Dr. Mark Dorfman - Environmental Chemist Biomimicry Guild

Biomimetic Green Chemistry Solutions: Achievements and Outlook

Mark Dorfman, Green Chemistry Naturalist, received his Master's degree in environmental chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Public Health. His case-study research of waste reduction practices at chemical manufacturing facilities helped spur the creation and passage of the U.S. Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 as well as similar laws in key industrial states.

He's had the great privilege of providing technical assistance to disadvantaged communities located along the so-called "chemical corridor" between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana in their efforts to promote industrial pollution prevention locally. On the international front, Mark has worked with chemical industry trade organizations to promote green chemistry in Mexico, Russia, and Nepal.

In recent years, he’s created educational materials that link green chemistry with biomimicry including a section in John Wiley and Son’s Transforming a Sustainability Strategy into Action, a fellowship with the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and leading workshops for scientists and college students in Kathmandu, Nepal through a grant from the American Chemical Society's Green Chemistry Institute.

In 2007, he joined the Biomimicry Guild to serve as a liaison between the Guild and leading green chemists to develop biomimetic green chemistry strategies. He's charged with the exciting and rewarding task of helping Guild clients find sustainable solutions through inspiration from nature's warehouse of sophisticated, elegant, and life-friendly chemical transformations.