About

Bachelor of Science, Chemistry: University of Northern Colorado
PhD, Chemistry: Oregon State University
Postdoctoral Experience: University of California, Santa Barbara

About me:

Teaching: I teach courses in the Chemistry and Biochemistry department, including Atomic and Molecular Structure (CHEM 107), Chemical Reactivity (CHEM 108), Inorganic Chemistry (CHEM 215), Advanced Topics in Inorganic Chemistry (CHEM 316), and Chemistry and the Arts (CHEM s28). I  have also taught several STEM Scholars courses in the past, including the first year seminar (FYS) in the 2021-2022 academic year.

For students interested in CHEMs28: I will be teaching CHEMs28 (Chemistry and the Arts) again in short term 2025. The course description can be found here. Given that Chemistry and the Arts  will not be taught until short term, I will answer any questions regarding the course during the pre-advising period for short term registration.

For students interested in CHEM215: As I am away on sabbatical, I will not be teaching inorganic chemistry this academic year (24/25). Please direct any questions about this year’s course to Dr. Nick Manganaro (nmanganaro@bates.edu).

Research: My research interests focus on understanding the structure—property relationships of inorganic solid state materials, particularly those of relevance to energy and electronics-related technology. Through understanding the arrangement of the atoms in a material, we can explain how atomic interactions give rise to various physical properties, such as how a material interacts with light or conducts electricity. I am particularly interested in utilizing advanced neutron and synchrotron X-ray scattering techniques to gain a detailed understanding of the structure of a material. Research in my laboratory focuses on solid state synthesis and characterization techniques with an emphasis on scattering experiments performed at national laboratories.

Video: Why is solid state chemistry such an interesting field of science?

Video: Pyrochlores – What are they and why do we study them?

Google Scholar Profile

Student Research:

Video: Why I’m so passionate about undergraduate research

Current research opportunities:  The next research opportunity in my lab will be for the summer of 2025, running from May 28 – June 25, 2025. The application for summer research in my lab can be found at the following link.

If you are a student at Bates and are interested in performing research in my group, please fill out the following application form. In general, applications will be reviewed by August 15^th for fall independent research, by November 15^th for winter independent research, and by April 1^st for summer research. I typically have room for up to two independent researchers each semester (depending on the number of thesis students), and up to six summer researchers (depending on the available funding).

Laurita Lab Summer 2024

Information on the Research and Teaching Internship at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution:

The Laurita Lab at Bates College seeks applicants for two (2) graduate (PhD) student internships offering an opportunity to gain exposure to teaching and conducting research at a primarily undergraduate institution (PUI). Click HERE for the complete description of the 2025 internship.

This project is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2240813 – CAREER: Confluence of magnetic and electric dipoles on the pyrochlore lattice, PI: Geneva Laurita, PhD.

Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Letters of Recommendation:

Due to time constraints during leave, I will be unable to write new letters of recommendation for students. If you are a current or former thesis student of mine, or I have written a letter for you before, I will be able to write a letter with at least two weeks of written advance notice. Please use this form to submit your recommendation request.

Advising: 

I will be keeping all of my academic advisees during my sabbatical, and will have advising meetings as normal during all academic advising periods prior to registration. I will send out the normal advising form the week before the advising period, which will give you the opportunity to schedule an advising meeting with me.

News:

Awarded an NSF CAREER Award on pyrochlore materials [link to Bates College press coverage]

Interview with Brookhaven National Lab: S. Kossman, NSLS-II User Profile: Geneva Laurita, Bates College (2021) [link to article]

Highlight as an ”emerging investigator”: J. Vela and E. Weiss, Periodic TableTalks: The Elements Never Go Out of Style, Inorg. Chem. 60 (2021) 6957–6963 [doi:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.1c01094]

Bates-Affiliated Publications:

Complete list of publications, including submitted and in press.

Names in bold indicate Bates undergraduate student

19. U Dang, J. O’Hara, H. A. Evans, D. Olds, J. Chamorro, D. Hickox-Young, G. Laurita, and R. T. Macaluso, Vacancy driven disorder and elevated dielectric response in the pyrochlore Pb_1.5Nb₂O6_.5. Inorg. Chem. 61 (2022)18601–18610 [DOI:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.2c03031]

18. D. Hickox-Young, G. Laurita, Q. N. Meier, D. Olds, N. A. Spaldin, M. R. Norman, and J. M. Rondinelli. Local structure and its implications for the relaxor ferroelectric Cd₂Nb₂O₇. Phy. Rev. Res. 4 (2022) 033187. [DOI:10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.033187]

17. O. Bailey, S. Husremovic, M. Murphy, J. Ross, J. Gong, D. Olds, and G. Laurita. Compositional Influence of Local and Long-Range Polarity in the Frustrated Pyrochlore System Bi_2-xRE_xTi₂O₇ (RE = Y³⁺ Ho³⁺). J. Mater. Chem. C 10 (2022) 13886 – 13895. DOI: 10.1039/D2TC01328B

16. C. Chepkemboi∗, K. Jorgensen∗, J. Sato∗, and G. Laurita. [∗equal contributions] Strategies and
considerations for least squares analysis of total scattering data. ACS Omega 7 (2022) 14402–14411. DOI:10.1021/acsomega.2c01285

15. G. Laurita and R. Seshadri. Chemistry, Structure, and Function of Lone Pairs in Extended Solids. Acc. Chem. Res. 55 (2022) 1004–1014 DOI:10.1021/acs.accounts.1c00741

14. Q. N. Meier, D. Hickox-Young, G. Laurita, N. A. Spaldin, J. M. Rondinelli, and M. R. Norman. Leggett Modes Accompanying Crystallographic Phase Transitions. Phys. Rev. X 12 (2022) 011024 DOI:10.1103/PhysRevX.12.011024

13. M. Saber, M. Preefer, S. Kolli, W. Zhang, G. Laurita, B. Dunn, R. Seshadri, and A. Van der Ven. The role of electronic structure on Li-ordering and chemical strain in the fast charging Wadsley-Roth phase PNb₉O₂₅. Chem. Mater. 33 (2021) 7755–7766. DOI:10.1021/acs.chemmater.1c02059

12. E. Zoghlin, J. Schmehr, C. Holgate, R. Dally, G. Laurita, C. Levi, and S. D. Wilson. Evaluating the Effects of Structural Disorder on the Magnetic Properties of Nd₂Zr₂O₇ Phys. Rev. Mater. 5 (2021) 084403.  DOI:10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.5.084403

11. E. Zoghlin, Z. Porter, S. Britner, S. Husremovic, Y. Choi, D. Haskel, G. Laurita, and S. Wilson, Mapping the structural, magnetic and electronic behavior of (Eu_1-xCa_x)₂Ir₂O₇ across a metal-insulator transition, J. Phys. Condens. Matter, 33 (2020) 055601. DOI:10.1088/1361-648X/abbf2b

10. J. N. Tang, D. M. Crook, G. Laurita, and M. A. Subramanian, Vacancy tuning in Li, V-substituted lyonsites, Solvent Extr. Ion Exc. 38, (2020) 656-680. DOI:10.1080/07366299.2020.1780705

9. U. Dang, W. Zaheer, W. Zhou, A. Kandel, M. Orr, R. Schwenz, G. Laurita, S. Banerjee, R. Macaluso, Lattice Anharmonicity of Stereochemically Active Lone Pairs Controls Thermochromic Band Gap Reduction of PbVO3Cl. Chem. Mater. 32 (2020) 7404–7412. DOI:10.1021/acs.chemmater.0c02342

8. M. L. Robinson, E. Whitaker, L. Jin, M. A. Hayward, and G. Laurita, Evidence of Paracrystalline Cation Order in the Ruddlesden–Popper Phase LaSr3NiRuO8 through Neutron Total Scattering Techniques. Inorg. Chem. 59 (2020) 3026-3033. DOI:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.9b03382

7. G. Laurita, D. Puggioni, D. Hickox-Young, M. W. Gaultois, L. K. Lamontagne, K. Page, J. Rondinelli, and R. Seshadri, Uncorrelated Bi off-centering and the insulator-to-metal transition in ruthenium A₂Ru₂O₇ pyrochlores. Phys. Rev. Mater. 3 (2019) 095003. [DOI:10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.3.095003]

6. G. Laurita, D. Hickox-Young, S. Husremovic, J. Li, A. W. Sleight, R. T. Macaluso, J. M. Rondinelli, and M. A. Subramanian, Covalency-Driven Structural Evolution in the Polar Pyrochlore Series Cd₂Nb₂O7-xSx. Chem. Mater.  31 (2019) 7626-7637. [DOI:10.1021/acs.chemmater.9b02466]

5. Z. Porter, E. Zoghlin, S. Britner, S. Husremovic, J. P. C. Ruff, Y. Choi, D. Haskel, G. Laurita, and S. Wilson, Evolution of structure and magnetism across the metal-insulator transition in the pyrochlore iridate (Nd_1-xCa_x)₂Ir₂O₇, Phys. Rev. B. 100 (2019) 054409. [DOI:10.1103/PhysRevB.100.054409]

4. E. Schueller, G. Laurita, D. Fabini, C. Stoumpos, M. Kanatzidis, and R. Seshadri, Crystal structure evolution and notable thermal expansion in hybrid perovskites formamidinium tin iodide and formamidinium lead bromide, Inorg. Chem. 57 (2018) 804-810.  [DOI:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.7b02576]

3. D. Fabini, T. A. Siaw, C. Stoumpos, G. Laurita, D. Olds, K. Page, J. Hu, M. Kanatzidis, S. Han, and R. Seshadri, Universal dynamics of molecular reorientation in hybrid lead iodide perovskites, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 139 (2017) 16875-16884.  [DOI:10.1021/jacs.7b09536]

2. C. Cozzan, G. Laurita, M. W. Gaultois, M. Cohen, A. A. Mikhailovsky, M. Balasubramanian, and R. Seshadri, Compositional control of emission color and thermal stability in the green-emitting -SiAlON:Eu²⁺ phsophor, J. Mater. Chem. C 5 (2017) 10039–10046. [DOI:10.1039/C7TC03039H]

1. M. L. C. Buffon, G. Laurita, L. Lamontagne, E. Levin, S. Mooraj, D. L. Lloyd, N. White, T. M. Pollock, and R. Seshadri, Thermoelectric performance and the role of anti-site disorder in the 24-electron Heusler TiFe₂Sn, J. Phys. Condensed Matt. 29 (2017) 405702(17). [DOI:10.1088/1361-648X/aa81e7]