UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Elisa Alonso, a physical scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), will give the 2023 G. Albert Shoemaker Lecture in Mineral Engineering at Penn State. Her talk, “Rare Earth Elements are not the only critical mineral commodities,” will be held at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 14, in the Hub-Robeson Center’s Freeman Auditorium and online via Zoom. A reception will follow the lecture at 4 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Alonso’s talk will focus on the supply and demand analysis of the non-fuel critical mineral commodities identified by the director of USGS as essential to the United States’ economy and defense, yet most of these commodities are mostly imported. Alonso will discuss the need to broaden the focus beyond the rare earth elements, the 17 metallic elements that are commonly used in the electronics and automotive industries, to include these additional mineral commodities and how further understanding is fundamental to assessments of their criticality.
Alonso joined USGS in 2020, and her work focuses on supply chain analysis and evaluating resource availability for critical materials such as rare earth elements. Prior to joining the USGS, Alonso was a strategic materials analyst supporting the Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Materials and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where she collaborated with numerous government agencies to assess more than 200 specialty and commodity materials for potential shortfalls in national emergency planning scenarios.
Alonso graduated from McGill University with a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering and obtained a doctorate in materials science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
About the G. Albert Shoemaker Lecture series
The G. Albert Shoemaker Lecture Series in Mineral Engineering was established in 1992 by Mercedes G. Shoemaker to honor the memory of her husband, a Pittsburgh civic and industrial leader dedicated to the support of higher education. G. Albert Shoemaker, a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus, had an eminent career in the mineral industries. He was for many years a leader of the coal industry, serving as president of the Pittsburgh Coal Division of Babcock & Wilcox, and later as president of Consolidation Coal Co. from 1960 to 1966. Among many civic and philanthropic activities, he served as a member of the Penn State Board of Trustees from 1957 to 1978 and as board chairman from 1970 to 1972.