GCEdNet

Members of the academic community have joined to form the Green Chemistry Education Network (GCEdNet). The members are working together to facilitate the development of new educational materials in the area of green chemistry by creating regional networks of "ambassador sites" focused on collaborative curriculum development. Gordon College is a founding member and part of the New England ambassador site. The goal of the GCEdNet is to coordinate curriculum development efforts at high schools, community colleges, and universities.

The incorporation of green chemistry principles into chemistry curriculum has fueled a fundamentally new approach to the teaching of chemistry that incorporates inherent safety and environmental responsibility within scientific practice and the curriculum.

A key to sustaining the development of new educational materials is to actively involve educators from across the country and around the world in developing these materials. This community-based approach not only enhances the capabilities of the members through the exchange of knowledge and experience, but also provides unique opportunities for innovation and rapid change. As a result, a growing number of high school, community college and university faculty who have adopted the curriculum and are now contributing to the development of new educational materials.

A part of this network is the GEMs database at the University of Oregon. The database is designed to "build community" and reduce barriers when adopting green chemistry. Educators can access the database and incorporate Green Chemistry into their own curriculum.  

This publication, a part of the ACS Symposium Series, was co-edited by Professor Levy along with Paul Anastas and Kathryn Parent, who are well known proponents of green chemistry.

"Educators have recognized that Green Chemistry principles and practice have not been a part of traditional training in chemistry, and are not part of the skill sets of most practicing chemists. Leaders in Green Chemistry education have developed a wide range of new approaches, courses, tools, and materials that have been introduced and demonstrated in the chemistry curriculum in colleges and universities.

This ACS Symposium Series Book collects the current research and advances in the field of green chemistry, with an emphasis on providing educators with the knowledge and tools needed to incorporate recent information about this field into the chemistry curriculum. Given the current interest in green chemistry, this timely book provides an invaluable snapshot of green chemistry education."

Excerpted from the publisher, Oxford University Press.

Irv Ley and former faculty member Ron Kay have a chapter in the book titled: Student-Motivated Endeavors Advancing Green Organic Literacy

 Green Chemistry Education: Changing the Course of Chemistry (ACS Symposium Series)
by Paul T. Anastas (Editor), Irvin J. Levy (Editor), Kathryn E. Parent (Editor)
Oxford University Press, 2009
Hardcover, 232 pages

from Chemical and Engineering News (C&EN), September 8, 2008, Volume 86, Number 36 pp. 64-66

The Ivory Tower Goes Green
Green chemistry in the curriculum boosts student interest in science

By Corinne Marasco

A FEW YEARS AGO one of Irv Levy's students told him she wanted to write her organic chemistry research paper on green chemistry. Levy was skeptical. He didn't think green chemistry sounded like "real chemistry." "It sounded like touchy-feely tree hugging," he recalls. "I recommended that she consider another topic, but she insisted." So he reluctantly agreed.

In the meantime, Levy, an organic chemistry professor at Gordon College, in Wenham, Mass., attended a panel discussion on green chemistry at the 2003 American Chemical Society national meeting in New Orleans, prompted by his student's interest. He says he came out of the session with a totally new outlook.

"I felt like my career had changed," he says. "Green chemistry went from two words to something that I couldn't ignore." He was so motivated by the session that he applied to attend a workshop on green chemistry in education at the University of Oregon, an experience he calls "transformational."

Gordon College is a member of the Green Chemistry Education Network (GCEdNet), a clearinghouse for green chemistry educational materials created by Julie A. Haack of the University of Oregon (see C&EN, May 28, 2007, page 38). GCEdNet is made up of regional networks of "ambassador sites," where peer-led teams collaborate to develop and disseminate curriculum materials. Because of its high concentration
of colleges and universities integrating green chemistry principles in
their science classes, New England is one of GCEdNet's four
ambassador sites.

The full article can be found on the C&EN website.