Celebrating faculty: Heidi Hendrickson

What is the focus of your research/area of expertise?

I earned my Ph.D. in chemistry, and specifically, I was trained in the subdisciplines of physical and computational chemistry. In physical chemistry, we use mathematical equations and physical theories to model the behavior of electrons, atoms, and/or molecules. In computational chemistry, we use existing software, or code new software, to carry out calculations using those models. Then we analyze the results of those calculations to explain our collaborators’ experimental observations, or if no experiments have been carried out yet, we can make predictions to guide future experiments.

At Lafayette College, I have centered my teaching and scholarship around physical and computational chemistry. In my research group, we focus on developing models of and explanations for the structure, properties, and dynamics of molecular systems. My research group aims to utilize and develop computational methods to investigate (1) information transfer and signaling pathways in proteins; (2) the reactivity and toxicity of environmental pollutants; (3) optoelectronic properties of semiconducting polymers; (4) pedagogical methods for physical chemistry and programming instruction; and (5) to expand directions 1-4 into the realm of quantum information science.

How do students benefit from your scholarship and research?

Computational chemistry is quite different from other chemistry subdisciplines—most obviously because we work in an office on computers instead of mixing substances in beakers at a benchtop—but computational chemistry is also different because of the high level of interdisciplinarity required to solve problems in our field. At the very least, if we want to compare our models and calculations to experiment, we need to actually work with experimentalists and try to understand the details of their experiments from their perspective. But even to get to the point where we’re ready to use our models to explain experiments, we have to work with ideas from math, physics, computer science, and chemistry, not to mention biology, neuroscience, geology, and more. The trend in science since the end of World War II has been toward increasing specialization and narrowing of our fields of expertise. But I believe the complex problems that we face today (and in the future) can only be solved by the synthesis of many different perspectives. For science to truly serve humankind, instead of humankind serving science, we need interdisciplinary, humanistic thinkers.

I’m really proud of what my research students have accomplished at Lafayette (and beyond)! Each student has brought their own scientific style and personality to my research group, which has enabled us to learn from one another and challenge each other to achieve our full potential. I’m consistently impressed by the mentorship roles students take on in my group. Even our group alum, who’ve gone on to top-notch academic programs and industry positions, check back in on the group from time to time and are always willing to share their experiences. Students in my group come from a range of majors, including chemistry and biochemistry, of course, but also math, physics, computer science, English, neuroscience, a range of engineering disciplines, etc. They learn how to engage with and work alongside our collaborators as peers, even with those at prestigious R1 institutions, which provides them with a sense of what it’s like to work at the cutting edge of computational chemistry. And in my group, we also value the liberal arts and humanistic thinking. We’ve hosted film screenings, held book clubs, and taken field trips to see the Metropolitan Museum of Art and to see a new play about artificial intelligence in NYC. Last fall, we put on a staged reading of a play, Copenhagen by Michael Frayn, which enabled us to discuss the ethics of emerging science and technologies in society. We’ve also started taking group walks together around campus and along the Arts Trail. It’s important for scientists to touch grass and, occasionally, to eat an ice cream cone.

What will you be teaching in the fall?

This fall I will be teaching Physical Chemistry I, which covers the thermodynamics and kinetics of chemical reactions. I love teaching this class, both lecture and lab, because by understanding thermodynamics, we can explain why energy is transferred in chemical reactions in order for the molecular system (and surroundings) to achieve chemical equilibrium. Likewise, by understanding kinetics, we can explain how atoms and molecules interact and react with each other as they make their way toward chemical equilibrium. I will also be teaching General Chemistry this fall. Gen Chem is one of my favorite classes, because even though we cover a lot of content, which can make it seem challenging, the material covered in the class nicely demonstrates how we can use mathematical models/equations to describe physical and chemical systems. It’s really cool to see that theoretical equations really can predict what we observe in the real world.