Communication pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
ConfChem Conference on Educating the Next Generation: Green and Sustainable ChemistryGreen Chemistry and Sustainability through the American Chemical Society Education Division and Committee on Environmental Improvement Laura E. Pence† and Mary M. Kirchhoff*,‡ †
Department of Chemistry, University of Hartford, West Hartford, Connecticut 06117, United States American Chemical Society Education Division, Washington, D.C. 20036, United States
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S Supporting Information *
ABSTRACT: The Education Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Joint Board/ Council ACS Committee on Environmental Improvement (CEI) have complementary roles in facilitating the incorporation of sustainability and green chemistry principles into the chemistry curriculum at multiple levels. The Education Division provides specific products such as the Chemistry in Context textbook, whose new edition features sustainability integrated throughout, and workshops in green chemistry. CEI crafts environmental policy statements for the Society and promotes the incorporation of sustainability into chemical education through joint programming with the Division of Chemical Education and through specifically targeted projects. This communication summarizes one of the invited papers to the ConfChem on Educating the Next Generation: Green and Sustainable Chemistry, held from May 7 to June 30, 2010 and hosted by the ACS DivCHED Committee on Computers in Chemical Education (CCCE). KEYWORDS: General Public, High School/Introductory Chemistry, First-Year Undergraduate/General, Second-Year Undergraduate, Upper-Division Undergraduate, Environmental Chemistry, Safety/Hazards, Green Chemistry, Professional Development
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screened at recent ACS National Meetings include One Water, Manufactured Landscapes, and Climate Ref ugees: The Human Face of Climate Change. Information on the environmental film series may be found in the national meeting technical program under CEI. CEI-sponsored mini-grants to ACS local sections5 serve to catalyze sustainability-related activities at the local level. For example, these grants can be used to support community outreach events, science cafés, and environmental education projects. CEI recently created a ChemLuminary award to recognize outstanding sustainability activities by a local section.6 An additional CEI award recognizes excellence in incorporating sustainability concepts into the chemistry curriculum.7 Award winners present their work at a special symposium during an ACS National Meeting, which highlights model efforts in sustainability education. One of the most important roles of the Committee on Environmental Improvement is developing environmentally related policy statements for adoption by the Society.8 Policy statements on topics such as climate change, biomonitoring, endocrine disruption, and sustainability of the chemical enterprise clearly state the Society’s position on these important issues and enable ACS to serve as an effective advocate with policymakers.
he United Nations (UN) recognized the importance of sustainability education by declaring 2005−2014 the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Through this decade, the UN “seeks to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning, to address the social, economic, cultural, and environmental problems we face in the 21st century.”1 The American Chemical Society (ACS) is strongly committed to sustainability, as articulated in its mission “To advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people.”2 A number of groups within the Society, including the Committee on Environmental Improvement (CEI)3 and the ACS Education Division,4 promote green chemistry and sustainability education in complementary ways. The Committee on Environmental Improvement seeks to be the central site within the Society for promoting sustainability and does so through a variety of mechanisms, including programming at ACS National Meetings. Programming at the 2010 Spring National Meeting in San Francisco in support of the theme “Chemistry for a Sustainable World” was coordinated by CEI and featured more than 1600 talks. Other thematic programming with a sustainability component includes the “Chemistry of Health” (fall 2012) and “Energy” (spring 2013). In addition, in 2009 CEI began organizing an environmental film festival at National Meetings. Films © 2013 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
Published: January 14, 2013 510
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public, and can be accessed at the CCCE Web site, http:// www.ccce.divched.org/.
The ACS Education Division serves learners and educators with a number of resources that emphasize sustainability and green chemistry concepts. The recently released 7th edition of the ACS textbook Chemistry in Context9 offers sustainability as the framework for the text, illustrating the many contributions of chemistry to sustainability. The 6th edition of Chemistry in the Community,10 also released in 2011, introduces high school students to a number of sustainability concepts, including resource depletion and green chemistry. The ACS magazine for high school students, ChemMatters,11 regularly features articles with a sustainability focus. Recent issues highlighted the use of carbonized chicken feathers to store hydrogen and greener approaches to farming. ACS offers a number of green chemistry resources that can be incorporated into the curriculum. Introduction to Green Chemistry12 is designed to introduce high school students to the key concepts of green chemistry. Greener Approaches to Undergraduate Chemistry Experiments13 presents greener alternatives to traditional labs, along with new experiments. Two volumes of Real-World Cases in Green Chemistry14,15 highlight the benefits of several Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award-winning technologies. The ACS symposium series offers two books, Green Chemistry Education: Changing the Course of Chemistry16 and Sustainability in the Chemistry Curriculum,17 which present perspectives on integrating green chemistry and sustainability into the curriculum. To raise awareness and understanding of green chemistry within the undergraduate community, ACS recognizes green student chapters as part of its recognition of excellence among ACS student chapters. The chapters are selected by the ACS Green Chemistry Institute based upon their annual reports, which include activities such as greening laboratory experiments, hosting a green chemistry speaker, and sharing green chemistry activities with local elementary and secondary schools. A signature program of ACS is the Summer School on Green Chemistry and Sustainable Energy, which immerses graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in a week of lectures, labs, and poster sessions focused on sustainability topics. This program has an international component, engaging students from the United States, Canada, and Latin America, because environmental issues know no borders. Since the program began in 2003, 601 graduate students and postdoctoral scholars have participated in the Summer School. The 2012 Summer School was held at the Colorado School of Mines with generous support from the ACS Petroleum Research Fund. The ACS employs many avenuesjournals, meetings, technical divisions, and governance bodiesin advancing sustainability and sustainability education. A sustainable chemical industry will require a skilled workforce, one that is able to design and deploy products and processes that are better for human health and the environment. The programs and activities of the Committee on Environmental Improvement and the ACS Education Division support the Society’s vision of “Improving people’s lives through the transforming power of chemistry” by educating today’s chemical practitioners for tomorrow’s sustainable future. This paper was discussed from May 7−13 during the spring 2010 ConfChem online conference, Educating the Next Generation: Green and Sustainable Chemistry. ConfChem conferences are hosted by the ACS DivCHED Committee on Computers in Chemical Education (CCCE), are open to the
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ASSOCIATED CONTENT
S Supporting Information *
Full paper from the ConfChem conference. This material is available via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail: m_kirchhoff@acs.org. Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
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REFERENCES
(1) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-theinternational-agenda/education-for-sustainable-development/threeterms-one-goal/ (accessed Nov 2012). (2) American Chemical Society. http://strategy.acs.org/ (accessed Nov 2012). (3) Committee on Environmental Improvement. http://portal.acs. org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ TRANSITIONMAIN&node_id=44&use_sec=false&sec_url_var= region1&__uuid=15f8bf8a-a7cf-4d38-b400-276b0680daad (accessed Nov 2012). (4) American Chemical Society Education Division. www.acs.org/ education (accessed Nov 2012). (5) Grants Available for Local Section Sustainability Programming. http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_ pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=1917&content_id= WPCP_012792&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid= 3a7f22ae-59b0-45c3-9d2b-10006ba94953 (accessed Nov 2012). (6) ACS ChemLuminary Award for Sustainability http://portal.acs. org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=44&content_id=CNBP_026004&use_ sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=b01ca8f5-5bed-44a2-9d5f23596c147c7f (accessed Nov 2012). (7) ACS CEI Award for Incorporating Sustainability into Chemical Education http://portal.acs.org/portal/PublicWebSite/about/ governance/committees/cei/activities/CNBP_024461 (accessed Nov 2012). (8) ACS Positions on Policy Issues http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/ corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ TRANSITIONMAIN&node_id=213&use_sec=false&sec_url_var= region1&__uuid=88627dae-9074-4e12-aece-eec72978d9dc (accessed Nov 2012). (9) Middlecamp, C. H.; Keller, S. W.; Anderson, K. L.; Bentley, A. K.; Cann, M. C.; Ellis, J. P. Chemistry in Context; A Project of the American Chemical Society; McGraw-Hill: New York, 2012. (10) Chemistry in the Community; A Project of the American Chemical Society; W. H. Freeman; New York, 2012. (11) ChemMatters, www.acs.org/chemmatters (accessed Nov 2012). (12) Introduction to Green Chemistry. Ryan, M. A., Tinnesand, M., Eds.; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2002. (13) Greener Approaches to Undergraduate Chemistry Experiments. Kirchhoff, M.; Ryan, M. A., Eds. American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2002. (14) Cann, M. C.; Connelly, M. E. Real-World Cases in Green Chemistry. American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2000. (15) Cann, M. C.; Umile, T. P. Real-World Cases in Green Chemistry Volume II. American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2008. (16) Anastas, P. T.; Levy, I. J.; Parent, K. E., Eds. Green Chemistry Education: Changing the Course of Chemistry. American Chemical Society Symposium Series 1011: Washington, DC, 2009. 511
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(17) Middlecamp, C.; Jorgensen, A. Sustainability in the Chemistry Curriculum. American Chemical Society Symposium Series 1087: Washington, DC, 2012.
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