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For the second year in a row, fourth graders in the State College Area School District have been learning about the earth sciences with the help of geosciences experts in the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS). These students are learning about plate tectonics, erosion, fossilization and sea-level changes in the classroom through lesson plans their teachers produce with the help of Penn State faculty members and graduate students.

For some pressing research problems, an ocean’s worth of distance isn’t enough to prevent the connection to some common ground. That’s the point behind the annual National Academies U.S.-Africa Frontiers of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) Symposium. And it’s why the College of Earth and Minerals Sciences (EMS) joined Google, the Gates and Rutter Foundations, the Department of Defense and others as sponsors of the event.

A new report finds that with immediate action, Pennsylvania could tap into its vast underground heat to meet 100% of its electricity, heating, and industrial thermal needs within ten years—using the skills and infrastructure of its existing oil and gas workforce. "The Future of Geothermal in Pennsylvania" evaluates the Commonwealth’s geothermal potential and highlights widespread opportunities across sectors—from residential and commercial buildings to agriculture, manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals. 

The Materials Research Institute (MRI) at Penn State has announced the recipients of the 2025 Interdisciplinary Seed Grants and Transdisciplinary Teaming Initiative awards, designed to support collaborative, high-risk research with the potential for significant societal and technological impact. 

Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) recognized exceptional students and faculty for their academic excellence, service and leadership during its annual Wilson Awards Celebration, held on March 30. The Wilson Awards are named in honor of Matthew and Anne Wilson, major benefactors of the college.

Moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources like wind and solar will require better ways to store energy for use when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing. A new study by researchers at Penn State found that taking advantage of natural geothermal heat in depleted oil and gas wells can improve the efficiency of one proposed energy storage solution: compressed-air energy storage (CAES).

Elham Rahimi, a graduate student in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, will receive the Raja V. and Geetha V. Ramani Graduate Students Award from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) at the society’s gala dinner during their annual conference, MINEXCHANGE, in Denver, Colorado on Sunday, February 23. 

Three faculty from Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Members of the class of 2025 include Susan Brantley, Atherton Professor and Evan Pugh University Professor Emerita of Geosciences; Long-Qing Chen, Donald W. Hamer Professor of Materials Science and Engineering; and Russell Johns, George E. Trimble Chair of Energy and Mineral Sciences and professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering. Chen is also a professor of mathematics in the Eberly College of Science and a professor of engineering science and mechanics in the College of Engineering. 

Eleven research labs in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) have earned My Green Lab certifications at one of the three highest levels available: gold, platinum or green.  EMS My Green Lab certified labs represent 27.8% of the labs certified on the University Park campus and 25% of the labs certified on all campuses. The college also has seven additional labs enrolled in the certification program.

With an electric current and hydrogen peroxide, researchers at Penn State have developed a more efficient way to extract lithium, a key component in the batteries used in electric vehicles and portable electric devices, directly from ore found in the common mineral spodumene. The process could facilitate a 35.6% reduction in cost and a 75.3% reduction in CO₂ emissions compared to traditional, less sustainable extraction methods, according to the team, led by Feifei Shi, assistant professor of energy engineering at Penn State.