UMass Boston and John Warner Lead ÒGreen ChemistryÓ
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By Anne-Marie Kent
Gone
are the days when industry could afford to ignore the environmental
costs of pollution. Mounting political interest in preserving the environment,
and escalating toxic waste disposal costs have made the topic of “green
chemistry” a hot one. To reduce pollution, green chemistry combines
existing industrial expertise with an understanding of natural, sustainable
systems to develop high quality, environmentally sound methods of using
chemical processes or products. Last summer, Fortune Magazine’s
article “Green Chemistry Pays” declared green chemistry to
be a competitive advantage for industry.
To help give Massachusetts businesses that competitive edge, UMass Boston, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA), will host the Commonwealth’s first green chemistry symposium on April 6 at the John F. Kennedy Library. The Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), Pfizer Inc., and NSTAR are sponsors of the event, which is expected to draw 120 members from the area’s business and academic community.
The symposium is designed to provide a business-oriented introduction for the plastics, resins, and biotechnology sectors to industry- and university-based green chemistry research. Presenters and participants will discuss new government, industry, and university green chemistry partnerships in Massachusetts. UMass Boston’s John Warner and alumnus Berkeley Cue of Pfizer, Inc. will give presentations. Optimally, the green chemistry symposium will allow policy makers and researchers to reach a better understanding of the needs of Massachusetts industry.
University of Massachusetts President William M. Bulger and Secretary of the Environment Robert Durand are expected to attend. “It’s an event of major importance,” says John Ciccarelli, special assistant to the chancellor for economic development. “The university is playing a central role informing industry practices. What this does is put UMass Boston and the UMass system in the forefront of this new environmentally-sound process. The conference highlights the fact that not only is green chemistry a science—it’s also a philosophy. Our own John Warner is a leader in the field.”
Warner is associate professor of chemistry and director of the biochemistry major at the university. He received his B.S. in chemistry from UMass Boston in 1984, and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in synthetic organic chemistry in 1988. From 1988 to 1996 he worked for the Polaroid Corporation in the Exploratory Research Division. A founding stakeholder of the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award Program, he is also coauthor of Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice, and serves on the Governor’s Science Advisory Board for Toxics Use Reduction. A frequent presenter at Green Chemistry conferences worldwide, Warner is the external advisor of the Australian Green Chemistry Centre, and is the educational activities chair of CHEMRAWN XIV (Chemical Research Applied to World Needs).
At UMass Boston, Warner has championed a new Ph.D. Program in green chemistry and created the new Green Chemistry Laboratory for Research and Education in Sustainable Innovation. Known for involving his students in important research, Warner is currently teaching an undergraduate honors course in green chemistry. Warner is also working with two undergraduates, James Norman and Michael Tauber, in a new pilot program with the Office of Technology Assistance within the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. They will seek environmentally friendly replacements for materials used in the wire coating and the offset printing industry.
“UMass Boston is poised to be a leader in green chemistry internationally, with the symposium, the Ph.D. Program, the Green Chemistry Lab, the honors course….Every one of these activities is unique and unparalleled,” says Warner. “It’s not just a me-too program you can get anywhere else.”