Last month, as part of the American Chemical Society’s 150th anniversary celebration events, the University of California, Berkeley, invited four professors to speak on a panel linked to ACS’s April theme of sustainability. The speakers were asked to provide lightning talks on their research and experience on the topic and answer questions about sustainable chemistry from students—it was also a chance to showcase green chemistry research at the institution.
Alexis Bell of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department spoke on heterogeneous catalysts, Brooks Abel of the Chemistry Department spoke on polymerization reactions, Henrik Scheller of the Plant and Microbial Biology Department spoke on sustainable energy sources and resilient crops, and John Hartwig of the Chemistry Department spoke on organic compounds and metal complexes.
Even though they were from various departments at the university, their lightning talks revealed a commonality among the speakers: thinking outside the box to solve problems. Recycling, upcycling, adaptation, and transformation at a molecular level seemed to all have promising research leads to more sustainable solutions.
When it came to what students wanted to know from these experts, questions included: how artificial intelligence and machine learning were going to change the style of research for postdocs, insights into how to make the most sustainable choices when it comes to solvents used in experiments, and the rate at which science or chemistry has to develop to overcome systemic and organizational inertia for commercial viability when it comes to greener or more sustainable options.
On AI and research, Hartwig has noticed, especially this year, that a good fraction of graduate school applicants had minors in data science, computer science, or experience in programming—but he noted that even if you don’t have that experience, he admits we’re in a place where the landscape is changing so quickly that many—students and professors—are learning as they go. Abel suggested thinking about having collaborators who are more expert in AI and machine learning too. Bell says it’s more useful to have a clear purpose for what you want to use AI for. And while there’s adapting to the increased use of AI, Scheller noted the challenges of making sure mentorship stays intact between professors and students—it’s something that might not come as naturally, as computers are analyzing datasets more, and being intentional about that mentorship will become increasingly important.
When it comes to choosing solvents, while each panelist had a personal situation in making a choice, they could all agree that asking the right questions for what you want to achieve is key, because most choices have a tradeoff—and they’re not always intuitive.
Organizational inertia and existing systems appear to weigh on many students’ minds today as a logical question of how to realize the implementation of some of this newer greener research and discovery; luckily, there are avenues for overcoming it. Hartwig, recalling the pushback he received at the start of his catalysis and organic synthesis research and noting people did chemistry differently before him so they couldn’t see it the same way, says potential new employees—like the students asking these questions—can show there are successful other ways to do things, and that helps with change. Abel says it’s important to remember there needs to be an incentive to change for industry—whether that is a reward or penalty. And bringing it back full circle to education, Bell reminds students of public or consumer interest, just ‘as different recycling breakthroughs happen or changes are made, it’ll also take educating people from early on what the right thing to do is.
And while the event was special to ACS’s 150th anniversary month theme of sustainability, conversations are continuing to grow around green and sustainable chemistry, and the topic appears to be resonating with students as they ask questions or voice concerns around AI, safer chemicals, and larger organizational change within industry.
CORRECTION
This story was updated on May 5, 2026, to correct the spelling of Scheller’s first name. It is Henrik, not Hendrik.
2026 American Chemical Society
