Our 2019 Commencement Ceremony is right around the corner. To mark the occasion, and celebrate the incredible achievements of our seniors, we spoke with several students that will be graduating on May 29. Our hope is that their stories inspire the entire John Jay community—alumni, faculty, staff, current and prospective students—to strive for excellence. Our next Senior Spotlight is Hannah Chu ’19, a PRISM student in the Honor’s Program, whose passion for Entomology has led her to a Ph.D. program and maybe one day, NASA.
What made you want to come to John Jay?
I went to Brooklyn Tech High School and they require you to choose a major, my major was Law and Society, so my plan was to come to John Jay and become a lawyer. I took a Forensic Science class with the hope that it would make me a stronger defense lawyer since I would be better able to question expert witnesses. But when I was invited to join the PRISM program, the dream shifted, that’s when I fell in love with science. I’m graduating with a degree in Forensic Science with a concentration in Molecular Biology.
“John Jay is filled with such a diverse group of people that challenge you to think differently and be open-minded.”—Hannah Chu
Tell us about your PRISM experience. What did PRISM do for you?
PRISM has been a wonderful experience and has allowed me to be trained as a marketable scientist. John Jay is filled with such a diverse group of people that challenge you to think differently and be open-minded, and that’s reflected in all the majors, programs and clubs. The Forensic Science major here at the College, for instance, has a lot of women in it, which is great because science is one of the fields where you don’t see a lot of women. Being here at John Jay, I’ve been offered a lot of opportunities that got me to where I am today. I’ve had opportunities to intern at a number of research labs and gain real life experiences. At John Jay, I worked closely with my mentor, Dr. Jennifer Rosati. She actually introduced me to Entomology, which is the study of bugs. Joining her lab really taught me to be independent and enabled me to discover what I want to do in life.
Is there a research project that you’re particularly proud of?
Actually, the one I presented during the 2019 Research & Creativity Expo is one I’m really proud of. It’s called “Drunk Flies.” It turns out that a large percentage of homicide victims are actually drunk when they’re murdered and the alcohol in their system metabolizes into acetic acid. So that made me want to look into whether adult flies are more attracted to bodies that have alcohol in them. I came up with the idea on my own, so that was pretty cool. And the results have proven my hypothesis thus far. We’re finding that acetic acid does attract more flies.
You won the Jonas E. Salk Scholarship. What does the scholarship mean to you?
I’ve been doing research for a little over three years now and winning this scholarship really validates my work. It tells me that the work I’m producing in the field of Biomedical Research is valued. The monetary aspect of the award is helpful too since I’ll be going onto a Ph.D. program.
“A lot of times people think bugs are a nuisance, but really, they’re used in a lot of genetic research and can help us figure out how human biology works.” —Hannah Chu
That leads us to the next question. What comes next for you?
I’m going into a Ph.D. program at the University of California, Riverside where I’ll be studying Entomology. The program is ranked as one of the top programs for insect science in the world. A lot of times people think bugs are a nuisance, but really, they’re used in a lot of genetic research and can help us figure out how human biology works.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
My dream is to work for NASA. They have a fruit fly lab at the International Space Station where they study how space affects the fruit fly’s biology. This in turn will lead to a better understanding of human biology. Who knows, maybe my research in insect development can help us see how humans develop in space. If NASA doesn’t happen, then I’d love to be a high school teacher. I had great teachers that inspired me to follow this path, so I’d love to do the same for others.
Finish this sentence for me: Without John Jay…
Without John Jay I wouldn’t be in love with science. I would have never pursued a career in Entomology to study insects and I would not be dreaming big, bold dreams of NASA.
