SGC graduate students awarded UMN Systemwide Sustainability Collaborative Team Impact Award

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (06/01/2023) – The graduate students of the Sustainable and Green Chemistry (SGC) Committee have been awarded the 2023 University of Minnesota Systemwide Sustainability Collaborative Team Impact Award. The award recognizes student collaborations from all campuses who have made significant contributions to UMN and local communities in helping create a more sustainable and just future. The award provides $1,000 in funding for the group to continue developing and integrating green chemistry into the research and community culture of the Department of Chemistry. The team that earned the award includes Brylon Denman, Christopher LaSalle, Marianne Meyersohn, Mayuri Porwal, Emily Prebihalo, and Nathan Rackstraw. The award recipients were recognized at the 2023 Sustainability Symposium on April 14th, 2023. 

"We are super thrilled to have won this award! We will use the money to continue our efforts in developing a green chemistry culture here at UMN. In the past year, we announced our committee with an interactive open house event, welcomed Dr. David Laviska of the ACS Green Chemistry Institute as a guest seminar speaker, and hosted a series of roundtable discussions led by graduate students that were centered around topics in green chemistry and sustainability. Keep an eye out for more events like these in the Fall!" – Nathan Rackstraw, SGC Committee co-chair

The Sustainable & Green Chemistry Committee strives to develop, promote, and foster a departmental culture of green and sustainable chemistry through integration into teaching, research, and community engagement. The SGC committee aims to equip UMN Chemistry students and researchers with the skills and mindset to be stewards in protecting the planet and to model the essential role of chemistry for a sustainable future. In March of this year, SGC Committee co-chair Professor Jane Wissinger told the story of the committee and green chemistry at UMN in an interview with Beyond Benign.