We conduct educational outreach with K-12 students and the greater community to teach the public about the importance and fascinating complexity of the chemistry occurring in the environment all around us, every day. Several hands-on activities and experiments have been developed that let young students experience chemistry and engineering methods to explore environmental chemistry related to air quality, cloud formation and climate change, and water chemistry.
We’ve especially enjoyed working with Dr. Paula Purnell since 2014 to share our outreach activities with K-12 students at schools in the greater Pittsburgh area through the Sense of Place Learning program that teaches environmental science through afterschool programs. The Leonard Gelfand Center for Service Learning and Outreach at CMU helps to expand our outreach to a greater number of students and educators in the region. We’ve also enjoyed helping with environmental community projects such as tree planting native species along the Allegheny River through the Pittsburgh Redbud Project and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.