The Blakemore Laboratory
Inspired by the pursuit of sustainability, our group studies mechanisms of redox-induced chemical reactions that often involve actinides, lanthanides, and light gases. We draw on perspectives from inorganic/organometallic chemistry, molecular electrochemistry, and surface science.
RECENT BLAKEMORE GROUP NEWS
12 September 2025 – Today, our graduate student Davis Curry visited the Department of Chemistry at Louisiana State University to deliver a seminar on his graduate research in actinide chemistry conducted at KU over the past four years. Davis completed his B.S. in Chemistry at LSU in 2021, carried out undergraduate research with Prof. Rendy Kartika at LSU in the area of organic chemistry, and returned this year under the auspices of the KU Chemistry Ambassadors Program, which provides financial support for up to two current graduate students per year to visit their undergraduate institutions and share their KU research. Thanks to Prof. Kartika and colleagues for welcoming Davis back to LSU, and KU Chemistry for supporting this valuable program!
27 August 2025 - Our former undergraduate student Cecilia Paranjothi has been named the recipient of the 2025 Charles D. Coryell Award from the ACS Division of Nuclear Science and Technology. The Coryell Award honors undergraduate students who have completed research projects in nuclear or nuclear-related areas, and was awarded to Cecilia, in part, based on her KU Chemistry Honors thesis, which addressed immobilization of molecular uranyl complexes supporting by tailored organic ligands on electrode surfaces, among other topics. The award is named in honor of Charles D. Coryell, who led the discovery, in 1945, of the manmade element promethium at the Clinton Engineer Works, now known as Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Congratulations on this national award, Cecilia!
18-20 August 2025 - This week, James attended the workshop titled "Redox Chemistry with Heavy Elements: From Biotic Isotope Fractionation to Photocatalysis" at the Telluride Science and Innovation Center in Colorado. This workshop was hosted by the Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences (CSGB) Division within the Basic Energy Science Program of the DOE Office of Science, which is one of the only supporters of fundamental research in actinide chemistry around the world. Thanks to organizers Stosh Kozimor (LANL), Rebecca Abergel (LBNL), Richard Wilson (ANL), and Philip Wilk (DOE HEC) for the opportunity to participate!