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Students Will Carry Lab Lessons Forward Into Their Careers

As a junior majoring in chemistry with plans to study dentistry, Bella sees the GCC as an opportunity to inspire others who will move on to healthcare careers. “Chemistry is one of the most foundational sciences that all people that go into medical fields are learning,” he says. “It’s a good place to get people starting to think about sustainability and green lab practices.” 

A lot of students are involved in undergraduate research, and together their small changes can add up to meaningful impact, Bella says. “Knowing the principles of green chemistry and always keeping them in the back of your mind will lead you to having more sustainable lab practices,” he says. “You go into the lab every couple days or every day or whatever and you’re scaling down your reactions, you’re using less stuff overall, that adds up really quickly to an overall more green impact.”

As he moves forward with his dentistry studies and career, Bella plans to carry green chemistry principles with him. “It’s so easy to get wrapped up in memorizing and learning, and blindly looking at the reactions and absorbing it. But I say think about it a little more, maybe research the reaction, the history of it, how harsh the conditions actually are. … That’s really a good way to immerse yourself in the content that you’re learning. And maybe it can inspire you to go further and maybe try to make more changes to a specific reaction. It’s a cool way to differentiate your book studies and your real-life experiences.”

Albaum also plans to carry forward what he’s learned about green chemistry, a decision that reinforces the importance of teaching more students about the implications of their lab work. “It’s important to plant a seed now when we’re students because there’s a chance that I end up running a research lab or being a professor … and I’ll have the authority to say we’re going to do this in a better way.” 

At Brown, he sees the opportunity to introduce green chemistry principles into more courses, especially at the introductory level, and dedicate more classwork to green chemistry initiatives. “You sometimes don’t consider that the product you’re trying to make has consequences when it’s released into the world,” he says. “What happens when this gets in the atmosphere? What happens when this gets in a person? To me, that’s what green chemistry is about.” 

He also appreciated how the GCC connects signer institutions with resources and incentives like awards for faculty and student groups. But even more, he’s noticed that the GCC provides reinforcement for suggestions and updates for lab work and other projects. “Since joining this commitment, it feels like we have the backing of the university and of the chemistry department,” Albaum says. “It gives a little more confidence to suggest how we actually start changing our methods and stop using outdated procedures. … It’s nice to have a little bit of weight behind the initiative to do things a little greener.”

 

GCC Helps Students and Faculty Drive Change on Campus and Beyond 

Taking action to mitigate the environmental impact of their lab work is a concept that resonates with many college students, Morin says, as they are more likely to face the long-term effects of the climate crisis. “They are the generation that’s going to have to deal with the consequences of what we do or don’t do,” Morin says. “It’s something that hopefully they just already are thinking and caring about.”

Through the GCC, students and faculty can work together to incorporate practices that raise awareness of the need for change. Morin encourages faculty at other institutions to turn to the GCC and organizations like Beyond Benign for support as they expand green chemistry coursework. “Don’t feel like you have to do all or nothing. You can do a small piece, and that will make a big difference,” she says. “At most universities, their curriculum is changing on a regular basis. So if you could make it part of just a change that has to happen anyway, like I did with changing the format of the lab, it might be a more natural fit.”

This gradual approach will guide Morin as she incorporates more green chemistry practices in courses like Reimagining Chemistry. “I’m hoping future iterations of the class might make resources more tailored toward research labs and make them aware of greener choices or to be aware of greener solvent choices,” she says. 

“My goal is that someday in the not-too-distant future, green chemistry isn’t the topic that comes up in other classes, but it’s just the way they’re taught,” Morin says. “If we can do small things in different courses and across the department that raise awareness in general, it’ll just become the way that people do things.”

 

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Learn more about other GCC signers:

• Union College Leads the Way in Green Chemistry Education as a Green Chemistry Commitment Signer and an American Chemical Society-Approved Program
• Driving Green Chemistry in Brazil with Beyond Benign: The Inspiring Journey of Cintia Milagre
• Berlin Universities and Partners Catalyze Green Chemistry Movement with GCC and greenCHEM Project