Student gaining technical skills for managing the environmental side of mining

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — With a background in environmental systems, Kaleah Moran sees the mining industry from a side that’s less public-facing.

Moran, who earned an undergraduate degree from Penn State in environmental systems engineering (ENVSE) in May, has been spending the summer working at Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Copper Mine in Utah, learning how industries mitigate the byproduct selenium, which poses risks to aquatic ecosystems.

Now a master’s degree student in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering (EME), Moran is working as an environmental engineering intern with a focus in project management, coordinating sampling, supporting lab analysis, and contributing to understanding contaminant behavior for long-term environmental management. She credits connections she made during a previous internship, at Heidelberg Materials, with helping her earn the opportunity.

Sustainability has long been her passion, and she wants a career ensuring our nation’s mining needs are met with minimal environmental impact.

“My ENVSE degree gave me a very strong foundation in environmental health and systems, but I realized that the sustainability challenges I care about, like critical mineral extraction and environmental risk-reduction, require a more focused skillset,” Moran said. “Graduate study in EME lets me build the technical depth needed for me to design solutions rather than evaluating the impacts, aligning with my personal career goals.”

At the Kennecott Mine, Moran is getting a taste for the range of careers a mining or environmental systems engineer can choose. She said she’s most comfortable on the management side of things, where she can move around and get a bird’s-eye view of the entire system.

“I am more drawn to the management side, overseeing the project, coordinating with consultants and even handling budget responsibilities,” Moran said. “I like having that broader perspective and the ability to influence how each piece fits together. I’m also learning that I enjoy the variety of moving between the lab, tailings, our wetlands and other assets, because it really helps to give me a more complete understanding of how the environmental systems interact across the mine.”

The opportunity is helping her understand the big picture of how interconnected a mine’s assets are and how all that feeds into the larger picture that includes environmental impact. And, as a project manager, she’s learning how that role accomplishes that goal.

“Experiencing that integration first-hand has truly taught me the importance of balancing technical detail with a broader system oversight,” Moran said.

Moran grew up in a coal mining town and knows firsthand the importance of environmental safety. Her past made her curious about how industries and environments intersect. In high school, she said, she loved science and math and was equally drawn to problem-solving approaches, so she said environmental systems engineering seemed like a great fit.

“Making that choice clicked even further when I realized I wanted to tackle industrial challenges by understanding the whole system and designing solutions that address root causes rather than isolated symptoms,” Moran said. “I hope to build a career in extraction sustainability, managing projects that improve reclamation and balance environmental responsibility with economic viability.”