Beyond Benign

North Carolina Association of Elementary Educators State Conference
2020-01-18 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Meredith College, 5237, 3800 Hillsborough St, Raleigh, NC, 27607, United States
Join Lead Teacher Alyson VanAlphen for her session titled: Learning from Nature: STEAM Investigations for the Elementary Classroom. Hear how she teaches STEAM concepts in a dynamic manner through technologies inspired by nature (biomimicry) and the design of safer products and processes (green chemistry).

NSTA Regional Conference
2019-12-14 - 2019-12-16 | Seattle, WA
Scotty Stalp will be representing the Beyond Benign Lead Teacher team leading the following session:
Practical Applications: Assessing Human and Environmental Hazards in the Lab and in the Home
December 14, 2019, 09:30 AM – 10:30 AM
Washington State Convention Center, 2A

MAST/MSELA Science Safety Under OSHA
2019-12-07 08:30 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Royal Plaza Hotel Marlborough, MA
Join us for a Science Safety Event featuring Jake Foster and Flinn Scientific. Beyond Benign will lead 2 hands-on workshops for both K-12 science teachers and Science Administrators.
For Teachers:
Sustainability in Action: Using Green Chemistry
Green Chemistry is the practice of product design that strives to reduce waste and toxicity. Green Chemistry is practiced by leading industries in consumer and commercial products, however the application of the principles of Green Chemistry remain absent from many secondary and even college classrooms. This session intends to introduce the participant to the principles of Green Chemistry and provide them with tools for practicing Green Chemistry in their classrooms. Participants will conduct a hands on lab designed using the principles of Green Chemistry for the purposes of teaching standard high school chemistry curriculum. In addition to teaching standard chemistry principles, these labs are also intended to provide additional Green Chemistry learning objectives for students.

For Administrators:
Replacement Labs in the High School Classroom
The workshop will feature safer replacements to traditional chemistry labs. Many ​traditional labs use chemicals that cannot be put down the drain and often put our students at risk if not handled properly. Endothermic reactions, exothermic reactions, and Le Chatelier’s Principle can all be demonstrated using household products. Participants will get to hands-on time with these labs in a collaborate way so that they can share their ideas and questions and learn from the group. Participants will walk away with relevant open access resources that increase student engagement while increasing classroom safety.

Tools for Innovation in Chemistry from the ACS GCI Pharmaceutical Roundtable
2019-11-20 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York)
Register Now!
The ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable has publicly available tools for innovation in chemistry which may be of interest to those in academia and research beyond the pharmaceutical industry. This webinar will provide a tool overview that will assist to lower the barrier to use, the function of these tools and the tools relevance outside of pharmaceutical industry for students and educators. Our goal is to highlight and start a discussion of how these tools can be utilized by the academic community to prepare students for future careers where such tools are vital to decision making and processes. The community will then have a better understanding of the power of these open-access tools and how they can be integrated into green chemistry educational curriculum for student learning.
Featured Speaker:
Paul Richardson, Ph.D.
Director of Analytical and Synthetic Technologies, Pfizer
Co-Chair of the ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable

Paul Richardson is currently the Director of Analytical and Synthetic Technologies within Oncology Medicinal Chemistry at Pfizer in La Jolla, California. Paul joined Pfizer in 2004, after working with Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (NJ) as Director of Process Chemistry for 8 years. Paul received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Sheffield University, where he worked with Professor Istvan Marko. Paul completed postdoctoral research studies at both Exeter University (Professor Stan Roberts), and at Scripps Research Institute (Professor Barry Sharpless). Paul is a Member of the American Chemical Society, and current co-chair of the ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable. Paul is the author of ~ 200 patents, papers, reviews and book chapters.

This webinar is co-hosted with the ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharamaceutical Roundtable

Register Now!

Learning from Nature: STEAM Investigations for the Science Classroom
2019-11-01 13:45 - 14:45 (America/New_York)
New York teachers Stephen Costanza and Dana Wadnola will share how sustainable science is applicable for students of all grade levels, see how blue mussels can inspire us to invent differently!

Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s (AASHE’s) Annual Conference Poster Session
2019-10-29 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Spokane, Washington Convention Center, 334 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA, 99201, United States
Join Beyond Benign’s Director of the Green Chemistry Commitment program, Irv Levy at the AASHE conference where he will co-present with Green Chemistry Scientist, Saskia van Bergen, from the Washington State Department of Ecology a poster on “Breaking the Silos: Increasing the awareness and adoption of Green Chemistry across disciplines”.
Abstract :
Green chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that use and generate less hazardous materials. In practice, green chemistry can result in tremendous benefits such as the reduction of hazardous waste, reduction in use of hazardous chemicals, reduction in purchasing costs, and increasing the energy efficiency of laboratory practices. The field of green chemistry has grown significantly over the past two decades and has remained somewhat separate from campus sustainability initiatives. In reality, the principles and practice of green chemistry can be applied across disciplines and solutions to sustainability challenges will ultimately require multidisciplinary approaches. This presentation will provide an overview of Green Chemistry and how it can be applied in disciplines and courses beyond the sciences, such as art, business, communications, economics, and more. Specific examples include how governmental programs such as the U.S. EPA’s Safer Choice, a certification used in Environmental Preferable Purchasing, can be used to showcase greener chemical products in courses (i.e., chemistry and communications), as well as in student club activities. Green chemistry applied to art courses will also be presented as a model for reducing impacts in courses and programs beyond the chemistry course and lab. The use of chemicals on campuses and in courses is not limited to chemistry courses and programs and even reaches us in our daily lives at home. Green chemistry can have significant benefits when applied across disciplines, helping to reduce impacts and hazards.

Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s (AASHE’s) Annual Conference
2019-10-28 09:15 - 10:15 (America/Los_Angeles) | Spokane, Washington Convention Center, 334 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA, 99201, United States
Join Beyond Benign’s Director of the Green Chemistry Commitment program, Irv Levy at the AASHE conference where he will co-present with Green Chemistry Scientist, Saskia van Bergen, from the Washington State Department of Ecology on “Empowering Students and the Community Through Green Chemistry and Sustainable Science Outreach“.
Abstract can be found here.
Location: Spokane, Washington Convention Center

Green Chemistry University Curriculum Webinar
2019-10-23 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York)
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This webinar will introduce the Yale-UNIDO Green Chemistry University Curriculum, a semester long course developed in collaboration with Beyond Benign. This FREE course is designed for undergraduate students and teaches (i) how the principles of green chemistry can help resolve global human health and environmental issues, (ii) how green chemistry functions and (iii) how it is implemented. The curriculum was developed as part of the Global Green Chemistry Initiative (GGCI), a joint initiative between the Center for Green Chemistry and Engineering at Yale and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and was funded by GEF (Global Environment Facility). This webinar will cover the content of the curriculum as well as how the content can be accessed and utilized by the community to practice sustainability through chemistry.
Featured Speakers:
Amy Cannon, Executive Director of Beyond Benign
Amy holds the world’s first Ph.D. in Green Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts Boston where her research involved the environmentally benign synthesis of photoactive materials. She is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Beyond Benign, a non-profit organization dedicated to green chemistry education.
Amy is passionate about transforming the general public’s relationship with chemistry. She focuses on chemistry education to better prepare students and scientists to enter the workforce trained with the skills to create sustainable materials and products. Through Beyond Benign, she leads many educational initiatives to bring together multiple stakeholders around this common goal.
Karolina Mellor, Program Manager at the Center for Green Chemistry and Engineering at Yale
Karolina Mellor is a program manager with experience in green chemistry education and research. She joined the Center in 2014 and coordinated multiple projects, including Molecular Design Research Network and Global Green Chemistry Initiative.
Karolina has many roles in the Center for Green Chemistry & Green Engineering including operations, outreach and development, but her primary role is to lead educational efforts in green chemistry. She translates research into teaching tools to educate diverse audiences in green chemistry and sustainability. Her expertise includes online/traditional teaching and instructional design, educational games development and workshop design.
This webinar is co-hosted by Beyond Benign and the Center for Green Chemistry & Green Engineering at Yale

New Jersey Science Convention
2019-10-23 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
Explore how natural materials can replace harmful chemical reactions in the classroom with lead teacher Robert Colvin in his presentation, Chemistry with a Conscience. By using greener reactions, student can safely investigate their reactions and your labs experiments will be more affordable.

Learning from Nature: STEAM Investigations for the Elementary Classroom
2019-10-18 09:20 - 10:00 (America/New_York)
Join Alyson VanAlphen in her spotlight session on what sustainable science looks like in her elementary classroom!

MACTLAC Annual Meeting, St. Catherine University, MN
2019-10-11 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | St. Catherine University, MN, United States
Hear Beyond Benign’s Director of the Green Chemistry Commitment program, Irv Levy, in his keynote address as part of the Midwestern Association of Chemistry Teachers in Liberal Arts Colleges (MACTLAC) Annual Conference. His talk will be on “Green Chemistry Commitment implementation at PUIs”.
Preliminary program can be found here.

​Implementing Green Chemistry into your curriculum
2019-10-11 16:30 - 17:20 (America/New_York) | Siena College, 515 Loudon Rd, Loudonville, NY, 12211, United States
Join Annette Sebuyira, NY Master Teacher and Lead Teacher, in how green chemistry fits into her curriculum, and how it can fit into yours!

Fueling Fall Investigations with Green Chemistry
2019-09-25 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Calling all K-12 chemistry teachers! Looking for safer labs for your students? How engaged are your students? Try these green chemistry labs that are both safe and exciting. Explore phenomena and fill your students with wonder while cultivating a sustainable environment culture in your lab by examining chemical or physical changes and endothermic or exothermic reactions. The best part of all? You don’t deal with complicated post-lab disposal methods. All labs featured use green chemistry principles and practices, and are safe for you, your students, and the environment.
Hear from Scott Carlson and Annette Sebuyira, two active New York high school teachers, and how they combine the inquiry process and green chemistry in their classroom to keep students engaged and curious. By sharing ready-to-use lesson plans, this webinar will spotlight NGSS-aligned, open-access resources designed by K-12 teachers.
This free event is co-organized by Beyond Benign and New York State Pollution Prevention Institute.
“Funding provided by the Environmental Protection Fund as administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Any opinions, findings, and/or interpretations of data contained herein are the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions, interpretations or policy of Rochester Institute of Technology and its NYS Pollution Prevention Institute or the State.”

Back to School Bash with Girl Scouts
2019-09-22 13:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Camp Maude Eaton, 141 Abbot St, Andover, MA, United States
Come join undergraduate students as they show off innovative green chemistry technologies, and host a make-and-take table!

DOZN™ 2.0: A Quantitative Green Chemistry Evaluator
2019-09-18 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York)
Register Now!
MilliporeSigma launched a new Green Chemistry tool, DOZN™ 2.0 this past spring. DOZN™ is an industry-first Quantitative Green Chemistry Evaluator that evaluates the relative greenness of chemicals and chemical processes against the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry. Through DOZN™ 2.0, scientists now have access to calculate the green scores of their own processes and products. This free, web-based tool provides users with even more data so that they are properly equipped to increase their sustainability. This webinar will introduce the tool and the methodology behind the evaluator.
Featured Speaker:
Dr. Ettigounder (Samy) Ponnusamy
Fellow and Global Manager, Green Chemistry
MilliporeSigma – A business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

Ettigounder (Samy) Ponnusamy completed his PhD at the University of Madras (India) in 1982 in Polymer Chemistry and postdoctoral studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago (1983-87). In 1988, he joined Sigma-Aldrich as an R&D Scientist and worked on many high value projects at various capacity. Currently Samy is the Fellow and Global Manager for Green Chemistry at MilliporeSigma (formerly Sigma-Aldrich), leading the Green Chemistry Initiatives.
Samy has over 35 years of industrial and academic research experience in developing new products, greener process developments, polymer processing and greener manufacturing from laboratory to pilot plant scales utilizing green chemistry principles. Samy and his team developed DOZN system, a Quantitative Green Chemistry Evaluator to calculate the relative greenness of chemical products/processes based on the Twelve Green Chemistry Principles. Recently released DOZN 2.0 tool for both inside and outside customers to use it to improve their overall sustainability. Also, Samy leads the new Greener Chemistry Consultancy Business Developments at MilliporeSigma.
Samy is one of the Co-chairs for ACS Green Chemistry Institute’s Chemical Manufacturer Roundtable and, organizes/chairs sessions at the annual ACS GCI’s Green Chemistry & Engineering Conferences and, also participated as organizing committee member for many other Green Chemistry Conferences globally. Samy is the founder of the Worldwide Green Chemistry Team at Sigma-Aldrich in 2007 and currently leading the Green Chemistry initiatives at MilliporeSigma. Samy has published over 40 scientific papers and awarded 6 US/European Patents and, also 3 US Patents pending. Samy’s work was recognized by The Academy of Science St. Louis (founded in 1856), awarded an outstanding scientist award in 2011 and also inducted as a Fellow of the Academy of Science St. Louis.
Register Now!
Co-hosted by Beyond Benign and My Green Lab

ACS National Meeting, San Diego, CA
2019-08-28 15:40 - 16:00 (America/New_York)
Join Beyond Benign’s Lead Teacher Cassandra Knutson at the ACS National meeting where she will present on “Community engagement for healthy oceans: Green chemistry & bioplastics”.
Access the Abstract here.
Location: Mission Mills, Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina

Green Chemistry Commitment, ACS National Meeting, San Diego, CA
2019-08-25 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | San Diego Convention Center, 111 West Harbor Drive,, San Diego, CA, 92101, United States
Join Beyond Benign’s Director of the Green Chemistry Commitment program, Irv Levy at the General Posters during the ACS National Meeting in San Diego, CA.
Abstract can be found here.
Location: San Diego Convention Center
Sunday, August 25, 2019: 7:00pm (General Posters) and Monday, August 26, 2019: 8:00pm (Sci-Mix)

Chemistry Teacher's Day, ACS National Conference, San Diego, CA
2019-08-25 16:40 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina, 333 West Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA, 92101, United States
Join Beyond Benign Lead Teacher Steven Kosmas during the ACS National Meeting’s Chemistry Teacher’s Day program. Steven will be presenting on “Using green chemistry to remedy environmental problems”.
Access the Abstract here.

Vote for the Beyond Benign session proposal "Inventing Green with Bioplastics" for the South by Southwest® (SXSW) EDU 2020 Conference
2019-08-05 08:00 - 2019-08-23 23:30 (America/New_York)
Please vote for the Beyond Benign proposal for the 2020 South by Southwest® Conference, an important forum for global professionals at every level to share ideas and network. This large event reaches thousands of attendees, so it will be an excellent opportunity for Beyond Benign to advance green chemistry. The community’s input will amount to 30% of the total score for the proposal. The community has the opportunity to “Vote Up” or “Vote Down” on all session ideas and add comments to each page.
The event will be held March 9-12, 2020 in Austin, TX! The deadline for voting is August 23.
Vote via the SXSW PanelPicker®

NEACT Conference
2019-07-29 15:30 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Middlesex School, Concord, MA, MA, United States
Join Kate Anderson and Janie Butler at the New England Association of Chemistry Teachers 2019 Summer Conference for a 90 min workshop featuring the Recycling Polylactic Acid Lab-Transforming Cups into Cleaners!

NYC STEM Institute: Sustainability and STEM
2019-07-23 09:00 - 2019-07-25 15:00 (America/New_York)
Beyond Benign will be hosting a three day workshop on sustainability and STEM within the NYC Summer STEM Institute for New York City Teachers. Come see how lead teacher Scott Carlson and Annette Seburyira implement green chemistry within their classroom, and how this has changed their students’ learning outcomes.

ChemEd 2019
2019-07-21 - 2019-07-25 | North Central College, 131 S Loomis Street, Naperville, IL, 60540, United States
This is one of the largest conferences for educators involved in teaching Chemistry in North America! Beyond Benign Lead Teachers Cassie Knutson Lydon and Cassie Javner will be there as our green chemistry ambassadors!
Monday July 22nd, 8am: Microscopic Mycelium: Growing Sustainable Solutions
Monday July 22nd, 8am: What exactly is Modeling Chemistry??
Tuesday July 23rd, 8am: Building Sustainable Solutions: Blackberry Solar Cells
Tuesday July 23rd, 9:10am: Rethinking Approaches to Lab Safety
Wednesday July 24th, 9:10am: Building Sustainable Solutions: Blackberry Solar Cells
Wednesday July 24th, 2:00pm: The Greener, Quicker Copper Cycle Lab
Wednesday July 24th, 2:40pm: Replacing Traditional Labs with Greener Alternatives

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 (America/New_York) | 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 (America/New_York) | 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 (America/New_York) | 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 (America/New_York) | 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 (America/New_York)
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 (America/New_York) | 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.
