CU Denver Chemistry faculty, Dr. Susan Schelble, and staff member, Dr. Pamela Nagafuji, organized and presented at the Ethics and Laboratory Safety symposium at the Pacifichem 2025 Conference held in Honolulu, Hawaii, from December 15 to 20, 2025.
Co-hosted by the American, Australian, Canadian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and New Zealand chemical societies around the Pacific Basin, Pacifichem is held once every five years, drawing each time thousands of scientists from academia, industry, and government worldwide.
Organized by Dr. Schelble, the technical session "Ethics that Impact the Global Chemical Enterprise in a World Needing International Standards" was a key theme at Pacifichem 2025, bringing together chemical professionals to engage on ethical challenges facing chemistry. A recognized leader in chemical ethics, Dr. Schelble played a central role in shaping cross-cultural discussions on ethical responsibility. The symposium addressed critical topics including laboratory safety, artificial intelligence, equity, intellectual property, professional conduct, international standards, and emerging ethical challenges in science. Besides organizing activities, Dr. Schelble also co-authored a presentation, "Academic Integrity and Student Learning in an Era of the Trophy Generation, Artificial Intelligence, and For-profit Cheating," in the symposium.
Dr. Nagafuji delivered both an oral presentation and a co-authored poster. Her talk, titled "Opening the Door to Lab Safety Ethics in the Chemistry Lab," explores how ethical frameworks can be deliberately integrated into safety practices in chemistry laboratories. It emphasizes the importance of responsibility, culture, and decision-making in both academic and professional lab environments. Additionally, her poster, "When Does Evading Laboratory Safety Procedures Lead to Dangerous Consequences," investigates the ethical lapses in compliance with laboratory safety protocols and the risks that these lapses pose to individuals, institutions, and the broader chemical community.
The contributions of Drs. Schelble and Nagafuji demonstrate Pacifichem's dedication to promoting ethical awareness and a safety culture within the global chemical community. They also reflect the CU Denver Chemistry Department's commitment to ensuring student safety in laboratories, nurturing a culture of lab safety that prepares students for their future careers.