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Shikha Sharma
Professor, Department of Geology and Geography
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
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About Me

Four snapshots from the lab with two female students, the prep area, mass spectrometers, and Shikha in the lab.

Research in my IsoBioGeM lab focuses on Sustainable Energy Solutions related to unconventional shale gas, subsurface CO2 and H2 storage, geothermal systems, critical and rare earth mineral extraction. We employ a diverse array of isotopic, geochemical, microscopic, spectroscopic, mineralogical and biological techniques to investigate these research inquiries. I have led several multi-institutional collaborative  research projects funded by Department of Energy (DOE) - Geothermal Technology Office, DOE - Office of Basic Science, DOE - Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, DOE-National Energy Technology Laboratory, National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency, USGS, US Department of State etc.      

Currently funded research projects in  IsoBioGeM Laboratory :

  1. Sharma PI: Analysis of Geothermal Deep Direct-Use Combined with Reservoir Thermal Energy Storage on the West Virginia University Campus-Morgantown, WV.  Funded by DOE-EERE- Geothermal Technologies Office
  2. Sharma PI: Integrated Phyiscobiogeochemical and Modeling Approach to Optimize Large Scale Subsurface Hydrogen Storage in the U.S. Funded by DOE- Office of Basic Energy Sciences
  3. Sharma PI: Enhancing release and recovery of critical minerals from brines, shales and coals. Funded by NETL, Corterra and Industry partners
  4. Shale Organic Matter Intercations and their impact on generation of pollutants and release of Critical Minerals. Funded by NETL

Positions Available

MS and PhD. positions available to work on different ongoing research projects focused on subsurface CO2 and H2 storage, Critical Minerals and Rare Earth Elements (CM & REEs) extraction, produced water contaminants etc. contact me if interested

News

  • PhD. Students Shailee and Rachel won 1st and 2nd Best Student Poster Awards at the 2021 AAPG Eastern Section Meeting on their research on critical minerals and  REE release and recovery from shale and coal
  • Undergraduate student Bennington Opendahl won the Best Research Presentation Award in Summer WVU UG Research Symposium
  • Check out latest web-portal we developed through an Environmental Protection Agency research grant in collaboration with West Virginia GIS Technical Center —access the  West Virginia Water Quality Impact Portal 

Interviews and media

Press articles on our group’s research