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Climate, Culture, and Sustainability

Continually fostering a welcoming community

Our Aims

As a department, we seek to welcome and elevate all members of our academic community by fostering an active environment that celebrates our differences and commonalities. We aspire to ensure that all members of our department feel respected and championed for their true individuality. Our community enhances the educational, research, and service goals we seek through the reflection of multiple perspectives. We work intentionally to support our members’ access to and inclusion in our activities to most effectively prepare them to engage in society.

Culture, Climate, and Sustainability Committee Committee

Our Culture, Climate, and Sustainability Committee furthers these goals. The committee includes representatives from undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, non-tenured and tenured faculty, and staff. The committee reaches out to the community for input, organizes educational events, facilitates social gatherings, and provides resources related to community-building activities.

Educational Materials

Find a selection of articles and information about gender bias in the sciences, the power of differing ideas, and more.

Climate, Culture, and Sustainability Educational Materials

Current Committee Members

​Sophia E. Hayes

​Sophia E. Hayes

Vice Dean of Graduate Education and ​Professor of Chemistry

314-935-4624

Professor Hayes’s research has impacted many fields, from the structure of semiconductor thin films (for computer chips and electronics), to materials designed for gas separations and to capture (and mineralize) carbon dioxide.  She builds instrumentation to investigate areas related to “quantum sensing” – in particular the interactions between electrons and nuclear spins that allow control over those states in ultra-cold semiconductors, knowledge that can be impactful in areas related to quantum computing.  She has also computed spectra via data-enabled studies of the connection between crystalline materials (The Materials Project database) and how those show up in the structural measurements (via NMR spectra).

Thomas Bakupog

Thomas Bakupog

Lecturer in Chemistry

314-935-2230

Thomas Bakupog joined the Department of Chemistry in fall 2019 as a general chemistry lecturer and director of peer-led team learning (PLTL).

Vladimir Birman

Vladimir Birman

​Associate Professor of Chemistry

314-935-9188

Our group’s research efforts are in the area of synthetic organic chemistry. Over the years, we have focused on total synthesis of bioactive natural products, asymmetric catalysis and, most recently, stimuli-responsive molecules.  In summary, we are interested both in devising synthetic strategies towards targets defined by Nature and in rationally designing molecules with a defined function.

WashU Resources

  • WashU Cares

    WashU Cares assists the university in handling situations involving the safety and well-being of Danforth Campus students, including online reporting.

  • SafeZones

    Undergraduate SafeZones is a peer facilitation group that educates and fosters discussion around LGBTQIA* issues in order to promote the development of a more open and inclusive university community.

  • Uncle Joe's Peer Counseling Resource Center

    Uncle Joe's offers highly trained peer counselors for undergraduates.

  • Mental Health Services

    Mental Health Services (MHS) at WashU is committed to providing a safe, inclusive and affirming community of care for all students.

  • Center for Diversity and Inclusion

    The CDI supports and advocates for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students.

  • Bias Reporting

    Reporting system for students, faculty, staff, and community members who have experienced or witnessed incidents of bias, prejudice, or discrimination.

  • Diversity & Inclusion at WashU