Chemistry For Life

Title:  Cannabis Chemistry Overview and Career Opportunities for a Growing Industry   

Abstract:  A growing number of states and countries are legalizing cannabis for medicinal and adult recreational use.  There are a number of areas of chemistry that are relevant to the cannabis and hemp industries; agricultural and plant genetics, analytical techniques, botanical extractions and large-scale engineering, pharmaceutical and medicinal formulations, among others.  This presentation will give a brief overview of some of these chemistry aspects as well as the history and changing legal and policy landscape.  Additionally, the cannabis industry has a number of opportunities for career paths at various levels of entry which will be highlighted as well as an introduction to the CANN subdivision of ACS.     

Speaker Bio: Dr. Amber Wise has a Bachelor’s and PhD in chemistry, and additional 8 years of research and teaching experience at universities in San Francisco, Bangladesh and Chicago.  She transitioned to the cannabis industry in 2016 and has worked for a large producer/processor in 2 legal states focused on process optimization and terpene collection.  She has been the Science Director at Medicine Creek Analytics, an analytical testing lab outside of Tacoma, WA for over 3 years and recently published two peer-reviewed papers on detecting metals in cannabis vaporizer aerosols.