KINGSTON, R.I. – Oct. 21, 2026 – Mining for sulfur, sodium, iron and copper within the Earth’s crust is a relatively simple process given their abundance and high concentrations near the surface. However, certain elements closer to the bottom of the periodic table, such as lanthanides and actinides, are more difficult to separate due to their similarities in physical properties. 

But, University of Rhode Island graduate student Margaret “Maggie” Grady is hoping to find ways to understand complex physical properties using computational methods through her upcoming fellowship with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program.

The SCGSR program provides supplemental funds for U.S. graduate awardees to conduct part of their Ph.D. thesis research at a host Department of Energy facility in collaboration with a national laboratory scientist. Students who participate in this program help DOE develop a new generation of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) experts to fulfill the DOE Office of Science’s mission.

Starting in January, Grady, who is pursuing her Ph.D. in chemistry at URI, will collaborate with researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico for approximately one year. There, Grady and the lab’s team will conduct computational studies to better understand the properties of these rare-earth elements, which can lead to discovering extraction methods that are more efficient.

“If we can come up with some more targeted approaches for separating these elements that are extracted from the Earth’s crust, it’ll help us a lot,” said Grady, a Worcester, Massachusetts, resident. “Having access to these world-class facilities and learning from the experts in this kind of chemistry is really exciting. Being able to meet the people who author a lot of papers I read for my research will be an amazing experience.”

Lanthanides are rare-earth elements that are normally used in magnets, lighting displays and as contrast agents in MRI scans. Actinides are radioactive, which can be used for generating energy—particularly nuclear power—or used to operate cardiac pacemakers. 

Unlike other elements on the periodic table, mining for lanthanides and actinides pose extreme geological, environmental and technological challenges. Those challenges include needing significant amounts of electrical power to mine for such elements, resulting in heavy carbon footprints and depleting localized water sources, as well as limited opportunities to recycle them.

Grady’s doctoral dissertation is focusing on how electrons within heavy, rare-earth elements are configured. Understanding the characteristics of these elements through computational studies at the Los Alamos lab to fundamentally understand how these metals behave electronically will be a net positive for the country, Grady said.

The graduate-level courses Grady has taken at URI have exposed her to different forms of chemistry, under the guidance of URI Assistant Chemistry Professor Daniel Huh. Advanced Inorganic Chemistry solidified Grady’s foundation in the field, helping her become more confident in her work as a synthetic inorganic chemist, she said.

Grady says she learned about the organic synthesis behind some of the molecules she has been synthesizing during her Advanced Organic Chemistry II course with URI Assistant Chemistry Professor Lorenzo Mosca. 

“Receiving this fellowship is a reflection of all the support that I received at URI and all of the hard work that I’ve done,” said Grady, who hopes to become a professor upon graduating from the University. “Without that support from the faculty in the chemistry department and the support of my advisor, I wouldn’t be here today.”