Chemists amid coronavirus five years on: Krystle McLaughlin
By 
Rebecca Trager2025-03-03T09:33:00
An assistant chemistry professor at a small college in New York gets her career back on track, thanks to a tenure clock extension and teaching release
When Covid-19 hit in early 2020, protein x-ray crystallographer Krystle McLaughlin, an assistant chemistry professor at Vassar College in New York, US, felt overwhelmed and ‘extra behind’. She had taken parental leave after having a baby the previous summer, delaying her sabbatical to January 2020. Covid-19 then meant she had to cancel a summer research programme since her planned work couldn’t be done remotely. Four years later she is back on track and has just submitted her tenure package.