The Earth and Environmental Systems Institute at Penn State is focusing its fall 2025 EarthTalks series on needs, opportunities and research in critical minerals. Ten public seminars through early December will highlight ongoing work and viewpoints both at the University and across the sector, including at the federal level.

By removing oxygen during synthesis, a team led by materials scientists at Penn State created seven new high-entropy oxides, or HEOs: a class of ceramics composed of five or more metals with potential for applications in energy storage, electronics and protective coatings.

Sea ice coverage in the Arctic Ocean is at one of its lowest levels on record, yet there’s no unanimity on when that ice will disappear completely during summer months. Understanding the traits and movements of the remaining ice is a persistent challenge for scientists, but a study by researchers at Penn State has provided a new tool to explore ice characteristics and interactions along with coastal conditions. 

With nonlinear optical microscopy — a specialized imaging technique that looks for a change in the color of intense laser light — researchers can collect data on how the light interacts with the sample and, through time-consuming and sometimes expensive analyses, characterize the material’s structure and other properties. Now, researchers at Penn State have developed a computational framework that can interpret the nonlinear optical microscopy images to characterize the material in microscopic detail.

 Penn State University Libraries will observe GIS Day, an annual event celebrating the technology of geographic information systems, on Nov. 17. This year’s activities focus on geospatial presentation, networking opportunities and student engagement through trivia games and résumé reviews.

Researchers at Penn State found that children's diet quality peaks about 80 kilometers from protected areas, with vitamin A-rich foods most likely at that mid-distance in Indigenous population areas.

Three meteorology and atmospheric science majors spent a summer internship with NASA and NOAA to forecast clouds, wind and precipitation for a multi-aircraft research campaign monitoring atmospheric greenhouse gases.

Chandima Sudantha Subasinghe, a doctoral degree candidate in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, received the SME Ph.D. Fellowship grant.

Mobashsira Tasnim, a dual degree graduate student in geography and the Transdisciplinary Research on Environment and Society participated in research to restore Beech Creek.

Kawthar Babatunde, doctoral student in energy and mineral engineering, is one of the 18 graduate students who were awarded the first round of Fox Endowment scholarships awarded by the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School.