"Elemental" is a science fantasy novella by Geoffrey A. Landis.
[1] In a late 21st century where magic has been systematized and incorporated into technology, two graduate students and their advisors discover the signs of an imminent disaster.
"Elemental" was a finalist for the 1985 Hugo Award for Best Novella.
[2] SF Site describes it as having a "Connie Willis-rewrites-Heinlein's-Magic, Inc. flavour", but notes that it "doesn't quite work".
[3] John Grant, writing at Infinity Plus, judged it to be "a piece of (relative) juvenilia", "clumsy", and "a bit of an embarrassment",[4] and observed that Landis has admitted to having "mixed feelings about" the story.