2022 Gordon Research Conference and Seminar on Catalysis: Advancing Sustainable Technologies through Catalysis

The project supports attendance of graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and early-career research scientists/engineers at the 2022 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Catalysis, which will be held on June 19-23, 2022 at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, NH, along with the associated Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) on Catalysis, a two-day event held immediately prior to the GRC that provides network-building opportunities for new entrants to the field of catalysis. Catalysis has long served as a critical industrial and environmental technology for facilitating the efficient and targeted conversion of raw materials to fuels and chemical products, while also remediating waste products and pollutants.

In recent years, catalysis research has shifted strongly to opportunities for facilitating sustainable supplies of food, energy, and water, while also mitigating emissions of greenhouse gases. To those ends, the Catalysis GRC will bring together prominent catalysis researchers to share the latest advances in catalysis research while also facilitating generational transfer of knowledge and collaborative opportunities between senior leaders and newer entrants to the field.

Specifically, the conference will focus on the dissemination of knowledge by a wide variety of scientists to explore how precise synthesis of materials, advanced characterization techniques, detailed kinetics, and advances in theory combine to create new understanding in catalysis as applied to global challenges in energy and the environment. The meeting goals will be met through four key approaches: (1) a strong scientific program focused on the meeting theme, "Advancing Sustainable Technologies through Catalysis"; (2) participation by a diverse group of speakers, including junior investigators and senior thought-leaders, representatives of industry, academia and national labs, as well as graduate students and postdoctoral researchers; (3) cross-disciplinary fertilization of ideas in catalysis and sustainability, by exploring common themes related to alternative energy sources and renewable or sustainable feedstocks; and (4) fostering a sense of community by promoting interactions between prominent senior investigators in the field and young scientists, underrepresented minority scientists, and junior faculty.

The Catalysis GRC has seen steady advances in recent years toward promoting diversity in all forms. The 2022 GRC will continue and expand that trend with particular emphasis on promoting opportunities for women in catalysis. That emphasis is reflected in only the second female conference chair in the 73-year history of the Catalysis GRC, together with women accounting for 10 of the 30 invited speakers and discussion leaders (significantly more than typical), and a trade-marked GRC Power Hour session: ”Power Hour: Committed to Inclusion and the Professional Development of Women in Science.”

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.