Reactions: An advocate for chemists with disabilities, and the risks of sequestering carbon dioxide

Letters to the editor

An advocate for chemists with disabilities

I find a role model in my former chemistry professor at the University of Central Oklahoma, Tim Pillar-Little, or as his students call him, Dr. Tim. Not only is Dr. Tim an exceptional professor of general chemistry, but he is an advocate for disabled students and has shown me what being treated with equity in science is like.

I had Dr. Tim for General Chemistry 2 only a few semesters after my anoxic brain injury that left me with significant visual impairment and processing delays, amongst other disabilities. I had gotten used to generally ableist environments and had prepared myself to have the same experience in Chemistry 2, but it was quite the opposite.

He has advocated for many students to access fair and accessible education materials through accommodations, and as someone who has struggled throughout college with this, I feel Dr. Tim was a lifesaver. He has essentially made it his mission to be the de facto advocate for disabled students in the Chemistry Department—which is appreciated beyond what words can describe.

Being disabled in college has not been easy. I have been told by professors that I should change my major because of my disabilities, and I have been refused accommodations, but that doesn’t happen in Dr. Tim’s classroom.

In Dr. Tim’s class, students of all abilities and needs are met with the same level of respect and kindness, and that is the type of professor I hope to be someday. It is a model for the pedagogy I hope to emulate.

Many times, the academic space is inaccessible, and efforts are not made to change it or work around the barriers being faced. Eventually, I got used to it and accepted that I will just struggle with that—but instead, large print and text descriptions (alternative text) were provided for all exams in my class with Dr. Tim. It was a breath of fresh air for my disability to not be treated as something too complicated to deal with.

Dr. Tim has inspired my wish to become a professor again, and I hope to continue on to be the next generation of advocating for disabled students.

Dr. Tim has been a role model for how to navigate the very bureaucratic system of academia with finesse—and his classroom will always be a safe space for those who are different.

Cass Condray
Norman, Oklahoma

Geological CO₂ sequestration

With all the articles referring to the capture and geologic sequestering of carbon dioxide appearing recently in Chemical & Engineering News—in particular, “The Case for Direct Air Capture” (C&EN, March 14/21, 2022, page 22)—I am reminded about a disaster in western Africa some decades ago that resulted from a mass release of CO₂ from the depths of a lake, causing a large number of deaths. An online search led to the September 2003 Smithsonian Magazine article “Defusing Africa’s Killer Lakes” by Kevin Krajick, which described the Aug. 21, 1986, release of CO₂ from Lake Nyos in Cameroon, in which nearly 1,800 people in a number of villages perished. A couple of years before, a similar eruption of CO₂ from Lake Monoun, also in Cameroon, killed a considerably smaller number of people. The CO₂, thought to be from volcanic sources, was retained pressurized in the deep lakes until a disturbance (rockslide, addition of cold rain, or unusual cold air temperatures) caused an explosive release of the pressurized CO₂ from the deep water. The CO₂, being heavier than air, settled at ground level, suffocating humans and animals before dissipating.

While these two occurrences were likely due to volcanic activity and the tropical location, are there any similar risks by injecting massive amounts of CO₂ into geological settings for disposal from coal- or gas-fired power plants or other industrial operations? We have been using CO₂ in fracking for oil and gas, but this is not nearly in the quantity that would be involved for permanent disposal of CO₂. The above-mentioned C&EN article reported that CO₂ forms stable carbonates when injected in basalt, but what happens in other geological settings, and what are the geochemical processes involved? What is the risk of a leakage of CO₂ through old wells or natural fissures getting into groundwater and eventually escaping into the atmosphere, catastrophically or otherwise?

David J. Hauber
Fort Thomas, Kentucky