Message from the Department Head

Hello Alumni and Friends,

I hope that you are all doing well. I am delighted to update you on some of the incredible things happening here in the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences (EEPS). 

At the University of Tennessee Knoxville,  we are focused on elevating our university to the next level. Here in EEPS, some of our “next level” goals are expanding opportunities for our students to develop the strongest possible training and skills for today’s geoscience workforce. 

We have been working with our advisory board to identify directions and develop outstanding programming, such as the annual Geoscience Careers Day, which provides opportunities for students to meet employers and learn about career paths. 

We are updating curricula to provide additional applied geoscience training, and we further invested in student success by hiring our first ever academic support technician, Jaimie Call, who has been instrumental for expanding student opportunities in both classroom and research environments. 

We also launched a new concentration in paleontology, which is one of only a handful of similar programs around the country.

This year, we are thrilled to welcome two new tenure-line faculty, Assistant Professor Manuel Scharrer, who specializes in understanding key properties of critical minerals, and Assistant Professor Lluís Saló-Salgado, who examines energy transition geoscience, such as geothermal and carbon storage within the context of fault systems. 

We are currently recruiting two additional tenure-line faculty in critical zone geoscience and climate change and resiliency. The addition of these new faculty expands departmental expertise even further into the challenging issues we face as a society where geoscience plays a pivotal role.

EEPS faculty continue to lead groundbreaking research and earn widespread recognition in their fields. Molly McCanta, Gerald D. Sisk Professor of Petrology, spent several weeks touring universities as the Mineralogical Society of America Distinguished Lecturer. Teaching Assistant Professor Greg Snyder was elected a fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists. On campus, Stephanie Drumheller-Horton received a College of Arts in Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award, and Amy Robison was recognized as the 2025 Campus Career Champion from the Center for Career Development and Academic Exploration.

This past year has been challenging with the reduction in federal funding to support many areas of geoscience and planetary research and other challenges in the higher education landscape. The University of Tennessee is strongly supported by the Tennessee state legislature and continues to grow and thrive, for which we are very thankful. 

We are so grateful for the incredible support of our alumni and friends. Your engagement with our students and faculty opens doors to new opportunities. This fall, the department launched a series of internal programs to support faculty members in increasing the number and quality of grant proposals to explore new opportunities and think creatively about how to create the most impactful research and educational activities within this shifting landscape. These programs are possible due to the generous donations to EEPS. Your gifts make a huge difference and provide pathways to maximize the department’s potential to rise to the next level.

As usual, we cannot fit everything in our newsletter, so please follow EEPS on your favorite social media platform for year-round updates on department activities and the amazing accomplishments of our students, faculty, and staff.

Over the past year, EEPS hosted alumni receptions at the Geological Society of America annual meeting and the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, visited with alumni in Houston and welcomed our board members to campus during our fall and spring board meetings and Geoscience Career Day. I hope that you might be able to join us for a future event at a conference, on campus, or near your home. 

Please stay in touch and share your updates so we can include these in a future newsletter. Send an email to me or your favorite faculty or mentors. You are always welcome to stop by and visit Strong Hall when you are in Knoxville.  

GO VOLS!

Alycia Stigall

Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences

Department Head