Skip to main content
Eberly College of Arts & Sciences Department of Geology and Geography
Visit WVU Request Info Apply Now
Woman with full, short wavy hair and glasses, and a black sports jacket.

Shikha Sharma

Marshall S. Miller Energy Professor of Geology

Contact

shikha.sharma@mail.wvu.edu Website

Profiles and Info

WVU Experts Database

Categorized As

Role: Faculty,
Focus or Research Area: Geology,

“Geologists are a jack-of-all trades because we use a little bit of math, a little bit of physics, chemistry and biology.... it helps us develop a holistic perspective to address a wide variety of issues related to the sustainable development of earth resources.”

Energy, Geothermal, Hydrogen Storage, Carbon Sequestration, Critical and Rare Earth Minerals —Research in Dr. Sharma's IsoBioGeM laboratory focuses on Environment and Sustainable Energy Solutions related to unconventional shales, subsurface CO2 and H2 storage, geothermal systems, and critical and rare earth mineral extraction.

Lab

IsoBioGem Lab

PI: Shikha Sharma, Professor of Geology

Research

Research in my IsoBioGeM laboratory focuses on Environment and Sustainable Energy Solutions related to unconventional shales, subsurface CO2 and H2 storage, geothermal systems, and critical and rare earth mineral extraction. We employ diverse isotopic, geochemical, microscopic, spectroscopic, mineralogical, and biological techniques to investigate these research inquiries. We have led several multi-institutional collaborative research projects funded by the 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 and US Department of State.

Current and ongoing research projects

  • 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 (2021-2026)
  • Integrated Physicobiogeochemical and Modeling Approach to Optimize Large Scale Subsurface Hydrogen Storage in the U.S. DOE- Office of Basic Energy Sciences, (2022-2025)
  • Critical Mineral and Rare Earth Extraction from Coal, Shales and Produced Water, Funded by NETL and Industry Partners (2022-2025)

Teaching

  • SUST 372- Sustainable Energy
  • GEOL 486- Environmental Isotopes
  • GEOL 591- Analytical Techniques

Representative papers

Bowman, S., Agrawal, V., and Sharma, S., 2023, Role of pH and Eh in geothermal systems: Thermodynamic examples and impacts on scaling and corrosion, Geothermics, 111, 102710.

Yesenchak, R., Sharma, S., & Maxwell, A. E. 2022. Modes of Occurrence, Elemental Relationships, and Economic Viability of Rare Earth Elements in West Virginia Coals: A Statistical Approach. Minerals, 12(8), 1060.

Sharma S, Agrawal V, Hakala A, Mcgrath S, Hakala A, Lopano C, Goodman A. 2021 Geochemical controls on CO2 interactions with deep subsurface shales: Implications for geologic carbon sequestration. Sci. Processes and Impacts, https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EM00109D

Sharma S., Agrawal V., Akondi R. Wang Y, Hakala A. 2021 Understanding controls on the geochemistry of hydrocarbon produced waters from different basins across the US . Env. Sci. Processes and Impacts, https://doi.org/10.1039/D0EM00388C

Sharma S., Agrawal V., Akondi R. 2020. Role of Biogeochemistry in efficient shale
oil and gas production. Fuel, 259 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2019.116207

Back to Directory