Ohio Northern University is celebrating April—and Earth Day—by becoming even greener.
From www.ONU.edu

ONU’s Donald J. Bettinger Department of Chemistry/Biochemistry recently became a Green Chemistry Commitment Signing Institution, a designation awarded by Beyond Benign, a chemistry education organization.

This commitment complements the department’s ongoing efforts to integrate green practices into its curriculum and lab operations, and it opens up more opportunities for networking, professional development, and grants. That’s according to Kristin Daws, director of labs, and Dr. Jake Zimmerman, professor of chemistry and department chair, who led the effort to achieve the designation. 

“Green chemistry” refers to a commitment to minimize waste, use safer chemicals, and prepare students for careers in a world increasingly focused on environmental responsibility. ONU joins 224 colleges and universities around the world in this growing movement.

The American Chemical Society (ACS), which accredits ONU’s chemistry and biochemistry majors, lists sustainability as one of the core values of its strategic plan, aligning well with this commitment, noted Daws. 

While ONU’s chemistry/biochemistry department was already moving toward a “greener” approach to operations and curriculum, the Green Chemistry commitment will enhance and add to those efforts, she added.

Beyond Benign provides educational resources for students from kindergarten through university, helping faculty to enrich their courses with sustainability-focused content. Another advantage is access to additional research grants, said Zimmerman. 

“There are a lot of funding opportunities that many of our faculty will be able to be a part of now,” he said. 

The impact extends beyond chemistry majors. According to Zimmerman and Daws, students from diverse fields—such as engineering, philosophy, pre-med, business, pharmacy, and nursing—who take chemistry or biochemistry courses and have an interest in sustainability will also benefit. These students are increasingly curious about how environmental and sustainability issues intersect with and influence their future careers.

The department already has “greener” efforts underway in labs. 

Zimmerman noted that in Chemistry for Engineering, for example, students run experiments using their waste to recycle aluminum cans, and they participate in a water purification lab, learning how remove heavy metal contaminants from hard water samples. 

In a second-year organic chemistry polystyrene recycling lab, students participate in an iodination lab that uses green solvents–ethanol and water—to substitute for more caustic substances. The iodination lab also substitutes household bleach for concentrated nitric acid as a reagent. 

Through these labs, students learn how to develop their assessment skills in developing experiments and making informed decisions about reagents and solvents, said Daws. It also prepares them to make environmentally responsible decisions in their future careers.

The Green Energy commitment will also encourage faculty and student research, added Zimmerman. 

In fact, chemistry/biochemistry faculty are already actively pursuing green research. Zimmerman is investigating faster and more affordable methods for detecting PFAs (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), commonly known as “forever chemicals,” in water. Currently, the testing requires expensive, high-tech instrumentation and takes weeks.

Assistant Professor Kelly Hall, Ph.D., is researching microplastics, isolating them from various sources. Last semester, she collected samples of soil and water from national and state parks in Ohio, Michigan, and Colorado, and is working to quantify the amount of microplastics contained in the samples. 

Professor Christopher Spiese, Ph.D., is analyzing the presence of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, in water and soil samples around Northwest Ohio.