Winners of the 2024 “Teaching Green Fellowship” and “Rising Star in Green Chemistry Education Award”

[ACSGCI]

By David A. Laviska, Portfolio Manager for Green Chemistry and Sustainability in Education, ACS Green Chemistry Institute

We're thrilled to announce the winners of the inaugural "Teaching Green Fellowship" and "Rising Star in Green Chemistry Award" recipients. Sponsored by the ACS Campaign for a Sustainable Future through the Green Chemistry Institute, these awards recognize outstanding achievements of green chemistry educators.

By David A. Laviska, Portfolio Manager for Green Chemistry and Sustainability in Education, ACS Green Chemistry Institute

2024 Teaching Green Fellowship

The Green Chemistry Institute is proud to announce that Loyd Bastin, Ph.D. (Widener University) is the winner of the inaugural “Teaching Green Fellowship” for 2024. Sponsored by the ACS Campaign for a Sustainable Future through the Green Chemistry Institute, this fellowship is given to a pedagogical innovator who has reimagined one or more parts of the chemistry curriculum to better prepare students for future careers in which they can work toward addressing grand global challenges such as those addressed by the U.N. SDGs. “Reimagining” includes developing, piloting, deploying, and documenting significant curricular innovations involving the fundamental tenets of green chemistry and/or sustainability. Curricula can include material for teaching at the undergraduate level in traditional lecture classes, laboratory classes, and/or other non-traditional modes of instruction where student success has been demonstrated convincingly. The award consists of a plaque, $10,000 for faculty summer salary, $5,000 for summer stipend(s) for student(s) working in conjunction with faculty on the development of greener curriculum materials, and travel support for the awardee and one student to attend the annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference (GC&E) to receive the award and speak at an invited awards symposium.

Dr. Loyd Bastin, Widener UniversityDr. Bastin is the Associate Dean of Science, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Coordinator of Undergraduate Research at Widener University where he has taught Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Sustainability since 2004. He has engaged more than 50 undergraduates in research projects related to the development of greener methods for synthesizing pharmaceuticals and the development of new greener laboratory experiments for the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. Dr. Bastin has dedicated his academic career to the incorporation of sustainability and research into the undergraduate curriculum. He has several peer-reviewed articles and book chapters discussing the incorporation of sustainability, environmental justice, political advocacy and green chemistry into the curriculum. He has co-edited the book Integration of Green and Sustainability Chemistry Principles into Education and two special issues on Advances in Green Chemistry Education in Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews.

2024 Rising Stars in Green Chemistry Education

We are also delighted to announce that two outstanding early-career faculty have been selected as winners of the inaugural “Rising Star in Green Chemistry Education Award”. The winners for 2024 are Rebecca Haley, Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin – River Falls) and Michael Wentzel, Ph.D. (Augsburg University). Sponsored by the ACS Campaign for a Sustainable Future through the Green Chemistry Institute, this award is meant to recognize outstanding early-career scholars who have committed to a significant focus on green chemistry and/or sustainability in curricula for teaching chemistry, chemical engineering, or a closely related field. Early-career scholars who have committed to a significant focus on green chemistry and/or sustainability in their curricula for teaching are eligible. Curricula can include material for teaching traditional lecture classes, laboratory classes, and/or other non-traditional modes of instruction if student success has been demonstrated convincingly. Mentoring and apprenticeship in the research laboratory is also considered, if research outcomes are directly tied to the fundamental tenets of green chemistry and student development and training are valued and measurable. Two awards are given annually and consist of a plaque, a $1,000 honorarium, and travel support for the awardee and one student (up to $2,000 each) to attend the annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference (GC&E) to receive the award and present their work at an invited awards symposium.

Dr. Rebecca Haley, University of Wisconsin – River FallsRebecca Haley is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UWRF). She teaches organic chemistry courses, leads a team of research students, and is the coordinator for the Peer Led Team Learning program for General Chemistry I. She is dedicated to centering undergraduate students in the learning process, and to support this work, she participated in the Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars program as a fellow for the 2022-23 year, and in 2023 was granted a Dr. Keith G. Wurtz award that recognizes outstanding and innovating teachers at UWRF. Dr. Haley is committed to incorporating green chemistry in the undergraduate curriculum and has designed several standalone green chemistry courses, both for in-person and online instruction. These green chemistry courses help students develop a deeper understanding of how to incorporate green chemistry and systems thinking into their fields of interest. In the lab, Dr. Haley and her team work on modifying reactions that traditionally use toxic solvents for carbon-carbon bond formation by leveraging mechanochemistry. Most recently, they have been working on cross-electrophile coupling (XEC) reactions with the help of an Undergraduate New Investigator Grant from the ACS Petroleum Research Fund. Dr. Haley earned her degrees in chemistry from University of Cincinnati (Ph.D.) and Wheeling Jesuit University (B.S.).

Dr. Michael Wentzel, Augsburg University

Michael Wentzel is a Professor of Chemistry at Augsburg University. He completed his undergraduate studies at Creighton University, his M.S. at the University of Pennsylvania, and his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota. These institutions and professors inspired a passion for green chemistry beginning with his first research experience developing an environmentally friendly amidation reaction. His research incorporates green chemistry principles into organic reaction development and chemical education. Numerous students, collaborators, and mentors make this work possible. His passion is to educate and mentor students in the classroom, laboratory, research settings, and beyond and inspire them to become strong chemists with a sense of purpose and service to others.

To learn more about these and other green chemistry awards that the ACS Green Chemistry Institute® offers, please visit our website.