Dr Glenn Hurst is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence at the University of York where he chairs Natural Sciences Teaching Committee and chairs the institutional Learning and Teaching Forum, which nurtures and shares creativity and good practice in learning and teaching across the institution. Glenn designs programmes, modules and sessions through a holistic systems based framework, allowing students to transition from a surface-level reductionist to a deep and lateral understanding of subject matter through identifying connections between various dynamic sub-systems across disciplines. Through adopting a research-led methodology with a strong degree of contextualisation, blended with the engagement of students through the integration of innovative technology enhanced learning methodologies, he is able to train students to work in interdisciplinary teams and prepare them to solve grand challenges as outlined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Glenn is internationally renowned for his work in incorporating green chemistry into curricula through innovative systems thinking-based approaches. He regularly publishes his work with students undertaking education-based research projects and is often invited to talk at international meetings. Glenn has won multiple national and international awards for his transformational educational approach including the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Higher Education Teaching Award 2020, American Chemical Society Award for Incorporating Sustainability into the Curriculum 2019, Times Higher Education Most Innovative Teacher of the Year Finalist 2018, Educate North Teaching Excellence High Commendation 2018 and Jisc Higher Education Social Media Superstar 2017. He is a Senior Fellow and has previously chaired the Royal Society of Chemistry Higher Education Group.
Glenn regularly facilitates and delivers continuing professional development training in education for colleagues in York and beyond. He particularly enjoys working with students and colleagues who aren’t necessarily the most talented but want to do all that they can to be the best they can be. Future plans involve working to transition the international green chemistry education community from one of practice to transformation together with developing transferable methodologies to implement systems thinking approaches to enhance interdisciplinary learning across a range of programmes.
