Opening & Closing Sessions
The perfect bookends of
insight, inspiration, and motivation
Opening & Closing Sessions
Opening Session: Green Chemistry — The Missing Elements
Tuesday, October 15
8:00 a.m.-9:30 a.m. MT
John Warner, John C. Warner Green Chemistry, LLC
Imagine a world where all segments of society demanded environmentally benign climate neutral products! Imagine if all consumers, all retailers and all manufacturers insisted on buying and selling only non-toxic truly sustainable materials! The unfortunate reality is that, even if this situation were to occur, our knowledge of materials science and chemistry would allow us to provide only a small fraction of the necessary products and materials that our economy is based upon. Unfortunately, the way we learn and teach chemistry and materials science in academia is for the most part void of any information regarding mechanisms of toxicity and environmental harm. Green Chemistry is a science that seeks to reduce or eliminate the use of hazardous materials at the design stage of a materials process. It has been demonstrated that materials and products CAN be designed with negligible impact on human health and the environment while still being economically competitive and successful in the marketplace. This presentation will describe the history and background of Green Chemistry and discuss the opportunities for the next generation of materials designers to create a safer and more sustainable future.
About John Warner
John Warner is one of the founders of the field of green chemistry. He wrote the book that provides the definition and 12 principles of green chemistry with Paul Anastas in 1998. As an industrial chemist, he has over 350 patents and has worked with hundreds of companies worldwide and serves on the sustainability advisory boards of several multinational companies. He received the Perkin Medal in 2014 from The Society of Industrial Chemistry. As an academic, he was a tenured full professor of chemistry and a tenured full professor of plastics engineering at the University of Massachusetts where he started the world’s first PhD program in Green Chemistry. He has over 120 publications in synthetic methodologies, noncovalent derivatization, polymer photochemistry, metal oxide semiconductors and green chemistry. In 2004 he received the Presidential Award for excellence in science mentoring (PAESMEM) from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and President George W Bush and in 2022 he received the August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal from the German Chemical Society.
As an inventor, John’s inventions have led to the founding of many companies in the fields of photovoltaics, neurochemistry, construction materials, water harvesting and cosmetics. In 2016 he received the Lemelson Invention Ambassadorship from the Lemelson Foundation and the American Association for the Advancement of the Sciences (AAAS). John is a member of the Club of Rome, and holds academic appointments at Monash University in Australia, Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, Somaiya University in India, University of Birmingham in the UK, Rochester Institute of Technology in the US, and Technical University of Berlin in Germany where they have named the “John Warner Center for Start Ups in Green Chemistry.” John currently serves as President and CEO of The Technology Greenhouse.
Closing Session: PFAS Replacements — Familiar Faces or Fresh Starts?
Thursday, October 17
10:45 a.m.-Noon MT
Linda S. Lee, PhD, Purdue University
Poly- and per-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been used in a myriad of building, consumer, and medical products, firefighting foams, and as industrial processing aids, among many other uses. Multiple uses have led to PFAS becoming ubiquitous in all types of environmental media. Unfortunately, the properties that give them amazing utility for numerous uses also cause PFAS to be persistent, resistant to degradation, and accumulate in wildlife and humans. In addition, PFAS have been associated with multiple adverse effects with immunotoxicity driving the low ppt maximum concentration levels in drinking water.
As some PFAS are phased out or banned and additional regulatory requirements looming, other PFAS are emerging as alternative substances that may have some of the same problematic attributes and are already showing up in the environment. The physicochemical attributes affecting their environmental fate, transport, and potential toxicities will be highlighted relative to the PFAS being replaced. The viability and best management strategies of these ‘still-PFAS’ alternatives as well as a paradigm shift in our thinking to other types of alternatives will be discussed.
About Linda S. Lee
Linda S. Lee is a Purdue University Professor in Agronomy, College of Agriculture Assistant Dean of Research and Graduate Education, Professor in Environmental and Ecological Engineering, and Program Head for the Ecological Sciences and Engineering Interdisciplinary Graduate Program. She joined Purdue in 1993 with degrees in chemistry (BS), environmental engineering (MS) and soil chemistry/contaminant hydrology (PhD) from the University of Florida. She is a leader in environmental chemistry, fate, exposure effects, and remediation of persistent contaminants. For two decades, she has pioneered research on emerging “compounds of concern,” with much of her past two decades focused on a family of compounds called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS are now widely recognized for their potentially harmful human health or ecological health effects and their virtually infinite persistence in the natural world, thus garnering the name “forever chemicals.” She is a highly regarded environmental professional in the US, EU, and Asia. Dr. Lee has a strong diverse funding portfolio and over 150 peer-reviewed journal articles. She serves on advisory groups addressing water quality, water treatment residuals, and consumer product policies. In addition to her distinguished research record, Dr. Lee is a highly regarded environmental professional for her three decades of notable work in teaching, mentoring, and service.
