Chemistry Professor Prizes Time with
Students—in the Lab and the Community
Ask Alison Hyslop, PhD, why she enjoys teaching at St. John’s
University, and she will cite myriad reasons. However, as the
associate professor and chair of chemistry
recently noted, they all boil down to this—people. “At St.
John’s, I have brilliant colleagues and enthusiastic students,” she
said. “The people here are amazing.”
Now in her 13th year at the University, Dr. Hyslop pointed to
the close-knit sense of community among faculty and students in her
department. “There are only 120 undergraduates in the chemistry
program,” she said, “so we’re a small department within a major
university. Students get all the advantages of being at St. John’s
while benefiting from the personal attention available within our
division.”
The warm atmosphere in the program also reflects the amount of
time that chemistry students spend in the laboratory. “If you’re an
English major, you don’t necessarily have to be in a classroom to
do your work,” she said. “In chemistry, you have to be in the lab
with your advisor in order to complete your work.” Dr. Hyslop adds
that she relishes her time with her students. “When you’re waiting
for a reaction to an experiment, there’s a lot of down time, so you
really get to know your students on a deeper level. That’s why I
love having them join in my research.”
That research focuses on developing “light-harvesting” complexes
that may become efficient sources of alternative energy. “We’re
exploring compounds that absorb light,” said Dr. Hyslop. “Then we
take that energy and transfer it or an electron to another part of
the molecule.” Ultimately, she explained, these chemicals may
employ light-energy as effectively as plants do. “Right now,” she
noted, “solar panels transfer energy at approximately 15 percent
efficiency. Plants have a rate of 99 percent. If we can develop an
energy system that does the same thing as plants, it would be a
huge accomplishment.”
When she’s not with her students, Dr. Hyslop brings the benefits
of chemistry to a new generation of young scientists in elementary
schools throughout Queens, NY. “My undergraduates and I go out into
the community to host ‘Chemistry Is Fun’ shows for local school
children,” she said. “We do experiments with liquid nitrogen where
we freeze things—like bananas—and then use them as a hammer to
drive nails into boards. My students really enjoy the experience,
and the school kids love it, too.”
Through Dr. Hyslop, the chemistry department has also brought
budding young scientists to the University. “They come to the
campus, walk around St. John’s, and get to see what a real lab is
like,” she said. “We actually had a child who had visited us when
she was in fifth grade, and then came back years later as a
graduate student.”
Dr. Hyslop is especially proud of St. John’s commitment to
educating students who might otherwise be unable to attend college:
“There are many students here who are Pell-eligible—that is, they
have the highest levels of need. This University does so much to
make sure that they thrive.” Sometimes, she said, those students
“just need someone to tell them, ‘you can do it.’ That is one of
the best parts of my job.”