Walsh Receives Grant Geared Toward "Greening" College Chemistry Labs

North Canton, Ohio, December 19, 2007 – Walsh University has been awarded a Herbert W. Hoover Foundation Grant to create a new protocol of teaching chemistry lab courses that are environmentally safe or “green. ” This pioneering initiative will create a system of teaching “green” chemistry that can be used not only on the college and university campuses of the United States, but also at the high school level and possibly world-wide.

“We’re eager to explore new ways to teach chemistry that do not place the environment at risk,” said Dr. Michael Dunphy, Chair of Walsh’s Division of Math & Sciences. “We’re grateful to the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation for its support in this exciting endeavor, as we partner to create a resource today that will benefit the future.”

Through the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation Grant for $111,795, Walsh faculty and student researchers will develop, implement, and disseminate protocols for environmentally friendly chemistry labs. The project has been designed to involve students, under the supervision of trained faculty researchers/educators, in the development of each lab procedure. In this way, the University can not only contribute to the field of “green” chemistry, but also provide valuable learning and professional development opportunities for its students. Their work will create one of the first comprehensive resources on this new front, and the results of the project could easily be transferred to sister institutions and high schools across the country.

Walsh University’s undergraduate enrollment has grown more than 80 percent in the past ten years. Every student pursuing a bachelor’s degree must take at least one science course with a laboratory component. That translates into more than 2,000 individuals engaged in laboratory learning experiences over the course of any four year period. Beyond Walsh’s campus, in the United States alone, there are nearly 2,200 four-year institutions of higher education and chemistry labs are a part of nearly every institution’s curriculum. The waste generated from these chemistry learning opportunities is often environmentally unfriendly, requiring special and expensive procedures for proper disposal.

With increased usage of chemicals within the learning and research settings, comes an increased burden on the campus to allocate resources for safe disposal. Finding alternative ways to approach the critical learning involved with “green” chemistry is not only economically sound, but vital to long range environmental responsibility. While the field currently has accepted protocols for these activities, they are more concerned with human safety than with environmental impact. Walsh, with the help of the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation, is ready to make significant contributions toward the resolution of this important global issue through the development of protocols for green lab procedures.

Specific benefits of the project include:

Reduction of costs for chemical usage and disposal of waste
Reduction of risk to both students and to the environment
Developing a culture of “responsible chemistry,” whereby chemistry students will move beyond the college lab into graduate school and corporate labs with a commitment to experimentation that is both respectful of the planet and productive
Creation of a “green” lab protocol that can be disseminated to colleges, universities, corporate labs and high schools around the globe

Project activities will take place over a 22-month period, with the heaviest workload being performed during the summers of 2008 and 2009.