Earth Materials Collections | EMS Museum & Art Gallery

Physical specimens and samples are a critical part of research and training in geosciences and related disciplines. As field-based scientists, we often collect specimens to better understand earth systems. Hand samples, sediment and rock cores, thin sections, field notes and photographs–these are the physical vouchers of field research that are often further sub-sampled and analyzed in laboratory settings to piece together our understanding of the world. Where do these specimens go after the research is complete and the papers are published? They are the raw data of earth science research. As such, they are incredibly important to reproducible science. They are also key to connecting data to physical specimens in educational contexts.

The research and educational potential of these collections is immense. Samples come from deposits all over the world, from mines that are often historically important but are often no longer accessible. Individual specimens voucher historic EMS research. Published sample numbers align with physical specimens in drawers. Specimens can be made available for teaching, and align with authentic, specimen-based training in earth sciences research.

EMS Museum Earth Materials Collection

This well-curated collection includes rocks, minerals, gems, fossils, meteorites, and synthetic materials. Contributors have included PSU students, faculty, researchers, and alumni. The collection includes many exhibit-quality specimens that are used in educational and exhibit programming. Earth materials from this collection are also accessible for research purposes.

E-FIRE and ExTerra Project Collection

The ExTerra initiative (2013–2023), anchored by the E-FIRE project (ExTerra Field Institutes and Research Endeavor), was a decade-long international collaboration focused on understanding convergent margin processes through studies of exhumed terranes. Funded by the NSF PIRE program and loosely affiliated with the GeoPRISMS initiative, ExTerra emphasized field-based research, training, and sample collection across key geological sites, including a 2014 pilot in California and major expeditions to the Western Alps (France, Italy, Switzerland) from 2017–2019. A total of 649 samples were registered with SESAR under the IGSN prefix “EXT.”

PSU Economic Geology Collection

This collection has been called the J.D. Ridge economic ore collection or the Penn State Economic Geology collection. Historically, J.D. Ridge was a member and one time head of the Department of Mineral Economics. Ridge published an extensive series of compilations describing ore deposits from around the world. The collection is divided into domestic and international localities. Many specimens are from historic mines that are no longer accessible. Ridge’s core collection was extended through the research of other geoscientists and engineers. These include: Hu Barnes (Mississippi Valley; Russia), Art Rose (Cornwall, PA), and Duff Gold (S. Africa). This summary is incomplete.

F. A. Genth Memorial Mineral Collection

Frederick Augustus Genth (1820-1893) was an analytical chemist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania who was important to early mineralogy in the United States. He served as the chemist for the Pennsylvania and North Carolina Geological Surveys and described over 30 new mineral species. This collection was donated to the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences by the Genth family. The collection was intended to be comprehensive of known mineral specimens at the time and primarily includes specimens from North America and Europe.

Krantz Collection

The collection was obtained by Dean Marshman E. Wadsworth in the early 1900s. The collection contains about 3000 hand specimens (primarily lithology samples) with 1200 associated thin sections. This collection was used in petrographic instruction and has geographic strengths in European and North American localities.

Weidhaas Mineral Collection

Ernest R. Weidhaas (1888 - 1974) was a mineralogist in Pelham Manor, New York. His well-documented collection has approximately 10,000 specimens from around the world, including locations near New York City that are no longer accessible. This collection of minerals was donated to Penn State for “exhibit, reference, research, and study.”