Rod Eggert is a research professor in the department of economics and business at Colorado School of Mines, where he has been on the faculty since 1986. Since 2013, he has been deputy director of the Critical Materials Innovation Hub, a research consortium established by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2013, to accelerate innovation in energy materials.

His research and teaching focus on mineral economics and public policy – especially, in recent years, on critical minerals and materials. He chaired the U.S. National Academies committee that wrote the 2008 book Minerals, Critical Minerals, and the US Economy. He co-chaired the National Academies committee that prepared the 2025 report Meeting Future U.S. Mineral Resource Needs: The Role of the U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program. He has testified on critical minerals and materials at committee hearings of the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, European Parliament, and the Canadian House of Commons.