Welcome to Beyond Benign’s 2026 Connections Collection—a curated library of recorded conversations featuring educators, researchers, students, and sustainability leaders from across the global green chemistry community. This collection brings together practical ideas, emerging research, and real-world examples you can apply in classrooms, laboratories, outreach programs, and institutional initiatives.

Across the series, speakers explore topics ranging from mechanochemistry and marine waste valorization to student engagement, sustainable lab management, outreach, conservation science, and systems-level change in higher education. Each session offers actionable insights alongside new perspectives on how green chemistry can help shape safer, healthier, and more sustainable systems.

The recordings featured here are drawn from the 2025–2026 Green Chemistry Connections webinar series hosted by Beyond Benign.

EXPLORE THE COLLECTION

Advocating for Green Chemistry: Engaging Faculty and Administrators

Faculty and academic leaders share practical strategies for advancing green chemistry initiatives through curriculum development, cross-campus collaboration, administrative engagement, and institutional planning.

• Integrating Green Chemistry at Georgia Gwinnett College | Dr. Omar Villanueva and Prof. Cynthia Woodbridge discuss curriculum development, faculty collaboration, and Georgia Gwinnett College’s Green Chemistry Commitment efforts.
• Embedding Green Chemistry Into Institutional Strategy | Prof. Stephanie MacQuarrie shares how Cape Breton University incorporated green chemistry principles into strategic planning and cross-departmental collaboration.
• Sustainability, Biomimicry, and Regenerative Design | Prof. Jeffrey León-Pulido highlights how Universidad EAN is advancing sustainability through biomimicry, hands-on student projects, and partnerships with Beyond Benign.

Bridging Science & Society: Green Chemistry Outreach

Green chemistry outreach can take many forms, from teacher workshops and STEM camps to community events and hands-on demonstrations. In this session, speakers share programs designed to make green chemistry more accessible, engaging, and impactful beyond the classroom.

• It’s Easy Being Green… in Any Classroom | Dr. Danielle Garrett shares a teacher professional development program focused on greener, safer, and budget-friendly chemistry labs for secondary science classrooms at Belmont University.
• Green Chemistry Outreach Program: Treat the Earth with Respect | Dr. Tsvetanka Filipova highlights hands-on outreach efforts, demonstrations, and teacher engagement through a long-running green chemistry outreach program at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
• From Classroom to Community: Bringing Green Chemistry to Life | Ms. Faith Sutu Patrick-Inezi discusses STEM camps, educator workshops, student organizations, and community outreach initiatives at the University of Calabar.
• Whimsy With Purpose in Green Chemistry Outreach | Dr. Marta Guron shares creative approaches to one-off outreach events and audience engagement at the University of Pennsylvania.

Getting Involved: Amplifying Student Engagement

Student-led initiatives are helping expand green chemistry engagement across campuses, professional networks, and local communities. This session highlights collaborative programs, advocacy efforts, and leadership opportunities driven by students and early-career researchers.

• Student Leadership Through the Green Chemistry Initiative | Megan Goss highlights collaborative student projects, grant-funded initiatives, and community engagement efforts at the University of York.
• Building Green Chemistry Community at the University of Toronto | Samihat Rahman and Karolina Rabeda share the history, growth, and ongoing initiatives of the University of Toronto’s Green Chemistry Initiative.
• Student Advocacy and the Green Chemistry Commitment | Anietie Williams discusses the student-led Green Chemistry Initiative at the University of Connecticut and its role in supporting the university’s Green Chemistry Commitment signing.
• Green Chemistry Summer School and International Collaboration | Prof. Fabio Aricò shares insights from the ACS Green Chemistry Summer School, focusing on sustainability, education, and international collaboration.
• Building Community Through ACS GCI | Dr. David Laviska highlights resources, partnerships, and student engagement opportunities supported by the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute.

Building Better Labs: Sustainability in Lab Management

Teaching and research labs are finding new ways to reduce waste, improve efficiency, and strengthen sustainability without compromising safety or learning outcomes. In this session, speakers share practical strategies for greener lab management, resource conservation, and integrating sustainability into teaching and research environments.

• Greener Undergraduate Labs in Practice | Dr. Michelle Mills shares practical strategies for integrating green chemistry and sustainability into undergraduate labs at the University of Victoria, including solvent substitutions, scaled-down procedures, and reuse and recycling efforts between lab courses.
• Sustainable Lab Operations and Resource Reduction | Kristin Daws highlights sustainable lab management initiatives at Ohio Northern University, including ventilation upgrades, water conservation, and reuse and recycling programs.
• Lab Greening as a Global Movement | Dr. Una FitzGerald discusses certification frameworks, stakeholder engagement, and collaborative sustainability efforts through initiatives like the Irish Green Labs Network at the University of Galway.

Molecules & Masterpieces: The Chemistry of Art & Conservation

Art conservation depends on chemistry in ways many people never see—from pigment analysis and solvent selection to the preservation of cultural heritage collections. In this session, speakers explore the science behind art conservation, sustainable preservation practices, and creative ways to connect chemistry education with museums and cultural heritage collections.

• Spectroscopy, Pigments, and Art Conservation | Prof. Kristin L. Wustholz explores how ultra-sensitive analytical tools can support art conservation while minimizing waste and reducing the need for destructive sampling at William and Mary.
• Greener Solvents for Cultural Heritage Conservation | Dr. Michael Doutre discusses solvent use in cultural heritage conservation and frameworks for evaluating safer and more sustainable alternatives through his work with Parks Canada.
• Museums as a Tool for Chemistry Education | Prof. Kevin L. Braun shares museum-centered projects and interdisciplinary learning approaches that connect chemistry to real-world artifacts and cultural heritage at Virginia Military Institute.

Mechanochemistry: Bringing Momentum to the Solid State

Mechanochemistry is opening new possibilities for greener synthesis by reducing solvent use and expanding how chemists approach reactions in research and teaching laboratories. In this session, speakers explore sustainable synthesis methods, low-solvent laboratory approaches, and new opportunities for integrating mechanochemistry into undergraduate education and research.

• Shake It Up or Let It Be | Prof. Audrey Moores introduces mechanochemistry as an alternative to solvent-based chemistry and shares research on biomass valorization, shell waste processing, and sustainable materials synthesis at McGill University.
• Chemically and Financially Sustainable Methods for Synthesis | Prof. Isaiah Speight discusses low-cost mechanochemical tools, greener undergraduate labs, and reaction vessel design that improves accessibility and reduces waste at William and Mary.
• Mechanochemistry in the Undergraduate Teaching Laboratory | Prof. John De Backere explores published teaching examples, mechanochemical lab setups, and opportunities for helping students engage with green chemistry principles and metrics at the University of Toronto.

Blue Chemistry: The Way of Water

From marine waste valorization to international chemicals policy, speakers in this session explore how green chemistry can support healthier oceans, reduce aquatic pollution, and advance more sustainable chemical systems.

• Tides of Change: Where Green Chemistry Meets the Living Ocean | Prof. Francesca Kerton shares research on seaweed, shellfish, crustacean, and fish waste valorization, highlighting how green chemistry can support circularity, pollution reduction, and coastal economic development at Memorial University of Newfoundland.
• How the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions Help Protect Our Oceans | Jost Dittkrist discusses how international agreements addressing hazardous chemicals and waste support ocean protection, pollution prevention, and the advancement of green and sustainable chemistry through global policy and collaboration.
  

Building Your Path: Sustainability Careers Beyond Academia

Sustainability and green chemistry careers can take many forms beyond traditional academic pathways. In this session, speakers share how they built careers across industry, conservation science, and the pharmaceutical sector while advancing sustainability through their everyday work.

• Sustainability: Every Career Can Make an Impact | Suellen dos Santos Frank shares her career journey across chemistry, engineering, hazardous materials reduction, and sustainability at The Boeing Company, highlighting the importance of systems thinking, communication, and embedding sustainability into daily decision-making.
• Conservation and Science: A Career in Chemistry and Culture | Dr. Gregory Dale Smith explores the field of cultural heritage chemistry and the role of chemistry in art conservation, museum research, and sustainability challenges within the museum sector at The Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields.
• Green Chemistry at Pfizer: Our Commitment to Sustainability | Dr. Paul Richardson discusses sustainability efforts in the pharmaceutical industry, including waste reduction, solvent selection, and greener medicinal chemistry practices through work at Pfizer and the ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable.

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DIVE DEEPER

Interested in bringing green chemistry to your own institution? Explore the Green Chemistry Commitment (GCC) and connect with educators, resources, and collaborative opportunities through the Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community (GCTLC) to help move your work forward.