Print Friendly and PDF
On the goal of green chemistry: Natalie O'Neil, PhD.

On the goal of green chemistry: Natalie O'Neil, PhD.

"It's not a new field, it's just a mindset and principles that you need to use"

0 min read

Natalie practices a sustainable lifestyle: reusable shopping bags, Farmers' Market produce, etc. But after gaining responsibility for the hazardous waste in her graduate school lab, she realized sustainability was absent from her career: and took steps to change that.


In this video, learn how this first-generation grad student discovered green chemistry and how the goal of green chemistry is to lose the "green" entirely.

Natalie O'Neil, PhD., Program Manager for Higher Education, Beyond Benign Green Chemistry Education

Natalie earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University at Albany in 2017 after graduating with her Bachelor's degree in Forensic Chemistry from Western New England University.

During her graduate studies, she felt that the topics of sustainability, toxicology and environmental hazards were missing from the traditional graduate chemistry curriculum. Therefore, she pursued a one-year certification in Green Chemistry and Chemical Stewardship, attended the American Chemical Society (ACS) Green Chemistry & Sustainable Energy Summer School and became actively involved in the Network of Early-Career Sustainable Scientists and Engineers (NESSE) a global movement of young professionals working on or interested in solutions to today's most pressing sustainability challenges. She served at Utica College as both an adjunct and Assistant Professor of Chemistry from 2015-2019, introducing green chemistry to both major and non-major courses. She is passionate about teaching and empowering the next generation of scientists to use sustainable approaches through green chemistry.

Follow Dr. O'Neil on Twitter: @natjoneil

About the author(s):

EHN Staff

Articles written and posted by staff at Environmental Health News

Become a donor
Today's top news
From our newsroom

Severe flooding increasingly cutting people off from health care

Many more Americans will find themselves regularly cut off from essential services — long before water actually reaches their homes, a recent study predicts.

Heat, air pollution and climate change … oh my! Was summer 2023 the new normal?

Intense heat waves induced by climate change create favorable conditions for air pollution to worsen. Scientists say this isn’t likely to change unless action is taken.

Calor, aire contaminado y cambio climático…¿Es el verano de 2023 nuestro futuro?

Intensas olas de calor provocadas por el cambio climático, crearon condiciones que empeoraron la contaminación del aire. Los científicos dicen que nada cambiará sin intervenciones.

Opinion: Protecting Indigenous children means protecting water

We need to stop compartmentalizing the environment, family and culture as separate problems.