CSR Publications:
Strengthening High School Chemistry Education Through Teacher Outreach Programs: A Workshop Summary to the Chemical Sciences Roundtable , 2009
A strong chemical workforce in the United States will be essential to the ability to address many issues of societal concern in the future, including demand for renewable energy, more advanced materials, and more sophisticated pharmaceuticals. High school chemistry teachers have a critical role to play in engaging and supporting the chemical workforce of the future, but they must be sufficiently knowledgeable and skilled to produce the levels of scientific literacy that students need to succeed.
To identify key leverage points for improving high school chemistry education, the National Academies' Chemical Sciences Roundtable held a public workshop, summarized in this volume, that brought together representatives from government, industry, academia, scientific societies, and foundations involved in outreach programs for high school chemistry teachers. Presentations at the workshop, which was held in August 2008, addressed the current status of high school chemistry education; provided examples of public and private outreach programs for high school chemistry teachers; and explored ways to evaluate the success of these outreach programs.
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Bioinspired Chemistry for Energy: A Workshop Summary to the Chemical Sciences Roundtable , 2008
Faced with the steady rise in energy costs, dwindling fossil fuel supplies, and the need to maintain a healthy environment-exploration of alternative energy sources is essential for meeting energy needs. Biological systems employ a variety of efficient ways to collect, store, use, and produce energy. By understanding the basic processes of biological models, scientists may be able to create systems that mimic biomolecules and produce energy in an efficient and cost effective manner. On May 14-15, 2007 a group of chemists, chemical engineers, and others from academia, government, and industry participated in a workshop sponsored by the Chemical Sciences Roundtable to explore how bio-inspired chemistry can help solve some of the important energy issues the world faces today. The workshop featured presentations and discussions on the current energy challenges and how to address them, with emphasis on both the fundamental aspects and the robust implementation of bio-inspired chemistry for energy.
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Exploring Opportunities in Green Chemistry and Engineering Education: A Workshop Summary to the Chemical Sciences Roundtable , 2007
Going green is a hot topic in both chemistry and chemical engineering. Green chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. Green engineering is the development and commercialization of economically feasible industrial processes that reduce the risk to human health and the environment. This book summarizes a workshop convened by the National Research Council to explore the widespread implementation of green chemistry and chemical engineering concepts into undergraduate and graduate education and how to integrate these concepts into the established and developing curricula. Speakers highlighted the most effective educational practices to date and discussed the most promising educational materials and software tools in green chemistry and engineering. The goal of the workshop was to inform the Chemical Sciences Roundtable, which provides a science-oriented, apolitical forum for leaders in the chemical sciences to discuss chemically related issues affecting government, industry, and universities.
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Are Chemical Journals Too Expensive and Inaccessible? , 2005–Washington, DC. This recent workshop organized by the Chemical Sciences Roundtable and held in Washington, DC, gathered members of the chemical and publishing community from academia, industry, government, and non-profit sectors to discuss the communication of chemistry and chemical engineering research (and science more broadly) through journal publications. Please find the agenda and links to the presentations here. If you would like more information on this event or would like to stay informed as it becomes available in a printed summary form, please contact us.
Preparing Chemists and Chemical Engineers for a Globally Oriented Workforce- A Report to the Chemical Sciences Roundtable, 2004 Globalization–the flow of people, goods, services, capital, and technology across international borders–is significantly impacting the chemistry and chemical engineering professions. Chemical companies are seeking new ideas, a trained workforce, and new market opportunities regardless of geographic location. During an October 2003 workshop, leaders in chemistry and chemical engineering from industry, academia, government, and private funding organizations explored the implications of an increasingly global research environment for the chemistry and chemical engineering workforce. The workshop presentations described deficiencies in the current educational system and the need to create and sustain a globally aware workforce in the near future. The goal of the workshop was to inform the Chemical Sciences Roundtable, which provides a science-oriented, apolitical forum for leaders in the chemical sciences to discuss chemically related issues affecting government, industry, and universities.
Click here to view the brochure of this report entitled Going Global.
Water and Sustainable Development: Opportunities for the Chemical Sciences- A Report to the Chemical Sciences Roundtable, 2004
The goal is, by the year 2015, to halve the proportion of people unable to reach or afford safe drinking water and the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation. Meeting this challenge will require the talents of chemists and chemical engineers, in addition to economists, city planners, and engineers in other fields.
Click here to view the report brief (.pdf).
Reducing the Time from Basic Research to Innovation in the Chemical Sciences- A Report to the Chemical Sciences Roundtable, 2003
Innovation, the process by which fundamental research becomes a commercial product, is increasingly important in the chemical sciences and is changing the nature of research and development efforts in the United States. The workshop was held in response to requests to speed the R&D process and to rapidly evolve the patterns of interaction among industry, academe, and national laboratories. The report contains the authors' written version of the workshop presentations along with audience reaction.
Minorities in the Chemical Workforce: Diversity Models that Work- A Report to the Chemical Sciences Roundtable, 2003
This report to the Chemical Sciences Roundtable presents a collection of contributed papers that report success stories for increasing diversity. The report provides background information on the value of diversity in the undergraduate environment, and the success stories address both undergraduate and graduate chemistry programs as well as chemical industry.
Workshop on Women in the Chemical Workforce, 2000
Scholarly research underpins understanding of minorities functioning in majority groups and has clarified typical behavior of both the minority and the majority. This understanding is in some regards institutionalized in human resources departments in large companies, but is unknown in academic chemistry departments. The fact is that the greatly increased number and proportion of degrees in chemistry obtained by women at all levels have not translated proportionately into increases in participation in the workplace, especially as faculty in major research departments. Furthermore, even in industrial settings women have not advanced to senior positions of responsibility in proportion to their increase at the entry level.
One prominent perspective on this situation focuses on the issue of fairness to individuals. However, the scope of issues for both the profession and the Nation is far broader. Other compelling issues are (1) demographic changes in the U.S. population, (2) global competition, especially as applied to research and development, (3) the need for all population groups to have opportunities for highly paid employment, (4) the requirement of institutions to understand their markets, and (5) the special role of the workforce in chemistry and chemical engineering as a basis for economic prosperity.
To view more reports from the Chemical Sciences Roundtable please click here.
