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Lauren Marbella
Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering
Lauren Marbella’s research group focuses on understanding the relationship between electrochemical performance and interfacial chemistry in devices for energy storage and conversion.
These insights guide the design of next-generation clean technologies that accelerate the transition to “electrify everything” and enable renewable energy.
Her research relies heavily on the use of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy to evaluate changes in material properties in real time to elucidate the chemical mechanisms underpinning degradation in Li and beyond Li-ion battery systems. Her group has constructed detailed imagery of interfacial ion dynamics in batteries, discovered novel mechanisms of electrolyte decomposition, and developed advanced operando techniques to characterize commercial batteries during use.
Marbella’s research has received numerous awards including the Cottrell Scholar Award (2022), the National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award (2021), and the Scialog Collaborative Innovation Award for Advanced Energy Storage (Sloan Foundation, 2019).
She received her PhD in chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh in 2016, under the direction of Prof. Jill Millstone. In 2017, she was named a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge in the group of Prof. Clare Grey. There, she was also named the Charles and Katharine Darwin Research Fellow, which recognizes the top junior fellow at Darwin College at the University of Cambridge. She joined the chemical engineering faculty at Columbia University in 2018.
Research Areas
- Energy Storage and Conversion Technology
- Sustainability
- Renewable Energy
Additional Information
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Professional Experience
- Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, 2023-present
- Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, 2018-present
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Education
- PhD, Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh
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Professional Affiliations
- American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Electrochemical Society (ECS)
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Honors & Awards
- Cottrell Scholar Award (2022)
- NSF CAREER Award (2021)
- Charles Hatchett Award (2019)
- Scialog Fellowship for Advanced Energy Storage (2018-2019)
- Charles and Katharine Darwin Research Fellowship (2017)
- Marie Skłodowska-Curie International Postdoctoral Fellowship (2017)
- Pittsburgh Quantum Institute Graduation Fellowship (2015)
- US Delegate of the 65th Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates (2015)
- Experimental NMR Conference Student Travel Award (2015)
- Andrew Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship (2014)
- Eastern Analytical Symposium Graduate Student Award (2014)