Green Chemistry Commitment (GCC) Community Ambassadors are helping to broaden awareness of the GCC, a framework that unites the higher education community around a common vision to affect systemic and lasting change in chemistry education.
These leaders play a crucial role in bringing green chemistry to more campuses and shaping a more sustainable future for people and the planet. As green chemistry champions, their outreach draws new voices to the Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community (GCTLC) and attracts GCC signers to this growing global movement.
Meet six Community Ambassadors below and get inspired by the lessons and takeaways from their experiences. Then, apply to become a Community Ambassador!
Giovanni Brito first learned about Beyond Benign during a Green Chemistry Connections online seminar, which now ranks as one of his favorite initiatives. “After attending my first-ever session, I got addicted to browsing the company’s website, exploring the limitless numbers of resources available, and learning new ideas and ways to boost the greenness of my everyday activities,” he says. “I indeed acquired megatons of knowledge by being in this little universe.”
Inspired by the Beyond Benign community, he applied to be a Community Ambassador and set a goal of adding his own department as a GCC signer. “With the unwavering support coming from the Beyond Benign staff, my institution rapidly entered the GCC roster of signing institutions, which made me think that much more could be said and done,” Brito says. “Today, I still have the very same sense of community … and my real drive and passion to seek more and push the boundaries of green chemistry, not only within my little world, but also providing assistance to a broader community.”
As a Community Ambassador, Brito has connected with fellow graduate students at non-signer universities in the U.S., spreading the word about the value of the GCC community. “I have established a collaborative network with other signing institutions and partners to promote events, seminars, and share information about the GCC,” he says. This includes ongoing collaboration with the ACS Green Chemistry Institute, the University of Toronto, and the Chemical Institute of Canada.
For Brito, word of mouth has been the most effective tool to grow the GCC community. By spreading the word about the benefits of green chemistry, he has drawn new students to seminars and conferences and connected with students and institutions in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. “Graduate students who don’t do research primarily on green chemistry now understand the importance of life cycle analysis and toxicology,” he says. “The feedback thus far is that my words are pollinating far away and acting as seeds to others.”
As a postdoctoral student and professional in the field, Thomas Freese has a unique perspective on the opportunities green chemistry presents for the future. “Green chemistry is crucial to be able to sustain human life on our planet, and chemists should get the tools early on in their studies to be able to perform the science of the future,” he says.
Through his role as a Community Ambassador, Freese helped with outreach to universities in Europe about green chemistry resources and programming. This led to the first signing of a university in the Netherlands to the GCC—the University of Groningen.
Freese made progress on both the academic and professional front in his role as an ambassador. With his continuous outreach on sustainable laboratories, he helped bring green chemistry to the forefront of chemical sciences and shaped research practices for the better in other fields of study. He also has incorporated sustainable practices as an entrepreneur with his own business, Circolide. “Being able to translate my green chemistry research to a chemical manufacturing company aligns with the goals of a circular economy,” he says.
Making the case for signing the GCC started close to home for Donna Hitlal, who continues her efforts to finalize that step at the University of the West Indies St. Augustine as a Community Ambassador. “It has been challenging, but I am close to getting my final signatures,” she says. Hitlal says she draws inspiration from the work of Beyond Benign and the GCC community to make chemistry more sustainable worldwide.
Since becoming an ambassador, Hitlal has felt empowered to meet with her university and others in the Caribbean to speak to the importance of green chemistry and the benefits of signing the GCC. “All of these meetings have been fruitful, and I am in constant contact with these prospective GCC signers,” she says, adding that once her University becomes a GCC signer, she will move forward with new goals for outreach and connection.
The transformative impact of green chemistry inspired Akwaowo Inyangudoh to become a Community Ambassador. “Recognizing the need for a greener approach in education and industry, particularly in my country and across Africa, I felt compelled to contribute to this important movement,” he says.
Through his efforts to connect more educators, researchers, and students with the green chemistry community, Inyangudoh is helping to build the community and its role in driving meaningful change. “Using various platforms, including LinkedIn, I encourage individuals to take green chemistry courses, attend webinars, and explore available resources,” he says. “I have been reaching out to chemistry department chairs in my region, advocating for their institutions to sign the Green Chemistry Commitment. Additionally, I integrate green chemistry hands-on activities into science and community events, such as the annual ACS Chemistry Festival programs in Nigeria.
The Community Ambassador role strengthened his commitment to teaching others about the expanding number of institutions dedicated to integrating green chemistry into education. “Seeing its growth worldwide, including in the African region, has been truly inspiring, as more institutions recognize the importance of equipping students with the knowledge and skills to advance sustainability in chemistry,” Inyangudoh says.
In her role as a Community Ambassador, Cintia Milagre is proud to be part of an initiative that is making a positive difference in the world. She embraces opportunities to share her enthusiasm for green chemistry with other educators: “Any chance I get—whether it’s as an invited lecturer, part of a graduate evaluation committee, or especially when I meet people from other universities at conferences,” she says. “I love having honest conversations in more relaxed settings like coffee breaks, lunch, or happy hours. As a Community Ambassador, I feel it’s important to think beyond just my own university while still addressing the ongoing needs we have at home.”
Milagre especially enjoys inspiring others to get involved by sharing how the students and professors at São Paulo State have benefited from being a GCC signer and using the GCTLC platform. On an individual level, that includes her role in revamping a green chemistry course at the graduate level and expanding its availability beyond the chemistry graduate program. “Now, we’re offering it to both the chemistry and biotechnology graduate programs, with a team of five professors, each from a different department: analytical, biochemistry, inorganic, physical chemistry, and organic chemistry,” she says.
She says this change helps students and faculty see the broader applications of green chemistry. “The collaboration across departments strengthens the course and allows each professor to serve as a leader in their field, encouraging others to get involved,” Milagre says. “By bringing more people into the conversation and sharing responsibilities, we’re all helping to spread the knowledge and impact even further.”
As a Community Ambassador, Lucian Lucia collaborates with undergraduate students to incorporate green chemistry principles into real-world applications. He sees how coursework can inspire lessons with community implications. A student group project spotlighting water issues earned them the distinction of being the first crop of Sustainability Fellows on campus.
“These four students decided to seek any and all resources at NC State U to focus on the presence of microplastics in water, their concentrations, and their potential implications,” Lucia says. To spread the word about the project, they wrote an article on their work and submitted an editorial to the school newspaper. Lucia says the students are also participating in a project using a bio-based material with entropic filtration, as they describe in a Nature Water article.
Lucia draws inspiration from the students’ enthusiasm for the project and the promise of green chemistry. “All in all, they have taught me how just having a desire to make a difference can make all the difference!”
Buoyed by that enthusiasm, he is assembling the curriculum for a new course on the principles of green chemistry that will focus on social and environmental justice, industrial chemistry, life cycle analysis, and toxicology. The addition will build on a strong base of green chemistry knowledge at the university that has already influenced students to become champions of the green chemistry community. “We have had the pleasure of teaching nearly 1,000 students over the lifetime of principles of green chemistry part one, which has opened up so many doors,” Lucia says. “They have taken on the role of our ambassadors in this country and around the world.”
How to get involved:
- Not yet part of the Green Chemistry Commitment (GCC)? Learn how your institution can become a signer and provide students with essential skills and training for today’s workforce.
- Already an active community member? Apply to become a Community Ambassador!
- Join the Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community (GCTLC), an online space for everyone in the green chemistry community to learn, share, connect, and grow.
