Electronic nematicity -- a state of broken rotational symmetry but preserved translational symmetry -- appears to be a general feature of quantum materials, and it often develops in the vicinity of unconventional superconductivity. Strains are conjugate fields for the electronic nematic order parameter -- a relationship known as nematoelasticity. While this effect makes the nematic state experimentally tunable with applied homogeneous strain, it also renders these materials susceptible to unavoidable, internal, inhomogeneous strains generated by crystalline defects. A better understanding of the development and behavior of the electronic nematic state in structurally disordered materials is therefore crucial for understanding the correlated electronic phenomena within them. In this talk, I will discuss two of the projects within my doctoral thesis. In the first part, I will consider the dual role of random strains as both random fields and random mass on systems with vestigial nematics, such as the iron pnictide superconductors. In the second, I will discuss long-ranged correlated random strains generated by crystalline defects, and show their impact on the insulating electronic nematic, Tm1-xYxVO4.
