Grad students to lead national symposium on 'green' chemistry

Seven chemistry graduate students will direct an all-day symposium on “Transitioning into Green Chemistry” at the American Chemical Society national meeting in Philadelphia in August.

The students, all Ph.D. candidates, will present speakers and organize a research poster session and exhibition at the national meeting, which is expected to attract 14,000 top professionals from academia and the chemical industry.

The chemistry graduate student group, part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, was chosen to lead the graduate student symposium when their proposal to explore green chemistry won a competition among universities around the country.

“We went through a lot of different topics,” says Christine Cardillo, a member of the group. “This was something we felt passionate about.”

Interest is growing in green chemistry, which finds “environmentally friendly” alternatives to procedures and materials used in chemical laboratories and industrial processes.

The students have prepared their program over the past year and a half, visiting other American Chemical Society national meetings and learning the ropes from student groups that preceded them.

“This is a monumental effort,” says Tyson Miller, an assistant professor of chemistry and chemical education, who advises them.

“When graduate students are involved in this type of endeavor, they learn about networking, fund raising, and programming at national meetings.”

All are skills that they can later use on the job, whether they work in industrial or academic settings.

As the organizers of this year’s national graduate student symposium, the UConn students got to select next year’s team, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and mentor them.

“It’s given us good experience, working as a committee and coming to decisions together,” says Cardillo.