Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences

Our official #GivingTuesday campaign kicks off next week but we're already on our way to raising 30K to support THREE Millennium Scholars in our college. These bright students are dedicated to becoming leaders in their field and becoming the light that guides other underrepresented individuals. Why give? Because generous alums are 1:1 matching up to $13,500. All gifts go directly to supporting students like Ava Yurchak, who wants to attend graduate school for planetary geosciences. Ava says: "The Millennium Scholars Program has supported me through every step of my undergraduate degree. From the financial assistance to the mentoring to the community, I am so thankful for everything they have done for me. I was able to start off my first year already having friends and goals for my educational career, and now I am graduating with a family and a clear path to grad school." You can find out more about how your gift can help our students by visiting the link. https://buff.ly/4i2R1KF

Giving Tuesday is Dec. 3 BUT we've started our campaign early. We've always used this day of giving to support our Millennium Scholars Program. This year, we've increased our goal to support 3 additional Millennium Scholars. These are great students who are dedicated to making a break in STEM fields and helping others do the same. With your help, we can reach our $30K goal, thanks to $13,500 in 1:1 matching funds from a few of our generous alums. Consider making a gift today using the link. https://lnkd.in/g79PGPy5

Penn State’s total research expenditures reached a record high of $1.337 billion in fiscal year 2023-24, an 8% increase or $99 million jump from the previous year, bringing the research expenditures of external and internal funding to the largest total in the University’s history. For the first time in Penn State’s history, external funding from sponsored grants and contracts surpassed $1 billion — a nearly 11% increase over the last fiscal year. The funding — from federal and state agencies, industry sponsors, private donors, the University, and other sources — enables Penn State faculty, staff, and students to conduct research to meet the world’s most urgent challenges. https://ow.ly/Fqzc50TQIMT

Have you heard about #LionGlass? Want to learn more about LionGlass? Attend in-person or virtually to learn about 'LionGlass' directly from MatSE Prof. John Mauro, who led its development here at Penn State. LionGlass will be the subject of?PSAA Presents: EMS Showcase, an event?hosted by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences in partnership with the Penn State Alumni Association. The event will take place at 4:30 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 8, at the Steidle Building on the University Park campus, Room 401. A $5 registration fee for those attending in person will include light refreshments. The presentation also will be available for free online. Penn State University Penn State Alumni Association Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences https://lnkd.in/ddkyCR98

Joshua Hasenau admits that the mining industry was far from his mind when he came to Penn State. He's from South Carolina and came to Penn State to major in environmental systems engineering. But he spent the summer interning for New Enterprise Stone and Lime Company, a construction company from New Enterprise, Pennsylvania, that produces aggregates, asphalt and concrete. The mining industry, like so many others, is looking to account for and improve its impact on the environment. That's going to take a lot of aspiring engineers like Joshua. “We often don’t think about how many resources are in the various things that we have – from the stuff we cook with to the clothes wear,” he said. “If we can go about limiting the pollution outputs and emissions, maybe we can get back on the right track.”

Congrats to Nelson Y. Dzade, assistant professor of energy and mineral engineering in the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, for receiving a 2024 Early Career Research Award from the U.S. Department of Energy. Dzade will use the five-year, $875,000 award to develop a multi-scale framework for predicting and understanding interfaces in solar cells. “It is an incredible honor for me to be selected for this prestigious award,” Dzade said. “I feel super blessed to be considered among the nation's outstanding early research scientists who are helping tackle some of the toughest challenges and help secure the economic competitiveness of the United States for decades to come.”

Our graduate students are the best. Check out this profile of a support network created in our college to improve the graduate student experience by creating even more opportunities for collaboration and camaraderie. “One of the things we wanted to tackle was reducing graduate student fatigue and isolation, which were identified as the top reasons for why graduate students considered leaving,” said Alex Vera. “We wanted to give students tools to combat fatigue and isolation through an engagement network aimed at building the graduate student community across departments.”

Great to see LionGlass featured in this story in Penn State breaking research records. It's been a great year for research endeavors and for bringing great ideas to market. Penn State’s total research expenditures reached a record high of $1.337 billion in fiscal year 2023-24, an 8% increase from previous year. It's the largest total in the University’s history. This funding enables Penn State faculty, staff and students to push the boundaries of discovery, conduct cutting-edge research and drive innovation that positively impacts society, both locally and around the globe, while continuing to offer a world-class education to undergraduate and graduate students.? “As a land-grant institution, we are not only solving some of the world’s biggest problems; we are also cultivating the next generation of researchers to ensure that today's discoveries drive progress and ignite the imagination of tomorrow's pioneers,” Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi said. https://lnkd.in/eeCx8Zf2

Congrats to Robert Hickey, of our department of materials science and engineering, for receiving the American Physical Society’s 2025 John H. Dillon Medal. The medal recognizes the exceptional early career research accomplishments of young polymer physicists. “I’m totally ecstatic that this award highlights the fantastic work from the students and postdocs who have been working with me since I started an independent research group,” Hickey said. “It is a huge honor to have our work by recognized by the Dillon Medal and by the polymer physics community.”

Our geoscientist Tushar Mittal is one of only 20 selected nationwide as a Packard Fellow. His work looks at underwater volcanoes and how our understanding of them can help save lives. “These scientists and engineers are the architects of tomorrow, leading innovation with bold ideas and unyielding determination,” said Nancy Lindborg, president and chief executive officer of the Packard Foundation. “Their work today will be the foundation for the breakthroughs of the future, inspiring the next wave of discovery and invention.”