Why do materials behave as they do? It has a lot to do with how the atoms arrange themselves. Consider pure carbon. It comes both as diamond and graphite that have remarkably different properties. Diamond (see right: 18th century Portugese 31.93-carat yellow, pear-shaped diamond.)is hard, transparent, insulating, expensive; graphite is soft, black, conducts heat and electricity and is cheap. It's all just carbon. The difference? How the atoms arrange themselves: the atomic structure.
We study the relationship between local atomic structure and properties of materials using novel x-ray and neutron scattering techniques

Scientific Highlights:
Pair Distribution Function: A bedtime reading primer (pdf)
A glance towards the future: beyond crystallography (pdf) [invited contr. to 125th anniv. edition of Z. Kristallogr.]
Light relief....American Crystallographic Association Council members struggle with Annual meeting planning [jpg image, courtesy Connie Chidester]
High energy, high resolution, x-ray studies of the structure of complex mateials (pdf)
Getting to know your atomic neighborhood?
High temperature superconductivity: a bad case of stripes?

Conference, Summer 2001: From Semiconductors to Proteins: Beyond the Average Structure
PDF workshop: ACA annual meeting 2001, Los Angeles, CA