A UC Davis professor has been selected to serve on an advisory panel that will help guide the state of California toward adoption of a “green chemistry” program.

Julie Schoenung, a professor of chemical engineering and materials science, was one of 27 scientists and academicians from across the United States chosen to serve on California’s newly formed Green Ribbon Science Panel. Established in 2008 by passage of two landmark environmental bills signed into law by Gov. Schwarzenegger on Sept. 29, the panel will provide advice and act as a resource to California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control and the California Environmental Policy Council.

The department selected the 27 panel members on the basis of their education, expertise and practical experience in specific fields related to green chemistry, which is an innovative approach in dealing with chemicals before they become hazards, with an overall goal of making chemicals and products “benign by design.” Members’ qualifications derive from a range of disciplines, including engineering, materials science, chemistry, toxicology, environmental law, public health, public policy and risk analysis. All serve as volunteers.

Schoenung brings to the panel her expertise in incorporating green design principles when choosing materials that get incorporated into complex products. Her research interests also includes the synthesis of materials ranging from metals and ceramics to nanomaterials and thermal barrier coatings. In July 2008 she was appointed co-director of the new University of California Lead Campus Program on Research and Education in Green Materials. The program’s goal is to overhaul the research education of graduate students in such fields as materials science and environmental toxicology in order to create approaches that will help move society toward replacing toxic materials with green materials.

Duties of the Green Ribbon Science Panel include:

• Advising the Department of Toxic Substances Control on scientific and technical matters in support of significantly reducing adverse impacts on health and the environment of chemicals used in commerce, and to help determine the societal costs of those adverse impacts.
• Advising the department on the development of green chemistry and chemicals policy recommendations and implementation strategies, and ensuring that the recommendations are based on a strong scientific foundation.
• Providing the department with a prioritized list of the chemicals for which hazard data should be collected.

For more information about the initiative and a complete list of Green Ribbon Science Panel members, see http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/.