Scialog: Sustainable Minerals, Metals, and Materials (SM3) is sponsored by Research Corporation. An initiative targeting basic science breakthroughs in the design, manufacture, and recycling of materials to support a sustainable and low-carbon energy system. Fellows participate in conferences to form multidisciplinary teams and pitch proposals for seed funding.

Geographic focus: United States and Canada

Focus areas: Sustainability, Materials Science, Chemistry, Geosciences, Engineering

Sustainable Minerals, Metals, and Materials – Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA) Becoming a Scialog Fellow Sustainable Minerals, Metals, and Materials Synthetic materials made with petroleum-based feedstocks, as well as the polymers used in a variety of products, currently create pollution and contribute to global warming.

Clean energy technologies themselves rely on mining of critical metals and minerals that can damage the environment.

Basic science breakthroughs in the development and use of materials that enhance new technologies (such as synthetic polymers, coatings, plastics, bio-inspired materials, critical minerals and metals, rare earth elements, and other related materials) will be critical to a transition to a sustainable and low-carbon energy system.

This Scialog series will facilitate connections between approximately 50 early career chemists, materials scientists, geologists, ecologists, engineers, and energy system modelers, with the goal of catalyzing collaborative, cross-disciplinary projects to investigate how to design, manufacture, and recycle substances so that their use and production at scale is more compatible with ethical stewardship of our environment and decarbonizing the energy system.

Applications to participate in the 2026 meeting will be considered until March 1, 2026. About 50 early career faculty will be invited as Fellows, ranging from their first year on faculty to recently post-tenure. Around 10 senior scientists will act as Facilitators to outline major questions, guide discussions, and assess proposals.

Mining and Geological Engineering University of California, Berkeley Carnegie Mellon University Chemistry and Chemical Biology Civil & Environmental Engineering / Omenn-Darling Bioengineering Institute Plant Science and Technology Biological and Environmental Engineering Chemical Engineering and Materials Science University of Minnesota Twin Cities Mining & Geological Engineering Geology and Geological Engineering Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering Washington University in St.

Louis Massachusetts Institute of Technology Materials Science and Engineering Chemistry, Materials Science and Engineering University of Southern California California Institute of Technology Computational Science and Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Applied Physical Sciences University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University of California, Santa Barbara Engineering of Matter, Transport & Energy Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Materials Science and Engineering University of California, Davis Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Georgia Institute of Technology University of California, Santa Barbara Pennsylvania State University Energy and Mineral Engineering Pennsylvania State University Chemistry and Biochemistry University of California, Los Angeles Earth and Environmental Engineering Energy and Mineral Engineering Pennsylvania State University Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Polymer Science and Engineering University of Southern Mississippi Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Indiana University Bloomington Chemistry and Biochemistry University of North Carolina at Asheville Marine Biological Laboratory Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering Chemistry and Biochemistry Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Missouri University of Science & Technology Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Fuels and Chemicals Group Argonne National Laboratory Center for Subsurface Energy and the Environment University of Texas at Austin Materials, Chemical, and Computational Sciences National Renewable Energy Laboratory Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering University of California, Los Angeles Rochester Institute of Technology Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Chemical and Biological Engineering Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Mining and Minerals Engineering Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering / Public Policy Georgia Institute of Technology University of California, Berkeley Missouri University of Science and Technology University of Wisconsin – Madison Critical Materials Innovation Hub, Ames Laboratory University of Pennsylvania Goal : to spark advances in the mining, design, manufacture, and disposal of materials needed to achieve a more sustainable and low-carbon energy system.

Seaweed for Critical Element Extraction and Transformation (Sea-CrEET) Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering Arizona State University 2 Marine Biological Laboratory 2 Engineering Plants and Algae as Dye-Free Alternatives to Fossil-Based Textiles Chemical and Biological Engineering Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 3 Marine Biological Laboratory 3 Plant Science and Technology Synergistic Photomechanical Depolymerization Northwestern University 1 \ Chemistry, Boston College 1 Electrocatalyst Formation from Extracted Critical Trace Elements in Copper Ores (EFFECT ECO) Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering Arizona State University 2 University of Rochester 2 Mining & Geological Engineering AI/ML-assisted Separation and Programmable Electrodeposition of Ni and Co Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Colorado School of Mines 2 Water-Free Silicate Activation for Valuable Metal Extraction Materials Science and Engineering University of California, Davis 2 Chemistry and Biochemistry University of California, Los Angeles 1 Earth and Environmental Engineering Co-Developing Advanced Catalysts and Engineered Microbes to Upcycle Mixed, Low-Value Plastic Waste into High-Value Recombinant Products Chemical and Biological Engineering Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1 University of Washington 1 Funded by The Alfred P.

Sloan Foundation 2 Funded by The Kavli Foundation 3 Layered by Design, Ordered by Process: Single-Material Solution for Sustainable Multilayer Films School of Polymer Science and Engineering University of Southern Mississippi 1 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 1 Healable Yet Durable Tires: Localizing Dynamic Interlinks on Particle Surfaces Northwestern University 1 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 1 Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; School of Public Policy Georgia Institute of Technology 1 Sustainable Lithium Enrichment by Hydrogel-Mediated Solar Evaporation University of California, Santa Barbara 2 Applied Physical Sciences University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 2 University of California, Berkeley 2 Buoyant Microbes for Bioflotation and Coarse Mineral Separations Energy and Mineral Engineering Pennsylvania State University 2 Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Missouri University of Science & Technology 2 Energy and Mineral Engineering Pennsylvania State University 2 SECURE Polymerization – Selective Encapsulation by Chelation Using Radiation-Enabled Polymerization University of Southern California 2 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 2 Poprocks: Coupling Sound, Mechanical and Chemical Dissolution for Direct & Selective Ore Extraction Pennsylvania State University 2 Chemistry and Biochemistry University of California, Los Angeles 2 An Atomic-Level Perspective on Radiation Damage Annealing with Advanced SSNMR Spectroscopy Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Georgia Institute of Technology 3 Engineering Plant-Based Semiconductors for Solar-Powered Space Agriculture Plant Science and Technology Chemistry and Biochemistry University of North Carolina at Asheville 1 University of Washington 4 Funded by the Alfred P.

Sloan Foundation 2 Funded by The Kavli Foundation 3 2024 Scialog SM3 Conference Booklet 2025 Scialog SM3 Conference Booklet 4703 East Camp Lowell Drive, Suite 201 General: contactus@rescorp. org Programs & Awards: awards@rescorp.

org Former Members of the Board of Directors Annual Reports & Financials Foundation & Patents Archives Fulbright-Cottrell Scholars Cottrell Regional Meeting Awards Cottrell Scholar Conference Cottrell Scholars Collaborative Cottrell Scholars Dashboard Molecular Basis of Cognition Negative Emissions Science Microbiome, Neurobiology and Disease Chemical Machinery of the Cell Mitigating Zoonotic Threats Signatures of Life in the Universe Neurobiology and Changing Ecosystems Automating Chemical Laboratories Early Science with the LSST Sustainable Minerals, Metals, and Materials Quantum Matter and Information