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Energy Geosciences Division

About
Program Domains
People
Departments
Organization
  • EGD Group Photo

    Our Division

    ...relies on individual contributions, strong partnerships, and teamwork to build scientific and operational excellence.

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  • Advanced Geophysical Instrumentation

    Our scientists are developing innovative geophysical hardware and methods for subsurface imaging and monitoring with access to the Geosciences Measurement Facility.

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  • Isotope Geochemistry

    Isotope geochemists develop and use isotopic ratio methods to study fundamental Earth Processes, as well as environmental and energy problems of national interest.

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  • Reservoir Engineering

    Researchers are studying ways to enhance production of energy from subsurface reservoirs containing methane gas hydrates, geothermal energy, and oil and gas resources.

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  • Molecular and Nano-geochemistry

    This research field studies the fundamental, molecular-scale phenomena that underpin biogeochemical processes in the natural world

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  • Rock Physics and Coupled Dynamics

    Research in the laboratory increases our scientists experimental knowledge base for geophysical properties of rocks and sediments that are either not well described by conventional rock physics models or have yet to be fully exploited.

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  • Contaminant Hydrology

    Researchers are addressing the national and international need for subsurface contaminant characterization and remediation across a spectrum of approaches.

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Publications buttonThe mission of the Energy Geosciences Division is to create basic and use-inspired knowledge, methods, and capabilities for sustainable utilization and management of the Earth’s subsurface.

EarthIntegrateSystem_EGD
Energy Geosciences Division scientists integrate cutting-edge numerical, observational and experimental approaches in both fundamental and applied research projects

  • to promote safe subsurface disposal of energy by-products such as CO2 or nuclear waste,
  • to enhance subsurface recovery from renewable sources such as geothermal energy
  • to improve efficiency and environmental sustainability of oil and gas production from conventional and unconventional resources,
  • and to develop effective and affordable grid-scale energy storage in the deep subsurface.

An important goal in this context is to solve existing and emerging challenges of sustainability of subsurface energy utilization and important linkages to water, environment, energy infrastructure, and society.

Program Domains

Discovery Geosciences

Researchers in the Discovery Geoscience Program Domain work at the cutting edge of observation, measurement and simulation of fluid-rock processes through the use and development of methods that span the molecular and field scales.

Energy Resources

Scientists in the Energy Resources Program Domain advance the knowledge and technology needed to develop and utilize subsurface systems for clean, secure, cost-effective, and sustainable energy production, energy storage, and disposal of energy-related wastes.

Resilient Energy, Water and Infrastructure

Researchers in the Resilient Energy, Water and Infrastructure Program Domain are developing and applying scientific approaches to solving existing and emerging challenges of sustainability 'and resiliency' of subsurface energy utilization and important linkages to water, environment, energy infrastructure, and society.

Discovery Geosciences

Researchers in the Discovery Geoscience Program Domain work at the cutting edge of observation, measurement and simulation of fluid-rock processes through the use and development of methods that span the molecular and field scales.

Energy Resources

Scientists in the Energy Resources Program Domain advance the knowledge and technology needed to develop and utilize subsurface systems for clean, secure, cost-effective, and sustainable energy production, energy storage, and disposal of energy-related wastes.

Resilient Energy, Water and Infrastructure

Researchers in the Resilient Energy, Water and Infrastructure Program Domain are developing and applying scientific approaches to solving existing and emerging challenges of sustainability 'and resiliency' of subsurface energy utilization and important linkages to water, environment, energy infrastructure, and society.

Jonathan Ajo-Franklin

Visiting Faculty

Phone: 510-495-2728
[email protected]

David Lee Alumbaugh

Staff Scientist

[email protected]

Bhavna Arora portrait

Bhavna Arora

Research Scientist

Phone: 510-495-2163
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Sally M. Benson

Guest Senior Scientist

Affiliate

Phone: 510-486-7419
[email protected]

Amitra Bhattacharyya

Amrita Bhattacharyya

Project Scientist

Phone: 510-486-5335
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Pramod Bhuvankar

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Phone: 765-426-3077
[email protected]

Jens Birkholzer

Energy Geosciences Division Director

Senior Scientist

Hydrogeologist

Phone: 510-486-7134
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Laura Blanco Martin

Faculty Scientist

[email protected]

Sharon E. Borglin

Principal Scientific Research Associate

[email protected]

Robert J. Budnitz portrait. Cr. Roy Kaltschmidt, Berkeley Lab. Photos.lbl.gov, XBD201408-01063-02.tiff

Robert Jay Budnitz

Guest Physicist Project Scientist/Engineer

Affiliate

Phone: 510-486-7829
[email protected]

Roland Burgmann

Faculty Scientist

Phone: 510-643-9545
[email protected]

Madison Burrus

Research Assistant

Phone: 732-677-6350
[email protected]

Mary Kay Camarillo

Visiting Faculty

Phone: 209-946-3056
[email protected]

Frederic Cappa

Project Scientist

Phone: 510-486-5432
[email protected]

Chun Chang

Research Scientist

Phone: 510-570-0772
[email protected]

Jinsong Chen

Staff Scientist

Phone: 510-486-6842
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Bin Chen

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Phone: 510-460-8121
[email protected]

Sung Choi

Principal Scientific Engineering Associate

Phone: 818-425-8823
[email protected]

John Neil Christensen

Staff Scientist

Phone: 510-486-6735
Fax: 510-486-7152
[email protected]

Abdullah Cihan

Abdullah Cihan

Research Scientist

Phone: 510-495-2997
[email protected]

Julien F. Cohen-Waeber

Graduate Student Research Assistant

Phone: 310-488-8975
[email protected]

Michael Commer

Staff Scientist

Phone: 510-486-6164
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Paul Cook

Paul Cook

Principal Scientific Engineering Associate

Phone: 510-486-6110
Fax: 510-486-6819
[email protected]

Julia Correa

Research Scientist

Phone: 510-693-7011
[email protected]

Robert Crystal-Ornelas

Postdoctoral Fellow

Phone: 510-495-8890
[email protected]

Thomas Daley

Staff Scientist

Phone: 510-486-7316
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Joan Damerow

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

[email protected]

Hang Deng

Research Scientist

Phone: 510-486-4537
[email protected]

P. James Dennedy-Frank

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Phone: 505-795-0409
[email protected]

Donald J. DePaolo

Graduate Professor of Geochemistry and Senior Faculty Scientist

Phone: 510-486-7560
Fax: 510-486-7714
[email protected]

Pat Dobson

Patrick F. Dobson

Geothermal Systems Program Lead

Staff Scientist

Phone: 510-486-5373
[email protected]

Jeremy K. Domen

Research Associate

Phone: 808-754-5812
[email protected]

Wenming Dong

Senior Scientific Engineering Associate

Phone: 510-486-7499
[email protected]

Christine Doughty

Staff Scientist

Phone: 510-486-6453
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Dipankar Dwivedi

Research Scientist

Phone: 510-486-4005
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Eric E. Eckert

Graduate Student Research Assistant

Phone: 510-486-7945
[email protected]

Daniel Lee Eldridge

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Phone: 510-495-2748
[email protected]

Boris A. Faybishenko

Earth Staff Scientist

Hydrogeology Department
Energy Geosciences Division
Earth and Environmental Sciences Area

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
University of California, Berkeley
M/S 74R316C
510-486-4852

[email protected]

Stefan Finsterle

Guest Scientist

Affiliate

[email protected]

Bill Foxall Portrait

William Foxall

Guest Senior Scientist

Affiliate

Phone: 510-486-5082
[email protected]

Barry M. Freifeld

Guest Scientist/Mechanical Engineer (Retired)

Affliate

Phone: 510-520-2618
[email protected]

Erika Gasperikova

Erika Gasperikova

Research Scientist

Phone: 510-486-4930
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Benjamin Gilbert

Discovery Geosciences Program Domain Lead

BES Geochemistry Program Lead

Senior Scientist

Phone: 510-495-2748
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Pupa Gilbert

Visiting Faculty

Phone: 510-495-2010
[email protected]

Norman E. Goldstein

Guest Senior Scientist

Affiliate

Phone: 510-486-6887
[email protected]

Yves Guglielmi portrait

Yves Guglielmi

Staff Scientist

Phone: 510-486-7626
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Chet Hopps profile photo

Chet Hopp

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Phone: 734-255-6473
[email protected]

Mengsu Hu

Research Scientist

Phone: 510-486-5154
[email protected]

Lawrence J. Hutchings

Project Scientist

Affiliate

Phone: 510-486-7446
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Pierre Jeanne

Project Scientist

Phone: 510-486-6261
[email protected]

Boris Jeremic

Faculty Scientist

Phone: 510-486-7829
[email protected]

Claresta M. Joe-Wong

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Phone: 510-486-5335
[email protected]

Sallie Johnson

Student Assistant

Phone: 510-495-2959
[email protected]

Preston Jordan Portrait

Preston D. Jordan

Principal Scientific Engineering Associate

Phone: 510-486-6774
[email protected]

Kenzi Karasaki

Guest Scientist

Affiliate

Phone: 510-486-6759
[email protected]

Burton M. Kennedy

Guest Scientist

Affiliate

Phone: 510-486-6451
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Kunhwi Kim

Affiliate

Phone: 858-263-3313
[email protected]

Kevin Knauss

Guest Scientist

Affiliate

Phone: 925-667-5674
[email protected]

Tim Kneafsey

Hydrocarbon Resources Program Lead

Staff Scientist

Phone: 510-486-4414
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Ram Kumar

Postdoctoral Fellow

Phone: 813-570-0512
[email protected]

Laura Nielsen Lammers

Faculty Scientist

Phone: 510-664-4210
[email protected]

Corinne Elisabeth Layland-Bachmann

Senior Scientific Engineering Associate

Phone: 510-486-6743
[email protected]

Ji Yeon Lee

Research Associate

Phone: 510-495-6455
[email protected]

Martin Lesueur

Postdoctoral Fellow

Phone: 510-486-5154
[email protected]

Zhi Li

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Phone: 510-495-8232
[email protected]

Pei Li

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Phone: 510-486-4537
[email protected]

Harrison Lisabeth

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Phone: 510-486-7262
[email protected]

Robin D. Lopez

Research Associate

[email protected]

Linqing Luo

Research Scientist

Phone: 510-766-8083
[email protected]

Fadji Zaouna Maina

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Phone: 510-486-6220
[email protected]

Ernest L. Majer

Guest Scientist

Affiliate

Phone: 510-486-6709
[email protected]

Michael Manga

Faculty Scientist

Phone: (510) 643-8532
[email protected]

Pierpaolo Marchesini-portrait

Pierpaolo Marchesini

Guest Scientist

Affiliate

Phone: 510-541-3285
[email protected]

David McCallen

Senior Scientist

Phone: 510-486-7661
[email protected]

Mamun Miah

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Phone: 510-486-5647
[email protected]

Utkarsh Mital

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Phone: 626-390-8375
[email protected]

Sergi Molins Rafa

Sergi Molins Rafa

Research Scientist

Phone: 510-486-7540
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Alejandro Morales

Mechanical Engineering Technician

Phone: 510-486-5967
[email protected]

George J. Moridis

Senior Scientist

Phone: 510-486-4746
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Satish Myneni

Visiting Faculty

Phone: 510-486-4591
[email protected]

Seiji Nakagawa

Staff Scientist

Phone: 510-486-7894
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Avinash Nayak

Postdoctoral Fellow

Phone: 510-486-6658
[email protected]

Edward Nichols

Senior Scientific Engineering Associate

[email protected]

Peter S. Nico

Soil and Environmental Biogeochemist;

Staff Scientist;

Resilient Energy, Water and Infrastructure Program Domain Lead

Phone: 510-486-7118
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Kurt Toshimi Nihei

Staff Scientist

Phone: 510-486-7945
[email protected]

Nils Anders Petersson

Guest Scientist

Affiliate

Phone: 510-486-7134
[email protected]

Curtis M. Oldenburg

Geologic Carbon Sequestration Program Lead

Senior Scientist

Phone: 510-486-7419
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Omotayo A. Omosebi

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Phone: 510-486-6656
[email protected]

Ilhan Ozgen

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Phone: 510-309-3037
[email protected]

Floriana Petrone

Visiting Faculty

Visitin

Phone: 510-486-7961
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Petr Vitalievich Petrov

Principal Scientific Engineering Associate

Phone: 510-486-6596
[email protected]

Steven R. Pride

Staff Scientist

Phone: 510-495-2823
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Clayton J. Radke

Faculty Scientist/Engineer

Phone: 510-642-5204
[email protected]

Matthew T. Reagan

Research Scientist

Phone: 510-486-6517
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

James W. Rector

Faculty Scientist

Phone: 510-643-7820
[email protected]

Antonio Pio Rinaldi

Project Scientist

Phone: 510-486-6525
[email protected]

Michelle Robertson

Program Manager

Phone: 510-486-5096
[email protected]

Emily A. Robles

Student Assistant

Phone: 510-495-8890
[email protected]

Michael (Mike) Rowley

Postdoctoral Fellow

Phone: 510-486-7118
[email protected]

Jonny Rutqvist

Senior Scientist

Hydrogeology Department Head

Phone: 510-486-5432
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Maegen B. Simmonds

Project Scientist

Phone: 707-694-6079
[email protected]

Nicholas Sitar

Faculty Scientist

Phone: 510-486-5206
[email protected]

Jeremy T. Smith

Senior Scientific Engineering Associate

Phone: 510-486-5761
[email protected]

Kenichi Soga

Faculty Scientist

[email protected]

Eric L. Sonnenthal

Staff Scientist

Phone: 510-486-5866
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Garrison Sposito

Guest Faculty

Affiliate

Phone: 510-643-8297
[email protected]

Nicolas Spycher

Nicolas Spycher

Staff Scientist

Phone: 510-495-2388
Fax: 510-486-7897
[email protected]

Carl I. Steefel

Geochemistry Department Head

Senior Scientist & Department Head

Phone: 510-502-3660
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Daniel Stolper

Faculty Scientist

[email protected]

William T. Stringfellow

Director, Ecological Engineering Research Program

Environmental Staff Engineer

Phone: 510-486-7903
Fax: 510-486-7152
[email protected]

Nithya Subramanian

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Phone: 510-664-4210
[email protected]

Tetsu K. Tokunaga

Hydrogeochemical Research Lab

Senior Scientist

Phone: 510-486-7176
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Verónica Rodriguez Tribaldos

Research Scientist

Phone: 510-292-1976
[email protected]

Craig Ulrich

Principal Scientific Engineering Associate

Phone: 510-495-8891
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Charuleka Varadharajan

Research Scientist

Phone: 510-495-8890
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Donald W. Vasco

Hydrogeophysicist

Senior Scientist

Phone: 510-486-5206
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Marco Voltolini

Marco Voltolini

Senior Scientific Engineer Associate

Phone: 510-486-4093
[email protected]

Jiamin Wan

Staff Scientist

Phone: 510-486-6004
Fax: 510-486-7797
[email protected]

Jiannan Wang

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Phone: 510-486-6673
[email protected]

Helen Weierbach

Research Assistant

Phone: 571-730-7903
[email protected]

Michael Whittaker

Research Scientist

Phone: 510-486-6596
[email protected]

Michael Wilt

Staff Scientist

Phone: 510-486-5430
[email protected]

David Winslow

Principal Scientific Engineering Associate

Phone: 805-657-2928
[email protected]

Erica Woodburn

Research Scientist

Seaborg Research Fellow

Phone: 510-486-5711
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Hao Xu

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Phone: 979-777-9511
[email protected]

Piotr Pawel Zarzycki

Research Scientist

Phone: 510-486-6272
[email protected]

Yingqi Zhang

Staff Scientist

Phone: 510-495-2983
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

LianGe Zheng

Staff Scientist

Nuclear Energy and Waste Program Head

Phone: 510-486-5502
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Quanlin Zhou

Staff Scientist

Phone: 510-486-5748
Fax: 510-486-5686
[email protected]

Division Contacts

Jens Birkholzer
Energy Geosciences Division Director
Senior Scientist
Hydrogeologist

Cindy Tilton Portrait

Cynthia Tilton
Senior Administrator to the Division Director

News & Events

EGD Postdoc Fellow Receives Young Researcher Presenter Award

January 21, 2021

Pramod Bhuvankar, an EGD postdoctoral fellow working with research scientist Abdullah Cihan, received a Young Researcher Presenter Award during the 2020 Computational Methods in Water Resources conference in December. His presentation, “Pore-scale simulations of permeability decline in porous media due to fines migration,” described a pore-scale CFD study of clay mobilization in porous media due…

Berkeley Lab Partners with International Collaborators in Geothermal Energy Research

January 20, 2021

  Scientists from the Energy Geosciences Division have begun working with European partners on three new geothermal research projects through the Department of Energy’s membership in GEOTHERMICA, a transnational consortium that combines the in-country financial resources and research expertise of 15 participating countries to demonstrate and validate novel concepts in geothermal energy use. This marks the…

EESA Senior Scientist Talks Earthquake Building Resilience

Berkeley Lab senior scientist David McCallen leads a subproject called Earthquake Sim, or EQSIM, for the DOE’s Energy Exascale Computing Project. He is also professor and director of the Center for Civil Engineering Earthquake Research in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno. McCallen recently spoke with Scott Gibson of…

New EESA Research Explores Impact of Land-use Policy on California’s Terrestrial Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Budget

January 12, 2021

The 28 million acres of natural and working lands across California provide a unique opportunity to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction goals through various land-use strategies, such as expanding urban forest areas or restoring woodlands. However, the need to mitigate wildfire severity is also a critical priority for California, and one that can increase emissions…

Impacts of Climate Change on Our Water and Energy Systems: It’s Complicated

January 11, 2021

As the planet continues to warm, the twin challenges of diminishing water supply and growing energy demand are intensifying. But because water and energy are inextricably linked, as we try to adapt to one challenge – say, by getting more water via desalination or water recycling – we may be worsening the other challenge by…

Field Access Allows First-Ever Geothermal Basin Characterization Using Dark Fiber

December 16, 2020

We are thankful to have received approval to do limited field work as Berkeley Lab continues working under COVID-19 requirements. As an example, last month research scientist Verónica Rodríguez Tribaldos along with Michelle Robertson and Todd Wood of the Geosciences Measurement Facility deployed a distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) system on a “dark fiber” at a…

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