Critical Minerals Nexus: Geosciences, Engineering and Policy (Spring 2026)

This project team is currently recruiting students for Spring 2026. The deadline to apply is November 14, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. 

All current students, including first-year undergraduates, are eligible to apply. Please reach out to Gordon Williams (gordon.williams@duke.edu) with questions. 

Background

Critical minerals (CMs) – such as lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements – are essential components of the technologies that power modern life, from electric vehicles and renewable energy systems to computers, communications and medical instrumentation, satellites and national defense infrastructure. As global demand for these minerals soars, supply chains are increasingly strained. Production and processing are concentrated in a handful of countries. For example, China controls nearly 90% of the world’s rare earth processing capacity, creating vulnerabilities in the U.S. and global economies.

Beyond economics, the extraction and refining of critical minerals raise significant environmental and social concerns. Over 85% of the world’s lithium reserves are located on or near Indigenous lands, creating tensions around sovereignty, environmental justice and sustainability. Meeting the world’s growing demand while ensuring ethical sourcing and ecological responsibility has become one of the defining challenges of the energy transition.

Project Description

This project team will collaborate with the Duke Critical Minerals Hub to create a Critical Minerals Index (CMI) – an interactive “heat map” and data platform that integrates geoscience, engineering, environmental and policy information about critical minerals across their entire life cycle.

Through this work, the team will analyze the physical, environmental, commercial and governance dimensions of mineral extraction, processing and use. Team members will draw on data from multiple disciplines and sources to track how minerals are classified as “critical” across countries and how their extraction impacts ecosystems and communities.

Team members will also engage directly with industry and community partners by conducting interviews, surveys and site visits to mining, processing and manufacturing facilities. These experiences will help students understand the real-world trade-offs among energy security, technological innovation, environmental impact and social justice.

Anticipated Outputs

Critical Minerals Index (CMI) and accompanying methodology; bibliography of data sources and datasets for key critical minerals; case studies examining environmental and social impacts of extraction; interactive website featuring mineral multidimensional analyses and visualizations; student-authored blogs, white papers and policy briefs.

Student Opportunities

Ideally, this team will include 5 graduate students and 5 undergraduates with interests or backgrounds in engineering, geosciences, environmental sciences, policy, law, business and/or the social sciences. All applicants should be interested in the expansive role of critical minerals in our lives, the economy and national security.

Students will gain experience in:

• Data collection and analysis across technical, policy and social dimensions
• Designing and implementing surveys or interviews with community and industry stakeholders
• Field and lab research related to critical mineral extraction and reuse
• Communicating findings through data visualizations, policy reports and public writing
• Stakeholder management, including how to analyze and balance stakeholder interests in a complex environment

Graduate and professional students will have the opportunity to take on leadership roles, including serving as project managers or extending their work into theses, master’s projects or dissertations. 

Field trips to domestic mine and manufacturing sites and potentially international fieldwork will deepen student understanding of the global critical minerals supply chain.

Timing

Spring 2026 – Spring 2027

• Spring 2026: Devise methodology for Critical Minerals Index (CMI); reach out to stakeholders and experts; build website interface for CMI; collect data for 1-2 critical minerals; create survey/questionnaire; possibly visit mining site (e.g., Mountain Pass, CA or King’s Mountain, NC)
• Summer 2026 (optional): Continue data collection and work on CMI; text survey/questionnaire; take local field trip to magnet manufacturer Vulcan Elements (Durham, NC)
• Fall 2026: Expand and refine CMI and website; implement surveys and questionnaires with supply chain stakeholders; begin case study development; visit domestic mine (e.g., NC Lithium or Mountain Pass); visit magnet manufacturing site (e.g., MP Materials or Vulcan Elements); develop student blogs
• Spring 2027: Expand CMI; continue case study development and refining; produce visualizations, blogs and policy briefs; possibly visit additional mines or battery manufacturing sites; possible visit to internal mining site during spring break

Crediting

Academic credit available for Spring 2026; summer funding available