Advancing training for green and sustainable chemistry

Since the late 1990s, we have increasingly recognized that green chemistry and sustainability should be part of chemistry education. This recognition is concurrent with our growing awareness of chemistry's impact on human health and the environment. Over the last 30 years, the creation and implementation of curricular materials infused with the principles of green chemistry have steadily increased. While the proliferation of these materials throughout undergraduate courses in higher education is gaining momentum, critical knowledge gaps remain. These gaps include the lack of inclusion of systems thinking skills in undergraduate chemistry courses, which are vital for designing greener chemical processes; a lack of coursework in more advanced green chemistry tools and techniques at the upper undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels, which is critical for upgrading skill sets of chemists in the workplace; and lack of connections between the chemistry curriculum and chemistry's potential to benefit society and address sustainability challenges.