Ask the Innovators: What should Green Chemistry Education look like?

[laurahoch]

As has been stated several times on this thread so far, working with industry is important in order best prepare students for their future careers in (hopefully green) chemistry. What has been done to engage with members of industry in developing this road map? How can educators make sure they are staying current with the changing needs of industry?

[jhutch]

They also help us determine whether the overarching core competencies serve to capture the details that will be necessary for the roadmap.  They are not comprehensive and will change over time.

[dcamike]

I can see how that would be difficult, from getting student awareness and interest (since they haven't been exposed to those complexities and may not be aware that they even exist), to getting the right skills aligned to teach such a curriculum! We're very silo'd in industry so it's even difficult there to realize the degree of impact outside one's responsibilities that something as seemingly minor as replacing one substance with another (more often it's "replacing one set of substances with another set of substances") in a product will have.

[ejbeckman]

There are industry representatives serving on the panels that are crafting the roadmap; industry input is very important to making the roadmap relevant to the future of green chemistry education. Regarding the second part of the question, the chemical enterprise is amalgamation of a host of different industries, from chemicals for electronic widgets to personal care products. Staying in touch with the needs of each group is challenging, given that they tend to cluster – each group holds their own conferences, which, although perhaps not as technical as a traditional ACS National meeting, does provide an entrée in to their needs. The bottom line is that like any foray into staying abreast of the needs of a potential customer, one needs to talk to the customer!

[#5]

How can non-chemists get involved with this project? What interdisciplinary work exists?

[#6]

Hi Kendra,  I case you are still interested, the 2nd co-hosted Careers in Green Chemistry webinar is located here.  If ones are done in the future, they are likely going to be on the GC3 Education page.