Through Green Chemistry Connections, a series of virtual gatherings of the green chemistry community, Beyond Benign aims to foster networking and resource sharing, to encourage and support the teaching of green chemistry, and to demonstrate the multitude of ways green chemistry can be implemented.
During the 2021-22 school year, Beyond Benign was proud to host its second year of Green Chemistry Connections, supported by Washington State Department of Ecology. Gathering the global green chemistry community in a bi-monthly virtual setting, Green Chemistry Connections webinars feature presentations centered around the GCC Student Learning Objectives — Green Chemistry theory, toxicology, laboratory skills, and application of Green Chemistry education — followed by small-group discussions with networking and resource sharing.
Each event includes up to four speakers — faculty, industry practitioners, and students — who are actively practicing Green Chemistry in their courses and/or laboratories. In alignment with our Diversity, Equity, Belonging and Respect initiatives, we spotlighted speakers from a variety of backgrounds, representing various types of universities from all around the world to demonstrate the multitude of ways green chemistry can be implemented. Of our 15 speakers, 40% were from the Black, Indiginous, People of Color (BIPOC) community, 80% were women, and 30% were women of color. We are thankful to our 15 speakers, listed below, who shared the work they’re doing at their institutions to further green chemistry education and practice.
The goal for the Green Chemistry Connection series is to foster networking and resource sharing to encourage and support the teaching of green chemistry. Throughout the series, we witnessed wonderful connections being made, with over 150 faculty, students and industry professionals attending and more than one-third attending two or more sessions. During the “BYOR – Bring your own resource” segment, 37 resources were shared among the community.
Ready to join the next event to connect with your peers? We’d love you to join us! We are kicking off the 2022-23 Series with a presentation by ChemForward on Sep 21, 2022. Register here for the series.
Want to learn more about our 2021-22 events? Log onto the Beyond Benign’s Green Chemistry Connections site to watch the speaker presentations and discover what resources were shared.