Conference: 2023 Environmental Nanotechnology GRC and GRS Nanotechnology for a More Sustainable World

Nanomaterials and related technologies are being widely developed for use in a number of advanced applications including coatings, antimicrobials, components in sunscreens, electronics, catalysts, and other products and processes. In particular, nanoscale materials and technologies have significant potential for addressing tough environmental challenges from clean water to renewable energy to climate change, and beyond.

The 6th Gordon Research Conference on Environmental Nanotechnology will focus on advancing understanding of such materials and processes towards a more sustainable world, considering both applications and implications. The Environmental Nanotechnology Gordon Research Conference is one of the most interactive conferences on this topic and has been a platform for the generation of innovative ideas that go on to heavily influence the field.

Participants include a large breadth of researchers from all backgrounds and career stages, including graduate students, professors, industry and government representatives, and international scientists, who encourage discussion about the latest developments in the field. The open exchange of ideas and the collaborations and topical discussions that originate at this conference are fundamental in further advancing the field.

Lastly, the scheduled activities of the Gordon Research Conference and Gordon Research School provide unique opportunities for early-career scientists by integrating these new scientists into an open and welcoming environment to discuss their current research and build informal networks with their peers that can lead to a lifetime of collaboration and scientific achievement.

The organization and focus of the sixth Environmental Nanotechnology Gordon Research Conference is designed to be at the leading edge of environmental nanotechnology applications and implications. The objectives of the Environmental Nanotechnology Gordon Conference are to 1) provide a forum for the generation of ideas for using nanotechnology to benefit the environment and society through its role in technology development and 2) to generate ideas and research programs towards prevention of potential environmental harm that may come from the development and use of this technology.

Discussions revolve around research that will advance fundamental understandings of the interactions of nanomaterials with biological and environmental media. The conference aims to discuss materials that are in current use as well as new one- to three-dimensional nanostructures, heterogeneous nano-bio hybrid assemblies, and active nanoparticles that may be developed and used in the future.

Specific conference topics include novel nanomaterials and processes for water treatment, climate change, agriculture, circular economies, and sensing, among others. The Intellectual Merit of the Gordon Research Conference on Environmental Nanotechnology is founded in the creation and nucleation of ideas towards development of related engineered nanomaterial-based technologies with a foundation in environmentally sustainable goals and ideals.

There is considerable intellectual merit in the open exchange of ideas on these critical global topics, which is a Gordon Research Conference hallmark. This conference will highlight analytical methods and experimental approaches that balance the beneficial aspects of nanotechnology against their potential adverse risks to human health and the environment.

Collaborations and ideas that originate at this conference, due to its diversity of participating fields and attendees, is fundamental in advancing the field of emerging nanoscale materials and processes, which includes related nanoscale interactions of all types. Broader Impacts of this conference are many, as ideas discussed at this meeting will help shape sustainable development of related technologies in addition to key societal advances including sensors for contaminants, water cleanup and treatment, climate change, and innovations for presenting nanomaterial science to the public.

The activities of the Gordon Research Conference and Gordon Research School; also, present unique opportunities for diverse and early-career scientists by integrating these new scientists into a new, welcoming collaborative peer network.

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.