Theme: Environmental Education
Friday, April 7th
11:17 am: John Warner – The Materials Metabolism – Rethinking our Molecular Relationship with Nature
Introduction by Kenny Ausubel, Bioneers CEO and Founder
For materials from nature to become human-designed products, they have to undergo multiple transformations in processes of assembly and disassembly. Atoms combine to make molecules; molecules combine to make materials; and we humans assemble and disassemble nature’s products to form molecules and materials that we then recombine to create our artifacts and products, but, unfortunately, most of what we produce is fundamentally unsustainable and dangerously incompatible with living systems. However, one of the founding progenitors of the entire field of “green chemistry,” John Warner, will explain that by using the principles and practices of the discipline he helped birth, we can embrace and emulate nature’s “materials metabolism” to create the products we need without endangering the web of life. By reimagining how we design and build, we can create a new materials economy that is truly in harmony with nature.
April 7th | 11:17 am to 11:38 am | Zellerbach Hall
Introduced by
Kenny Ausubel
CEO and Founder | Bioneers
Kenny Ausubel, CEO and founder (in 1990) of Bioneers, is an award-winning social entrepreneur, journalist, author and filmmaker. Co-founder and first CEO of the organic seed company, Seeds of Change, his film (and companion book) Hoxsey: When Healing Becomes a Crime helped influence national alternative medicine policy. He has edited several books and written four, including, most recently, Dreaming the Future: Reimagining Civilization in the Age of Nature.
Keynote
John Warner
Co-Founder | Green Chemistry
John Warner, Ph.D. is a co-founder of the field of green chemistry. With 300+ patents and 100+ publications, he has designed and created technologies inspired by nature with the principles of green chemistry. After working at the Polaroid Corporation, John served as a tenured full professor at UMASS Boston and Lowell (in Chemistry and Plastics Engineering). In 2007 he co-founded (with Jim Babcock) the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry and (with Amy Cannon) Beyond Benign, a non-profit dedicated to sustainability and green chemistry education. John has won many prestigious awards for his research, inventions and policy advocacy and has served as a sustainability advisor for several major firms.
“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” –Albert Einstein
This panel will explore the evolving field of Green Chemistry and explore ways in which chemistry education can become more adaptive so that new ideas can raise the level of consciousness in the entire field. Systemic change in chemistry education is essential if we are going to be able to better prepare scientists with the tools and understanding they will need to genuinely address sustainability at a molecular level, so that we can lay a solid foundation for a far healthier, much less toxic industry and economy. With the co-founder of the entire field of Green Chemistry, John Warner, Ph.D.; Amy Cannon, Ph.D., Executive Director, Beyond Benign; Meredith Williams, Director of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC).
April 7th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Berkeley Ballroom, Residence Inn
Panelists
Amy Cannon
Executive Director | Beyond Benign
Amy Cannon, Ph.D., the Executive Director of Beyond Benign, was the world’s first recipient of a doctorate in Green Chemistry. After working in industry and academia, she co-founded (in 2007) Beyond Benign, a non-profit dedicated to advancing Green Chemistry education in K-12 through higher education. Amy has won many prestigious awards both for her work in research and her leadership in driving green chemistry education.
Meredith Williams
Director | California Department of Toxic Substances Control
Meredith Williams, Ph.D., Director of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) since 2019, joined DTSC in 2013 as Deputy Director of the Department’s Safer Consumer Products Program to lead the implementation of California’s groundbreaking effort to reduce toxic chemicals in consumer products. She has extensive expertise in research and development, product management, and operations for Fortune 500 companies in the technology, consumer product, and chemical sectors, including 3M and Applied Materials, a leading semiconductor manufacturer. Following her work in the private sector, Meredith held a number of leadership positions at the nonprofit San Francisco Estuary Institute, a nationally recognized center for science in support of aquatic resource management. Meredith strives for collaborative solutions to complex problems and has a track record of championing interdisciplinary project management approaches.
John Warner
Co-Founder | Green Chemistry
John Warner, Ph.D. is a co-founder of the field of green chemistry. With 300+ patents and 100+ publications, he has designed and created technologies inspired by nature with the principles of green chemistry. After working at the Polaroid Corporation, John served as a tenured full professor at UMASS Boston and Lowell (in Chemistry and Plastics Engineering). In 2007 he co-founded (with Jim Babcock) the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry and (with Amy Cannon) Beyond Benign, a non-profit dedicated to sustainability and green chemistry education. John has won many prestigious awards for his research, inventions and policy advocacy and has served as a sustainability advisor for several major firms.
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