College of Arts and Sciences

After receiving her bachelor’s degree from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Dr. Gelabert continued to graduate school in materials physics, then solid state inorganic chemistry for her doctoral degree. Her doctoral work was the synthesis and characterization of air-sensitive sulfide compounds, and her postdoctoral work in the Ceramic Engineering Department at Rutgers University focused on hydrothermal synthesis of ferroelectric materials.

Before joining the Winthrop faculty in 2012 for the physical chemistry program, Dr. Gelabert held a faculty position for 14 years at Wagner College, a small comprehensive university in Staten Island, New York. At Wagner, she taught physical and general chemistry, developed a variety of courses including the nonscience majors’ Color Science, served as department chair and first-year program director and developed an undergraduate research program in hydrothermal synthesis.

Dr. Gelabert’s research interests are about how crystals form at the most fundamental level. She continues a hydrothermal program at Winthrop, the main objective on the relationships between aqueous chemistry and crystal shape. Chemical systems of study include zinc oxide and the biominerals calcium carbonate (calcite) and calcium hydroxyl phosphate (hydroxyapatite).

Her work has been supported by the Petroleum Research Fund, National Science Foundation and Scientific Advocacy Network of SC EPSCoR. Dr. Gelabert has numerous publications in both discovery and science education journals and has contributed popular articles to the Wagner College student newspaper and alumni magazine.