Students Win Green Chemistry Awards

The ACS Green Chemistry Institute (GCI) has announced the recipients of its annual Kenneth G. Hancock Memorial Awards and Joseph Breen Memorial Fellowship for students.

The recipients of the 2014 Hancock Awards—which are sponsored by the ACS Division of Environmental Chemistry and the National Institute of Standards & Technology and administered by ACS GCI—are Heather L. Buckley and Florence Chardon. The awards recognize outstanding student contributions to green chemistry research.

Buckley is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, researching the development of nonplatinum oxygen reduction catalysts for fuel cells. Chardon recently earned a B.S. in chemistry from UC Berkeley, where she conducted research on the synthesis of functional organic materials, more specifically graphene nanoribbons. The award includes a cash prize of $1,000.

The recipient of the 2014 Breen Fellowship is Jennifer Dodson, a research technician at the University of York, in England. She won the award while a student at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. She is studying the thermochemical conversion of biomass.

The fellowship provides funding for young international green chemistry scholars to participate in a green chemistry technical meeting, conference, or training program of their choosing. The award is sponsored by the ACS International Endowment Fund and administered by ACS GCI.

The winners attended the 18th Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference in Washington, D.C., in June, where they presented their research.