A group of researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso are behind an emerging lithium extraction technology that won the inaugural Hill Prize from the Texas Academies of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology on Monday. The $500,000 prize will support a joint research effort by Alma Energy and UTEP to extract lithium from hydrothermal waters. From left: Eva Deemer, Ph.D, and Benjamin Brunner, Ph.D., celebrate receiving the Hill Prize along with Dr. Hermann Lebit and Natalya Kharitonova of Alma Energy.