UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — When Cameron Brown was born, his mother — a labor and delivery nurse at a hospital in Queens, New York — introduced him to a tradition she gleaned from a Nigerian mother who was once her patient. As Brown took his first breaths, she whispered in his ear what she believed he would become: an architect.
Flash forward two decades, and you’ll find her prediction is on a path to being not too far off.
Brown is a senior at Penn State majoring in geosciences after earning a degree in math from Fort Valley State University in 2020 through Penn State’s 3+2 dual-degree partnership with the university’s Coooperative Developmental Energy Program (CDEP). The program, founded by Issac Crumbly, associate vice president for careers and collaborative programs at Fort Valley, is designed to open doors for underrepresented people in STEM fields, and is putting him on a path to a doctoral degree — he’s applying to UCLA — to, as he tells it, become “a geoscientist who is an architect for the green energy revolution.”
In ninth grade, Brown first connected with Fort Valley State University through their Mathematics, Science, and Engineering Academy (MSEA), a program that introduces underrepresented students to the fields of energy, mathematics, earth science, biology, engineering and health physics. He credits the program, particularly a trip to the Grand Canyon, and working closely with his mentor and adviser at Fort Valley, Aditya Kar, with solidifying his passion for geosciences.
“After that trip, I was completely hooked,” Brown said. “I was floored by the thought that people get paid to travel and explore the most magnificent places in the world.”
The program also helped him secure learning opportunities such as internships. During his senior year of high school, he worked for the Georgia-based consulting firm Geosyntec. He shadowed seismologists, geologists and chemical engineers working to improve water quality for nearby cities.
Brown credits experiences through MSEA with helping him earn a scholarship to Fort Valley and Penn State. He credits MSEA and CDEP with helping him earn several research experiences.
In 2018, he participated in the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship Program at the National Energy and Technology Laboratory in Morgantown, West Virginia, sponsored through the Department of Energy. There, he used software to understand fluid dynamics underground.
That experience led to a research opportunity at The Australian National University in Canberra, Australia, through the Incorporated Research Institutions in Seismology (IRIS). He used software to model processes in the Earth’s crust and mantle using seismometers installed around the subduction zone of two tectonic plates: the Australian Plate and the Pacific Plate. That experience, Brown said, had the greatest impact in defining his interest in using geophysics and geochemistry to assess the productivity of geothermal systems.
From there Brown took part in the UCLA Center for Diverse Leadership in Science fellowship program. Through the fellowship research, he used isotopes to reconstruct climate changes in East Africa and Tibet millions of years ago.
At Penn State, Brown is working with a team of geoscientists and geochemists to track the path of shallowly injected wastewater from a coastal treatment plant. Using tools that track electrical resistance, the team can spot instances where wastewater mixes with the more electrically conductive saltwater. Using a new lab at Penn State for an EPA-funded project, geochemists are simultaneously analyzing monitoring wells to see if the wastewater is responsible for the degradation of the nearby coral reef ecosystem off the coast of the Florida Keys.
Brown is completing this research for his senior thesis. Because the research addresses groundwater, soil and rock permeability, and geochemical and geophysical methodologies, Brown said it fits perfectly with his career goals.
“My interests in geoscience are deeply rooted in resolving concerns related to the impact that energy production has on people and the environment,” Brown said. “I believe that geothermal energy is one of the best solutions to this problem and requires the investment of more resources to be more accessible to people around the world. Conducting this research will significantly contribute towards this effort and prove useful in assisting environmental industries with the exploration of geothermal systems.”
The pairing of cutting-edge technology, relevant research and field experiences is something that drove Brown to Penn State. The geosciences requisite five-week experience known as field camp — where students conduct surveys and experiments in western portions of the United States — showed him the value of field work. Instances such as finding out from a friend in the oil and gas industry that the titration work he was doing in a geochemistry class was very industry relevant showed him the focus on real-world applications.
“I’ve really enjoyed my experience here so far,” Brown said. “I don't think that any other university could give you as much hands-on experience in geosciences. It’s that combination of field experience and lab work that make Penn State stand out.”