Beyond Benign

Exploring Innovative Solutions to Environmental Challenges Through Green Chemistry, Biomimicry and Real World Technologies
2019-07-15 08:30 - 2019-07-19 15:30 (America/New_York)
Beyond Benign is working in partnership with the Wade Institute for Science Education to lead the 2019 North Central Summer Professional Development Institute.
Partners: Fitchburg State University; The Revolving Museum; Harvard Forest; Mass Audubon’s Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary
Dates: July 15-19; June 22 On-Site Introductory Session; Call-back dates will be set during the course
Cost: $425 per participant ($400 per participant if attending in a team with another teacher from your district; $375 per participant if attending in a team with 2 or more other teachers from your district)
PDPs: 40 PDPs are available without graduate credit.
Optional Graduate Credit: Fitchburg State University – 3 credits and 67.5 PDPs, $295
Optional Housing: Fitchburg State University for $45/night (max 4 nights)
Register here
Participants will:
• Discover how green chemistry, the science of creating safe, energy efficient and non-toxic processes and products, is providing sustainable solutions for the environmental challenges facing our society today.
• Explore how biomimicry applications are informing the design of everyday items, including safer hair dyes and surfaces that prevent bacteria from growing, to build awareness of environmental issues.
• Gain an understanding of how Harvard Forest gathers and uses real-time data to investigate how forests are helping in the fight against climate change.
• Visit the Eco-Art Mobile to learn how this tool is being used to build environmental awareness around the issue of ocean plastics.
• Examine how industry and academia are working to understand climate change and design materials to use excess carbon dioxide.
• Build your understanding of the environmental challenges associated with plastics.
• Investigate how agricultural waste and mushroom mycelium can be used to create alternative materials used in the manufacture of anything from packing to lamp shades.
Interested in learning about other STEM Institutes happening this summer with WADE? Check out this brochure!

Beyond Benign Lead Teacher Summit
2019-07-11 08:00 - 2019-07-13 17:00 | Beyond Benign, 100 Research Drive, Wilmington, MA, United States
It’s that time of year where our Lead Teachers will be coming together here at Beyond Benign headquarters. The Summit includes teacher professional development, resource sharing, hands-on workshops by-teachers and for-teachers, along with annual planning for our 2019 – 2020 teacher cohort.

IUPAC Paris 2019, Paris, France
2019-07-08 08:00 - 2019-07-09 17:00 | Palais des Congres, Place de la Porte Maillot, Paris, France
Join Beyond Benign’s Director of the Green Chemistry Commitment program, Irv Levy, at the IUPAC conference in Paris, France where he will present a poster on “The Green Chemistry Commitment: Enabling our Common Future” in Theme 5: Chemistry Education.
Conference agenda.

ACS GCEC: Linking Chemical Design to Toxicity/Hazard/Alternatives Assessment
2019-06-11 09:45 - 12:30 | Hyatt Regency Reston, 1800 Presidents St., Reston, VA, United States
Join Executive Director, Amy Cannon, along with partners Saskia van Bergen (WA State Dept of Ecology) and Dalila Kovacs (Grand Valley State University) at a session on Linking Chemical Design to Toxicity/Hazard/Alternatives Assessment at the ACS Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference in Reston, VA. Register for the conference.
Access the Conference Program here.
Symposium description:
Toxicology concepts are essential in designing safe chemical products that have reduced hazards. There are many efforts to provide chemical designers with tools for understanding and predicting toxicity, while maintaining the function and efficacy for which the product was designed. Toxicology data enables scientists to better predict hazards at the molecular level, therefore avoiding the use and generation of hazardous chemicals. These tools and strategies are being developed and implemented in industry and academia.
Toxicology concepts and principles, including investigative or predictive methods, have traditionally been absent from the chemistry curriculum. As a result, professional chemists lack skills in designing chemical products with inherently reduced hazards. These knowledge and skill gaps are being addressed in educational programs both in industry and in academia with the goal of better preparing scientists to implement safer design strategies at the research stage of a product life-cycle.
This half day session will highlight systematic approaches toward addressing safety data gaps, understanding hazard and alternatives assessments, and predicting toxicological endpoints through molecular design, and will focus on education initiatives both in universities and within industry, via professional development programs.

Green Chemistry Commitment 2nd Annual Summit
2019-06-10 10:30 - 15:30 | Hyatt Regency Reston, 1800 Presidents Street, Reston, VA, 20190, United States
Register Now!
Join faculty members and green chemistry professionals at the 2nd Annual Green Chemistry Commitment Summit, held at the ACS Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference hotel the day preceding the conference.
The Summit brings together like-minded college faculty and professionals to establish goals and objectives for advancing green chemistry in higher education. Faculty from current and prospective Green Chemistry Commitment signing schools are welcome to join the Summit. Learn first-hand from chemistry faculty across the country who will share practical green chemistry resources, experiences and understandings on advancing the implementation of green chemistry practices.
Detailed agenda is coming soon.
The Summit includes refreshments and lunch!

Online Course: Introduction to Green Chemistry
2019-06-10 08:00 - 2019-08-05 17:00
Looking to create a safer more engaging learning environment for your students? This course will equip you to integrate green chemistry principles and practices into your classroom by teaching through real-world sustainable innovations. Develop safer labs and lessons aligned to your local standards in an interactive online environment that allows you to go at your own pace. More information here!

Central Regional ACS Meeting (CERM)
2019-06-04 - 2019-06-08 | The H Hotel, 111 W Main St, Midland, MI, 48640, United States
The theme for the 100th anniversary of the ACS Midland Section will be “Molecules to Materials”! Join Beyond Benign Lead Teachers Jen Sherburn, Erika Fatura and Jon Baek at CERM 2019 in Midland, MI.

K-12 STEM Teacher Conference
2019-05-20 16:15 - 17:00 | Rotunda of Mercy College, 55 Broadway, Dobbs Ferry, NY, 10522, United States
Green chemistry provides a framework and lens for learning, teaching and investigating chemistry concepts. This session will highlight unique partnerships across New York State with many regional BOCES, New York Pollution Prevention Institute, New York Department of Conservation, Beyond Benign and chemistry teachers. Join lead teacher, Scott Carlson, to learn how innovative green chemistry technologies are serving as tools to capture the imagination of the next generation of problem solvers. In addition, learn about a variety of green chemistry replacement labs that offer safe lab alternatives to concepts that are aligned with state standards and Regents exams.

Boston University STEM Institute
2019-05-16 16:00 - 18:30 | Earl Center, 180 Riverway, Boston, MA, 02155, United States
Join BB staff, Amanda Maddalone and Janie Butler, as they leads two sessions for both Middle and High School teachers. Titled Sustainable Innovations in Industry and Chemistry with a Conscience. Through these sessions participants will learn how green chemistry can fit into their STEM classroom while aligning to NGSS standards.
RSVP here.

Intel ISEF 2019 in Phoenix
2019-05-16 14:45 - 15:45 | Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, Arizona
Kate Anderson (BB Director of K-12 Education) will be leading a workshop called “Are Mushrooms the New Plastic?” Participants will explore how green chemistry principles are being used to invent the next generation of high performing, cost effective and safe materials from mushroom mycelium.
Thursday May 16 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. | Room: West 106B
See the full Symposia schedule here.

Science on State Street
2019-04-27 11:00 - 15:00 | Framingham State University, 100 State St, Framingham, MA, 01701, United States
A free event open to all! There will be many opportunities to explore science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) with fun, high quality interactive activities. Beyond Benign Outreach Fellows will be leading an activity showing how excess CO2 in the atmosphere affects the ocean.

Tech Savvy
2019-04-27 08:30 - 16:30 | University Center Gaylord, 80 Livingston Blvd 49735, Gaylord, MI, 49735, United States
This annual event hosted by the American Association of University Women allows middle school girls to explore different fields of STEM thorough hands on activities led by female role models and STEM professionals.
Amy Cannon (Beyond Benign Executive Director) will be the Keynote Speaker and will be leading a workshop along side Saskia Van Bergen (Washington State Department of Ecology). Their workshop is called Good CHEMISTRY: Use “green chemistry” to make and test products that are safe for our environment.

Essex Elementary School STEM Night
2019-04-26 17:00 - 19:30 | Essex Elementary School, 12 Story St., Essex, MA, 01929, United States
Free event for students to engage in hands-on STEM activities. Beyond Benign Outreach Fellows from Gordon College will be there, along with other exhibitors such as: Society of Women Engineers, the Whale Mobile, Crazy Chemistry, Appleton Farms, and many more!

Cambridge Science Festival: Science Carnival and Robot Zoo
2019-04-13 12:00 - 16:00
Explore over 150 hands-on activities with local scientists, researchers, and STEM educators. Indoors and out at the Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School and War Memorial. Come find Beyond Benign Outreach Fellows who will be there leading an activity. There are events happening all week, so check out the full schedule!

Chemists Celebrate Earth Day
2019-04-13 11:00 - 15:00 | Museum of Science, Boston, MA, 02114, United States
Chemists Celebrate Earth Week at the Blue Wing of Museum of Science on Saturday April 13, 2019 from 11.00 am – 3.00 pm. The theme for event this year is Paper “Take Note: The Chemistry of Paper”. This event is open to the public! Beyond Benign Outreach Fellows will be facilitating an activity about how shark skin inspired an antibacterial film called Sharklet.

National Science Teachers Association National Conference
2019-04-11 - 2019-04-14 | America’s Center Convention Complex, 701 Convention Plaza, St Louis, MO, 63101, United States
Beyond Benign Lead Teachers Bob Baldo, Tanya Elmers and Jon Baek will all be leading workshops at the National Science Teachers Association. Come to booth 1641 to learn how to integrate green chemistry into your elementary, middle, and high school classrooms.
Join us on Sunday April 14th at 11am for Learning from Nature: STEAM Investigations for the Elementary Classroom.

Ipswich STEAM Showcase
2019-04-09 17:00 - 19:00 | Ipswich High School, Ipswich, MA
Beyond Benign Outreach Fellows will be one of many groups facilitating STEAM activities for the students of Ipswich Public Schools. With the Outreach Fellows, students will explore the life cycle of synthetic and natural fibers, and investigate different types of fabrics using dye.

Full STEAM Ahead
2019-04-04 18:30 - 20:00 | Lincoln Elementary School, 161 Mystic Valley Pkwy, Winchester, MA, 01890, United States
Families at Lincoln Elementary School will learn from Beyond Benign Outreach Fellows about how green chemistry can help reduce the impacts of ocean acidfication with a dry ice demonstration!

ACS National Meeting, Orlando
2019-03-31 - 2019-04-04
Join Beyond Benign staff and Lead Teachers at the ACS National Meeting and Exposition in Orlando, FL
Sunday, 8:35am: CHED symposium “Chemistry Teachers Day Program” – Beyond Benign Lead Teachers, Dr. Lurea Doody and Cassandra Knutson will present “Chemistry and the final frontier: Student designed sustainable payloads at the edge of space” (Room W315A – Orange County Convention Center) Abstract
Sunday, 1:30pm – 4:55pm: CHED symposium “Green and Sustainable Chemistry Theory and Practice: Chemistry for New Frontiers” Session, organized by Dr. Ed Brush (Bridgewater State University) and Dr. Jane Wissinger (Univ. of MN) – Beyond Benign’s ED Amy Cannon will present (4:35pm) on “Green chemistry commitment: Progress report and future” (Room W311C – Orange County Convention Center) Abstract
Sunday, 7:00 – 9:00pm: Stop by General Posters to meet Beyond Benign’s Director of the Green Chemistry Commitment program, Irv Levy presenting “The Green Chemistry Commitment” (West Hall C, Orange County Convention Center) Abstract
Monday, 9:15am: CHED symposium “Chemistry and Our Common Future: 2019 George C. Pimentel Award Symposium in Honor of Cathy Middlecamp” – Beyond Benign’s Director of the Green Chemistry Commitment, Irv Levy, will present “Environmental advocacy in action: The green chemistry commitment” (Room W315A, Orange County Convention Center) Abstract
Monday, 8:30am – 12:00pm: CHED symposium “Green Chemistry Student Chapters: Stories of Success” – featuring some Green Chemistry Commitment signer schools’ student chapters, presided by Beyond Benign’s graduate student liaison, Mollie Enright (University of Toledo) (Room W311C, Orange County Convention Center) Session
Monday, 11:50am: CHED “Exploring the use of PLA films for oil spill cleanup: A sustainable classroom experiment”- led by Jane E Wissinger, Beyond Benign Lead Teacher, Cassandra Knutson, and colleagues from the University of Minnesota and Boston College. (Room W311D, Orange Country Convention Center) Abstract
Monday, 1:30 – 5:30pm: CHED symposium “UN Sustainable Development Goals: Unique Opportunities for the Chemical Enterprise” (W311C, Orange County Convention Center) Session
Tuesday AM: SCHB symposium “Frontiers in Green Chemistry for Small Businesses” – Dr. Amy Cannon (for Dr. John Warner) will present “Green chemistry: The technology greenhouse” (Orlando V – Hilton Orlando)
Tuesday, 1:30 – 4:10pm: CHED symposium “Green Chemistry as a Pillar of Safety Education”, organized by Dr. Haim Weizman (UC San Diego) and Dr. Jane Wissinger (Univ. of MN) (Room W311C, Orange County Convention Center) Session
Wednesday, 9:15am: CHED symposium “Research on Learning in the Laboratory” Dr. Lurea Doody (Beyond Benign Lead Teacher) will present “Beyond gate-keeping: Improving the first-semester general chemistry laboratory experience” (Room W311D, Orange County Convention Center) Abstract

Girls Inc. of Lynn SMART Girls Summit
2019-03-27 09:00 - 13:00
Girls Inc is hosting their annual SMART (Science Math And Relevant Technology) Girls Summit for middle school girls in Lynn, MA. The goal of this event is to increase interest and participation in STEM. Beyond Benign will be leading a workshop on creating solar cells using the green chemistry criteria. The event will also feature workshops facilitated by other STEM organizations, and a exciting demonstration from the Museum of Science.

Girls Scouts STEM Conference
2019-03-24 | Framingham State University, 100 State St, Framingham, MA, 01701, United States
Girls Scouts will have the opportunity to create solar cells using the green chemistry principles! We will also have an Expo table focusing on biomimicry!

Green Chemistry – The Connection to Environmental Justice
2019-03-19 14:00 - 15:00
Chemistry has provided significant benefits to society. It has also had major impacts on human and ecosystem health. Chemical accidents like the 1984 Union Carbide plant in Bhopal India, which killed more than 15,000 people, illustrate the potential for chemistry to cause significant harm. Tragic events on a big scale are just one manifestation of negative impacts of chemistry. People around the planet live with the chemical contamination of their communities, their homes, and their bodies. But we’re not equally exposed.
Minority and lower income communities are disproportionately impacted by chemical exposures. The Environmental Justice movement arose in the late 1980s in response to well-documented cases of “environmental racism” – where African American and other minority communities were disproportionately exposed to toxic chemical production and waste, while not receiving the economic benefits. Environmental justice is defined as is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people — regardless of race, color, national origin, or income — with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.
It is essential that chemists practicing green chemistry understand the potential impacts that chemistry can have on communities and ecosystems, as well as the ethical and social considerations underlying the field. Green chemistry is one potential solution to the impacts communities have faced.
In this webinar moderated by Dr. Joel Tickner (Professor of Environmental Health, University of Massachusetts Lowell), Monique Harden and Martha Dina Arguello – two leaders of the environmental justice movement – will introduce participants to the concept of environmental justice, how environmental injustice affects communities and the important role that green chemistry and green chemists can play in both improving community and ecosystem health and creating new economic opportunities for communities. Speakers will discuss ways in which minority and lower income communities can become active participants in the green chemistry movement.
Please join us for this important, solutions-oriented conversation. Register now!
Speaker bios:
Martha Dina Arguello – Executive Director, Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles: For the past 35 years, Martha has served in the non-profit sector as an advocate, community organizer, and coalition builder. She joined PSR-LA in 1998 to launch the environmental health programs, and became Executive Director in November 2007. She is committed to making the credible voice of physicians a powerful instrument for transforming California and our planet into a more peaceful and healthy place.
As a coalition builder, Martha has emphasized the need for local grassroots advocacy working in partnership with statewide policy actions. She is an active board member of numerous organizations, including Californians for Pesticide Reform, Californians for a Healthy and Green Economy . She was appointed to California Air Resources Board’s Global Warming Environmental Justice Advisory Committee and 617 Implementation Working Group.
Monique Harden is the Assistant Director of Law and Policy and the Community Engagement Program Manager at the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. The Center provides research, education, community and student engagement support, as well as worker training in environmental careers. Ms. Harden has more than 20 years of achievements in the practice of law that have helped predominantly African American communities win significant environmental justice victories in the Gulf Coast Region. She is the former co-director of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, a public interest law firm whose representation of Mossville Environmental Action Now achieved the international precedent recognizing environmental racism as a human rights violation and the right of U.S. residents to seek remedies for it at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Ms. Harden has authored papers and lectured on the right of people to live in a healthy environment and the duties of government to protect this right vis-à-vis the U.S. Constitution, international human rights laws, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disability Act, and environmental laws. She has spearheaded local, regional, and international coalitions in support of communities advocating for the human right to a healthy environment. She works to democratize policymaking on environmental matters by supporting community-based organizations to engage policymakers on reducing pollution that harms their health and warms our planet.

High School Marine Science Symposium
2019-03-07 08:00 - 13:00 | Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, United States
High school students will learn from Beyond Benign Outreach Fellows about how green chemistry can help reduce ocean plastics and the impacts of ocean acidification.

Michigan Science Teacher Association Annual Conference
2019-03-01 | Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Join Beyond Benign Lead Teachers Jen Sherburn and Erika Fatura as they discuss bringing green chemistry into classrooms!

Calgary City Teachers' Convention
2019-02-14 - 2019-02-15

Design and Engineering Expo @ Bagnall Elementary School
2019-01-31 04:30 - 19:30 | Bagnall Elementary School, 253 School St, Groveland, MA, 01834, United States
Beyond Benign Outreach Fellows will be leading green chemistry activities for elementary school students during the Design and Engineering Expo in Groveland, MA!

Harvard Extension School Course: ENVR E-158A Green Chemistry
2019-01-30
January 30 – May 15, 2019
This Harvard Extension School Course is taught by Dr. John Warner co-founder of the field of green chemistry, Beyond Benign and Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry. This course will present the fundamentals of green chemistry and connect the science behind sustainability issues with efforts that can be taken to create solutions. Green Chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. While there are many mechanisms and tools available to assess the impact of materials and processes on human health and the environment, there are few tools available to help design and create products as such. This course will explore examples from a wide spectrum of industrial sectors including construction, personal care, pharmaceuticals and electronics. Through examples, students will be presented with the premise that green chemistry offers organizations a boost to innovation and faster time to market. There is no text for this class, although students are encouraged to read “Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice” by Paul Anastas and John Warner, Oxford University Press, 2000. (ISBN-10:0198506988, ISBN-13:9780198506980. Course content will include lectures, readings and discussions. Readings are intended to be timely and current, so will be posted two weeks prior to each class.
This class is designed for both non-chemists and practicing professional chemists. A chemistry primer will be provided the second week of class to make sure all students have the appropriate background.

From Novice to Confident Green Chemistry Educator and the Lessons Learned
2019-01-29 17:00 - 18:00
Join us to learn about success stories from teachers who have adopted green chemistry in their classroom and increased safety in their labs. This interactive webinar will feature Lead Teachers from NYC sharing how they reduce hazards, stay on budget, and meet standards without sacrificing hands-on labs in their classrooms. Click on link below to register for this webinar!

Green Chemistry: Inventing a Circular Economy through a Thermodynamic Lens
2018-12-06 13:00 - 14:00
Speaker: Dr. John Warner, Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry
Register Now!
The natural world is a beautiful and intricate system of intertwined and overlapping materials ecosystems. As humans, our understanding of the various interrelationships is only at the most basic level. One important reason why these naturally interdependent cyclic systems exist with exquisite complexity is because of the very fact that they all co-emerged over hundreds of thousands of years in the presence of one another. Evolutionary forces drove symbiotic relationships by selecting for and against mechanisms and materials that were conducive to the success of the entire multi-component matrix. As human society seeks to create a circular economy, we unfortunately have the disadvantage that our various industrial “species” have developed with a level of independence, essentially unaware of adjacent processes. We are forced into a position of creating connectivities that were not part of the considerations in the original design. Obviously this creates a daunting challenge. While there have been some examples of the circular economy designed and deployed in many industrial settings, the vast majority of industrial products and processes continue to exist disconnected and unsustainable over the long run. The pathway to create most of these technological ecosystems will require the inventive application of green chemistry (the molecular level mechanistic underpinnings of sustainability). Nature creates materials of such exquisite structural complexity and diversity that humans may never be able to mimic them. Nature’s elegance is even more astounding when one considers the fact that most chemistry in the biological world is carried out at ambient temperature and pressure using water, for the most part, as its reaction medium. For society to become truly sustainable, the way we manufacture, use and repurpose materials must change dramatically. This presentation will describe John Warner’s entropic considerations of materials design and illustrate their application through recent R&D examples from the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry.

Michigan Science Teachers Association Annual Conference
2018-11-28 | Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Join Beyond Benign Lead Teachers Jen Sherburn and Erika Fatura at the MSTA Conference.
