Athanasios Karamalidis

Athanasios Karamalidis is an Associate Professor of Environmental Systems Engineering at the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering within the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Pennsylvania State University. His expertise spans resource recovery, geochemistry, and environmental systems engineering.

• Education: B.S. in Chemistry (University of Crete), Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering and Science (Democritus University of Thrace).

Karamalidis specializes in resource recovery for critical materials, focusing on technologies to extract rare earth elements from secondary sources. His research integrates geochemistry and water chemistry to address challenges in geological CO2 storage and unconventional oil and gas development. He also investigates groundwater protection strategies against hydrocarbon contamination.

Karamalidis' publications reflect his work on adsorption technologies for critical material recovery, geochemical modeling of CO2 storage systems, and dissolution kinetics of minerals in energy contexts. Key trends include interdisciplinary approaches to environmental engineering, resource recovery, and contaminant mitigation.

Scientific Awards

• Prime Minister's Awards for Scientific Ingenuity of Trinidad and Tobago (2015)
• Berkman Faculty Development Award (2014)
• ORISE Faculty Fellowship (2012–present)
• ORISE Postdoctoral Fellowship (2009–2010)

Karamalidis has held leadership roles in professional societies, including as Secretary General of the Association of Greek Chemists. His research aligns with the EME Research Clusters in Energy Systems, Sustainability, and Geosystems Engineering.