CUSSP News

Purdue University Rock Physics Professor Laura Pyrak-Nolte stands on a stage while being honored as an ISRM Fellow.

July 16, 2025: Staff Accomplishment

Purdue's Pyrak-Nolte Elected ISRM Fellow

CUSSP Deputy Director Laura J. Pyrak-Nolte has been elected a Fellow of the International Society for Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering. She is the Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy in the Rock Physics Research Group at Purdue University.

Photo of Jeff Burghardt wearing safety goggles.

May 22, 2025: Staff Accomplishment

Burghardt Chairs American Rock Mechanics Association Technical Program

The annual American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA) symposium is the premier technical event for the international rock mechanics and geomechanics community. Jeff Burghardt, an Earth scientist at PNNL, is the CUSSP field site leader.

Center for Understanding Subsurface Signals and Permeability (CUSSP) researchers board a mine rail cart headed for the geothermal test bed laboratory on the 4100 Level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in South Dakota. (Photo by Stephen Kenny, Sanford Underground Research Facility).

May 8, 2025: In the News

Geothermal research at America’s Underground Lab can bolster U.S. energy independence in the digital age

The deepest laboratory in the United States—the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in South Dakota—provides a unique test bed for the study of enhanced geothermal systems.

September 18, 2024: Staff Accomplishment

CUSSP Director Named American Geophysical Union Fellow

Chemist Kevin Rosso was elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union for “novel advancements in understanding and predicting the kinetics of critical environmental redox reactions in complex (bio)geochemical systems.” Rosso is director of the Center for Understanding Subsurface Signals and Permeability (CUSSP) Energy Earthshot Research Center. He will be honored in December at AGU24.

Illustration of molecules moving underneath Earth's surface under an electric field

July 19, 2024: Article

Gaining Insights into How Mineral Surfaces Respond to Electric Fields

To improve our ability to “see” into the subsurface, scientists need to understand how different mineral surfaces respond to electrical signals at the molecular scale in research supported by CUSSP.

March 27, 2024: Staff Accomplishment

Burghardt Joins Sanford Underground Research Facility Executive Committee

Jeff Burghardt, CUSSP field site leader, was elected to serve a 2-year term on the Sanford Underground Research Facility’s (SURF’s) User Association Executive Committee. Research for CUSSP takes place at SURF in South Dakota, where laboratory spaces are uniquely located thousands of feet underground.