Faculty Mentoring Award - Elizabeth Hajek, professor of geosciences
Gladys Snyder Junior Faculty Grants - Benjamin Cardenas, assistant professor of geosciences
George H. Deike, Jr. Research Grant - Tieyuan Zhu, associate professor of geosciences
Dean Edward Steidle Memorial Scholar Award - Lizzie Johnson, undergraduate student in geosciences
Earth and Mineral Sciences Academy for Global Experience - Lizzie Johnson, Anna Penird, Ryan Zaff - undergraduate students in geosciences

Doctoral student Caleb Norville of Penn State and Meredith Parish of George Mason University return from collecting a core sample in a lake in Uganda's Rwenzori Mountains.

Christelle Wauthier - promoted to professor
Miquela Ingalls - promoted to associate professor
Kimberly Lau - promoted to associate professor

Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences mourn the loss of John A. Dutton, who died on Feb. 13, at the age of 89.

Lee Kump, the John Leone Dean of the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, has announced that he will step down from his role as dean at the end of June 2026. Kump has served as dean for nine years and is celebrating 40 years of service to the college and Penn State in 2026. Kump will remain on the faculty of the College of EMS as professor of geosciences.

The Penn State Eberly College of Science hosted a free screening of the award-winning film “Contact” on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at the State Theatre. A Q&A featuring experts in the field of extraterrestrial intelligence, moderated by Jennifer Macalady, geomicrobiologist in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and director of the Penn State Ecology Institute, was immediately after the film’s screening.

Elisa Alonso, assistant chief for the Minerals Intelligence Research Section at the U.S. Geological Survey, delivered a public talk, titled “Increasing Transparency for Critical Mineral Commodity Supply Chains from Deposit to End-use in an Uncertain and Opaque Market,” on Monday, Nov. 17, as part of the EarthTalks seminar series.

Penn State researchers and collaborators are forging a reforestation plan to counter climate-related disasters: deadly rainstorms, landslides and mudslides that have ravaged infrastructure, homes, farmland and livestock in recent years.

The College of Earth and Mineral Sciences has announced the appointment of two new members to the Graduates of Earth and Mineral Sciences (GEMS) board of directors, and four new members to the college’s Development Council.

Christina Lopano from the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s Research and Innovation Center, presented “Characterizing the Critical: REE and CM Speciation in Fossil Energy Waste Materials,” on Monday, Dec 1st as part of the EarthTalks series.