Richard Blackburn to co-chair major international conference on green chemistry

Associate Professor at the School of Design and Head of the Sustainable Materials Research Group, has been chosen to co-chair the 22nd Annual Green Chemistry and Engineering (ACS GC&E) Conference.

One of the world’s major conventions on green chemistry, ACS GC&E Conference runs from 18 to 20 June 2018 in Portland, Oregon and will explore questions of ‘Green Chemistry in Use’. Dr. Blackburn’s research on sustainable products and processes in the textiles and cosmetics industries are ideally aligned to reflect the theme.

“This is a tremendous honour and recognition of the research and application of green chemistry we have been doing for nearly 20 years at the University of Leeds both in the School of Design and collaboratively with Professor Chris Rayner in the School of Chemistry. When Chris and I started working together in the early 2000s the 12 principles of green chemistry had just been defined and it was a small but exciting area. Today it is one of the most important areas of scientific research globally. Leeds has a strong reputation already for green chemistry – I’m hoping my involvement with ACS enhances our reputation globally and increases interest for other academics and industry working together with us on future research projects,” commented Dr. Blackburn.

With nearly 157,000 members, the American Chemical Society is the world’s largest scientific society and one of the world’s leading sources of authoritative scientific information. A non-profit organization, chartered by US Congress, ACS is at the forefront of the evolving worldwide chemistry enterprise and the premier professional home for chemists, chemical engineers and related professions around the globe. The mission of the ACS Green Chemistry Institute is to catalyse and enable the implementation of green chemistry and engineering throughout the global chemical enterprise.