Lian-Shin (Lance) Lin
Director of WVU Rare Earth Elements Initiative Department Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Biography
Dr. Lin is the director of the WVU REE Initiative and chair of the Wadsworth Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources. His research centers on water and wastewater treatment, with an emphasis on developing innovative technologies for managing municipal and industrial waste streams and advancing resource recovery.
His work in the resource‑recovery domain includes the extraction of rare earth elements and other critical minerals from sources such as acid mine drainage, produced water, flue gas desulfurization effluent, blowdown water, and anaerobic digester effluent.
Working closely with industrial and academic partners, Dr. Lin’s recent efforts focus on scaling patented technologies for commercial deployment. He also leads a multidisciplinary team conducting stream monitoring and watershed assessments to evaluate the impacts of anthropogenic activities on aquatic ecosystems.