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Across the globe, chemistry classrooms are changing.

Through the Green Chemistry Education Awards, made possible through the generous support of Millipore Sigma (MilliporeSigma is the U.S. and Canada Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) and Dow, Beyond Benign is honored to support educators and institutions working to embed sustainability more deeply into chemistry education and advance the Green Chemistry Commitment’s (GCC) Student Learning Objectives—a framework guiding institutions in integrating green chemistry across curriculum, research, and community engagement. As part of a global network of colleges and universities, these award-winning GCC signers are integrating green chemistry principles across their curricula and preparing students for more sustainable scientific practice.

This year’s recipients are redesigning legacy lab experiments, introducing greener technologies, launching student sustainability hubs, strengthening teacher preparation programs, and building entirely new pathways for students to engage with green chemistry from their first year through graduation.

Spanning six continents, this year’s awardees reflect the growing global momentum to transform how chemistry is taught, practiced, and connected to sustainability challenges.

Through safer laboratory practices, measurable reductions in resource use, innovative curriculum design, and empowered students who see environmental responsibility as central to scientific practice, this year’s awardees demonstrate what meaningful transformation looks like in action.

Collectively, this year’s awards will impact thousands of students annually through redesigned laboratory experiences, faculty training, and new sustainability-focused learning pathways.

University of San Francisco

At the University of San Francisco, green chemistry is expanding into upper-division coursework. With support from this award, faculty will develop and pilot a new Experimental Biochemistry laboratory focused on the enzymatic synthesis of molecules such as capsinoids and indican, illustrating principles such as less-hazardous synthesis, safer solvents, and catalysis. The team will also create two biochemistry case studies and host a seminar speaker to strengthen connections between green chemistry and biochemistry across campus. Materials will later be shared through the Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community (GCTLC).

From the team at USF: “Funding from this award will enable us to make a concerted effort to develop green chemistry materials for our Biochemistry classes. While we have integrated concepts of green chemistry and sustainability into our lower-division lectures and labs for several years, we can now extend this commitment further into our upper-division classes, primarily Biochemistry. This area of the curriculum reaches all of our Chemistry majors as well as a significant number of Biology and pre-health students, making it a strategic focal point for expanding the impact of green chemistry education.”

Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala

At the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, second-year organic chemistry students will explore mechanochemistry as a greener alternative to traditional synthesis. The project introduces solvent-free extraction of natural products and chitosan from shrimp shell waste, reinforcing sustainable synthesis and waste valorization. Faculty and teaching assistants will receive training, and students will compare traditional and green methodologies throughout the academic year.

From the team at Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala: “This award is incredible news for our university! With this recognition, we will be able to introduce greener alternatives to create products and materials, while teaching our students that there are safer and more benign ways to carry out chemical reactions. This award will boost our green chemistry transformation and strengthen our commitment to sustainability in education and research.”

Chimie Verte Academy – Université Savoie Mont Blanc

Université Savoie Mont Blanc will launch the “Passport to the Green Chemistry Academy,” a structured pathway spanning L1–L3 designed to introduce undergraduates to green chemistry early and progressively. Through digital content, motion design videos, case studies, quizzes, industry visits, and roundtables with professionals, students will gain both theoretical grounding and real-world exposure. Digital badges aligned with GCC Student Learning Objectives will formally recognize their progress. The program will be piloted locally before expanding to partner universities.

From the team at Université Savoie Mont Blanc: “Because of this award, students will be exposed to green chemistry much earlier in their academic journey and will better understand how chemistry can address real sustainability challenges. Through the Passport to the Green Chemistry Academy, they will gain concrete experiences, digital recognition (badges), and direct interaction with researchers, industry, and master’s students. This will empower them to make informed choices about their studies and future careers in green chemistry.”

Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Nigeria

Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic will host a two-day flagship green chemistry program focused on both faculty development and student innovation. Faculty and laboratory staff will receive training in curriculum redesign, safer laboratory practices, and systems thinking. Students will launch the Student Sustainability Accelerator Hub (SSAH), engaging in innovation challenges, mentorship, and peer-led sustainability initiatives that encourage practical, low-cost green solutions.

From the team at Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic: “This award will expose our students to safer, more sustainable laboratory practices and empower them through peer-led innovation challenges and mentorship. It is our hope that this initiative will help them to grow into a new generation of environmentally conscious scientists and sustainability innovators.”

Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG)

At the Federal University of Minas Gerais, sustainability will become visible—and measurable—in undergraduate teaching laboratories. The university will install waterless condensers and water-recycling systems to replace conventional water-cooled apparatus, thereby significantly reducing water consumption. Faculty and technical staff will receive training to ensure long-term use and maintenance, and water usage will be monitored to quantify environmental impact and cost savings.

From the team at UFMG: “This award will have a transformative impact on our undergraduate chemistry laboratories by enabling hands-on implementation of green chemistry principles at scale. By reducing water consumption and modernizing laboratory infrastructure, our students will directly experience how sustainability and high-quality chemical education go hand in hand. This project will empower future scientists to integrate environmental responsibility into their professional practice.”

University of Groningen

The University of Groningen is taking a data-driven approach to sustainable laboratory behavior. Through a controlled study across 12 teaching labs, the team will test behavioral interventions designed to increase students’ confidence in acting sustainably and strengthen positive lab norms. Students will set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) sustainability goals, use checklists, and collaborate on collective objectives, while researchers monitor energy use, water consumption, chemical waste, and consumables to measure impact.

From the team at University of Groningen: “The award allows us to demonstrate, in measurable terms, how educational labs can genuinely reduce their footprint without compromising learning outcomes. Our proposal combines behavioral interventions from environmental psychology with objective laboratory metrics. This integration offers a unique opportunity to establish an evidence base that connects educational practices, behavioral change, and quantifiable environmental benefits.”

Chinhoyi University of Technology

Chinhoyi University of Technology will convene a Green Chemistry and Sustainability Challenge engaging three faculties and hundreds of students. Participants will identify current processes or products that can be improved through green and sustainable approaches, developing practical solutions that emphasize innovation, teamwork, and systems thinking. The initiative also includes participation in GreenChemAfrica to strengthen regional collaboration.

From the team at Chinhoyi University of Technology: “This award will benefit my students by strengthening their training in green chemistry and sustainable scientific practice. Our proposed project will provide students with a practical platform to design and test environmentally friendly chemical processes, encouraging innovation, teamwork, and critical thinking.”

University of Washington Bothell

At the University of Washington Bothell, first-year chemistry students will participate in community-engaged green chemistry research directly within their general chemistry laboratory courses. Advanced undergraduates and faculty will develop a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) aligned with the GCC Student Learning Objectives. Students will monitor North Creek, a local waterway on campus, connecting laboratory learning to environmental stewardship and institutional sustainability efforts.

From the team at University of Washington Bothell: “This award will allow our students to participate in community-engaged green chemistry research directly within their general chemistry laboratory courses. Integrating a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) into a first-year class provides a high-impact learning opportunity at the very start of students’ academic journeys. Because CUREs have been shown to increase students’ confidence and persistence in STEM fields, embedding this model in an introductory course ensures that these benefits reach a broader and more diverse group of students.”

Harvey Mudd College

Harvey Mudd College will develop and implement a new multi-part green polymer and bioconjugation experiment in its Organic I laboratory course. Students will synthesize and functionalize polymers using safer reagents and greener solvents, reflect on sustainability considerations, and characterize their products using advanced analytical techniques. The work will be presented at the Green Chemistry Gordon Research Conference and shared more broadly to support adoption by other institutions.

From the team at Harvey Mudd College: “This grant will enable our team of students and faculty to develop a new, multi-part green chemistry experiment for our organic laboratory course focused on the synthesis and functionalization of polymers. It will also help us share this innovative work at an international green chemistry conference and publish it so other green chemists can use it in their own courses.”

University of Hawai‘i Maui College

The University of Hawai‘i Maui College will deepen green chemistry integration across its curriculum by implementing new green laboratory modules. Faculty participation in the 49th RASBQ Conference in São Paulo will support global engagement and inform the development of modern, engaging instructional materials that emphasize safer laboratory practices and sustainability.

From the team at University of Hawaii Maui College: “This award provides helpful support for our efforts to integrate sustainable science at UHMC. It assists in our transition toward safer laboratory practices and helps ensure our students are exposed to environmentally responsible chemistry.”

University of California, Berkeley

At the University of California, Berkeley, the focus is on preparing future science teachers. The team has designed an online unit that integrates green chemistry and laboratory safety for preservice educators. The unit will be piloted, assessed, and refined through a design-based research cycle, with validated tools measuring gains in green chemistry knowledge, lab safety understanding, and teaching confidence. Classroom observations will help evaluate how green chemistry can be implemented effectively to support student learning.

From the team at UC Berkeley: “This grant will help support pre-service science teachers in not only learning valuable lab safety skills through tangible examples, but learning how green chemistry and lab safety support each other and how they can easily be integrated into existing curricula. Through studying how pre-service teachers are learning lab safety and green chemistry, we aim to build on the existing work and guidance for lab safety and green chemistry courses to continue to improve science education for all.”

How to get involved:

• Not yet a Green Chemistry Commitment (GCC) signer? Bring the GCC to your higher ed institution to unlock opportunities for professional development, funding, and more while expanding green chemistry education.
• Subscribe to the Beyond Benign newsletter to be notified when applications open for the next batch of Green Chemistry Education Awards and stay up to date on other funding opportunities.
• Read more inspiring, replicable stories of green chemistry education in action.

We are inspired by this reflection from community member Seyed Mosayeb Daryanavard, Assistant Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Hormozgan (Iran) and a visiting researcher at Chiang Mai University (Thailand). In 2024, Seyed helped bring the Green Chemistry Commitment (GCC) to the University of Hormozgan, supporting the Department of Chemistry in integrating green chemistry principles and practices into its curriculum. Read more about Seyed’s green chemistry journey below!

Contributed by Seyed Mosayeb Daryanavard

My engagement with green chemistry did not begin with a formal project or an organizational requirement. It began much earlier, during my graduate studies, a path deeply influenced by the specific environmental conditions of southern Iran. Living on an Island (Qeshm) and coastal area like Bandar Abbas, where marine pollution, industrial activities, water scarcity, and ecosystem fragility are part of everyday reality, meant that chemistry never remained a purely theoretical science for me. Gradually, this simple but persistent question emerged: What kind of chemistry do we study, teach, and apply, and what impact does this chemistry have on the environment and society?

In the early years of my academic career in the chemistry department at the University of Hormozgan, green chemistry was not yet a structured part of the curriculum. However, I became increasingly interested in concepts such as waste prevention, the use of safer solvents, and environmentally friendly analytical methods. This interest gradually shaped not only my research path, but also my overall view of chemistry education. Over time, green chemistry became more than a research topic for me; it became a framework through which I evaluated laboratory practices, educational priorities, and the social responsibility of universities.

My collaboration with Beyond Benign was an important turning point in transforming these individual concerns into a collective and institutional effort. For the University of Hormozgan, joining Beyond Benign’s Green Chemistry Commitment (GCC) was not merely a symbolic act; it provided us with a common framework, a common language, and a sense of belonging to a global community that truly believes in the transformative power of green chemistry education. As the coordinator, I have seen firsthand how Beyond Benign functions not as an external observer but as a supportive partner for local change.

One of the most valuable aspects of working with Beyond Benign was that it encouraged us to think systematically, not as a piecemeal effort. Rather than seeing green chemistry as simply an “add-on” to existing courses or projects, we were encouraged to rethink the foundations of chemistry education and research. This perspective has led to deeper conversations within the chemistry department, among faculty and students, about the long-term implications of our choices in teaching, thesis guidance, and research design.

Over the past few years, this collaboration has led to tangible and meaningful changes in the chemistry department at the University of Hormozgan. Graduate research has become a particularly effective platform for implementing the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry. Between 2020 and 2025, more than 30 master’s theses directly incorporated one or more green chemistry principles, including the use of renewable resources, plant-based nanomaterials, heterogeneous catalysis, safer solvents, and environmental pollution monitoring related to regional challenges. Importantly, these projects were not imposed in a prescriptive manner, but rather emerged from conversations with students. Many students gradually came to see green chemistry not as a limitation but as a scientifically rich and socially meaningful approach. At the faculty level, the Beyond Benign framework also helped foster interdisciplinary collaboration. Researchers working in environmental monitoring, catalysis, nanomaterials, sustainable solvents, analytical chemistry, and chemistry education increasingly saw their work as interconnected components of a shared vision of sustainability.

For me, this period coincided with a deeper focus on green analytical chemistry, particularly in the development and application of green assessment tools such as AGREEprep. A central question gradually shaped my research path; one that still guides my work: How can the “greenness” of analytical methods be assessed quantitatively, transparently, and scientifically, without sacrificing analytical performance?

Education was another area where the impact of Beyond Benign was clearly visible. Courses such as Green Chemistry and the Environment, Green Analytical Chemistry, and Green Organic Synthesis were gradually revised to create a stronger link between theoretical principles and practical laboratory experience. Redesigning experiments to replace hazardous solvents with water, ionic liquids, or deep eutectic solvents was not always easy, especially given resource constraints. However, the educational value of these changes, both in terms of student safety and shaping their attitudes, was abundantly clear. The Beyond Benign philosophy assured us that even small, incremental changes can have lasting effects.

My journey in green chemistry did not end at the University of Hormozgan. Motivated to further develop my expertise in green analytical chemistry and sustainability assessment, I took the next step by joining Chiang Mai University, northern Thailand. This move allowed me to experience new research horizons, interact with new academic environments, and expand my work on green indicators, sustainability metrics, and comprehensive assessment frameworks. Encountering new colleagues, students, and academic cultures reaffirmed my belief that green chemistry thrives above all through dialogue and cross-border engagement.

Seyed Mosayeb Daryanavard (center) and Prof. Chalermpong Saenjum’s research group at a Green Analytical Chemistry Workshop at Chiang Mai University.

Continuing this path led to another milestone: being honored with an invitation from Prof. Muftah El-Nass to serve as a keynote speaker at the Qatar University Green Chemistry Symposium in December 2025. For me, this invitation was not only an academic honor but also a personal confirmation of the coherence and meaning of this path, from local activities at the University of Hormozgan to participation in international dialogues. This experience demonstrated that a sustained commitment to green chemistry and analytical chemistry, along with the support of our institutions, Beyond Benign can pave the way for new conversations and collaborations.

Seyed Mosayeb Daryanavard speaking at the Green Chemistry Symposium at Qatar University.

On a more personal level, working with Beyond Benign has also changed the way I view the role of a faculty member. Today, I see myself not simply as a researcher or lecturer, but as a mediator between the global principles of sustainability and the local realities of higher education. Beyond Benign’s support, flexibility, and openness to diverse institutional contexts created a space where experimentation, rethinking, and incremental progress were not only permitted but encouraged.

When I look back over the years, I see progress not just in the number of courses, theses, or reports, but in changing attitudes. Green chemistry at the University of Hormozgan is no longer an abstract or imported concept, but has become a practical, indigenous approach shaped by the environmental needs of the region and the scientific capacities of the university. This experience also explains why I continue to focus on developing green assessment matrices today: Without transparent and reliable tools to measure progress, even the sincerest green efforts may go unnoticed.

My motivation to continue on this path and to continue working with Beyond Benign stems from a shared understanding: that green chemistry is not a final, fixed paradigm, but a dynamic, evolving process. It is kept alive by continuous learning, engaging with new people, and forming new partnerships. I am eager to continue on this path, take on new challenges, and seek to build partnerships that contribute to a more responsible, reflective, and sustainable future for chemistry.

— Seyed Mosayeb Daryanavard
Assistant Prof., University of Hormozgan, Iran
Visiting Researcher, Chiang Mai University, Thailand
s.m.daryanavard@gmail.com

How to get involved:

• Connect with Seyed Mosayeb Daryanavard on the Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community (GCTLC), a free online platform for connecting with the global community.
• 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.
• Subscribe to Beyond Benign’s newsletter for the latest updates from the green chemistry community.

Beyond Benign has been awarded a five-year, $1.83 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Undergraduate Education (IUSE Program). The funding will support the launch of the Green Chemistry Professional Mentoring Networks (PMNs) — a national initiative designed to help undergraduate chemistry educators integrate safer, more sustainable practices into their teaching.

Led by Dr. Amy Cannon, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Beyond Benign, with Co-Principal Investigators Dr. Jonathon Moir and Dr. Nikita Burrows of Monmouth University, the project will establish a network-based professional development model reaching educators across the country.

A National Framework to Strengthen Green Chemistry Education

Over the next five years, Beyond Benign will develop and lead 16 Professional Mentoring Networks, engaging approximately 160 faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, and instructors from a diverse range of U.S. higher-education institutions, including primarily undergraduate institutions and two-year colleges. Each network will focus on one of the four learning objectives of the Green Chemistry Commitment:

• Theory: Understanding the Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry

• Toxicology: Evaluating molecular hazards and human and environmental health impacts

• Laboratory Skills: Designing and analyzing greener chemical processes and materials

• Application: Integrating sustainable chemistry into real-world and industrial contexts

Participants will meet virtually every two weeks during an academic term and participate in two summer learning summits (one virtual and one in-person) to deepen collaboration, share challenges, and develop actionable teaching practices. Networks will be co-led by experienced faculty mentors who guide community-building, curriculum redesign, and implementation throughout the year.

The project also provides funding for curriculum materials development, participant travel, and conference engagement for PMN leaders.

The NSF award comes at a pivotal moment: Green chemistry is becoming a core expectation in the American Chemical Society’s updated accreditation guidelines. As undergraduate programs adapt, the need for robust educator support — particularly around curriculum redesign and faculty training — has never been greater.

Beyond Benign will also lead an educational research study examining how mentoring networks influence faculty behavior, curriculum transformation, and departmental culture change. Using surveys, reflective journals, interviews, and field observations, the research team will evaluate how educators become long-term leaders in green chemistry at their institutions.

Findings will be shared through publications, conferences, and Beyond Benign’s Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community (GCTLC) platform, strengthening knowledge-sharing and expanding access to best practices across the field.

With this NSF investment, Beyond Benign deepens its leadership in building a more sustainable, safe, and workforce-ready future for chemistry education. The Green Chemistry Professional Mentoring Networks will expand opportunities for faculty nationwide to grow their expertise, strengthen departmental programs, and prepare students to design chemical products and processes that are safer for people and the planet.