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Jens Birkholzer

Director, Energy Geosciences Division;

Senior Scientist;

Hydrogeologist

Building 084, Room 0322

M/S 74R316C

Phone: 510-486-7134

Fax: 510-486-5686

jtbirkholzer@lbl.gov

  • Education
  • Experience
  • Awards

Biography

Dr. Jens Birkholzer is a Senior Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL, Berkeley Lab). As an internationally recognized expert in subsurface energy applications and environmental impact assessment, he currently serves as the Division Director for the Energy Geosciences Divsion (EGD) within the Earth and Environmental Sciences Area (EESA) at LBNL. EESA is a premier organization of ~500 staff and affiliates with expertise in climate and ecosystem sciences and energy geosciences. This organization is focused on tackling some of the most pressing environmental and energy challenges of the 21st Century.

Dr. Birkholzer received his Ph.D. in water resources, hydrology, and soil science from Aachen University of Technology in Germany in 1994. He joined LBNL in 1994, left for a management position in his native Germany in 1999, and eventually returned to LBNL in 2001. He has over 400 scientific publications, about 170 of which are in peer-reviewed journals, in addition to numerous research reports. He serves on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control (IJGGC), the Energies Journal (Geo-Energy Section), and is also an Editorial Policy Advisor for the Journal of Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment (GETE). Dr. Birkholzer leads the international DECOVALEX Project as its Chairman, is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, and a Senior Fellow of the California Council on Science and Technology.

Research Interests

Dr. Birkholzer’s scientific emphasis centers on understanding and modeling coupled multi-phase fluid, gas, solute and heat transport in complex subsurface systems such as or fractured rock or heterogeneous sediments. As a scientist in a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Lab, his research is related to evaluating the feasibility and environmental sustainability of subsurface energy applications, particularly the use of deep subsurface formations for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and for the storage of CO2 for geologic carbon sequestration. Using a combination of numerical, theoretical, observational and experimental approaches, he focuses on the complex couplings between thermal-hydrological-mechanical and chemical processes activated by subsurface energy manipulations.

Education

  • Ph.D. Water Resources, Aachen University of Technology, Aachen, Germany, Civil Engi­neering School, 1993-1994, Dissertation: Multi Continua Modeling of Solute Transport in Frac­tured Porous Media
  • M.Sc. Civil Engineering (Diplom), Aachen University of Technology, Aachen, Germany, Civil Engineering School, 1985-1988, Thesis: Continuum Behavior of Fracture Networks Considering Large Scale Flow Problems in Fractured Rock
  • B.Sc. Civil Engineering (Vor-Diplom), Aachen University of Technology, Aachen, Germany, Civil Engineering School, 1982-1985

Experience

  • Division Director, Energy Geosciences Division, Earth & Environmental Sciences Area (EESA), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), 2015 - Present
  • Senior Scientist, LBNL-EESA, 2015 - Present
  • Associate Laboratory Director (Acting), LBNL-EESA, Jan - Dec 2022
  • Deputy Division Director, LBNL-Earth Sciences Division (ESD), 2014 - 2015
  • Program Lead, Nuclear Energy and Waste, LBNL-ESD, 2008 - 2019
  • Geological Staff Scientist, LBNL-ESD, 2004 - 2015
  • Geological Scientist, LBNL-ESD (Career Position), 2001-2004
  • Chief Engineer and Project Manager, Construction of the New International Airport in Dusseldorf, HOCHTIEF AG, Dusseldorf, Germany, 1999 - 2001
  • Geological Scientist, LBNL (Career-Track Position), 1996 - 1998
  • Post-doctoral Fellow, LBNL, 1994-1996
  • Research Associate (Group Leader, 1993-1994), Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management (IWW), Aachen University of Technology, Aachen, Germany, 1989 - 1994

Awards

  • California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) Senior Fellow, Since January 2017
  • Geological Society of America (GSA) Fellow, Since 2016
  • Director’s Award for Exceptional Achievement (TOUGH codes), LBNL, 2012
  • Outstanding Performance Award, LBNL, 1997, 2007, 2015
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, Humboldt-Stiftung (Humboldt-Foundation), 1995 - 1996
  • Friedrich-Wilhelm Award for Ph.D. Thesis, Aachen University, 1995
  • Borchers Award for Ph.D. Thesis, Aachen University, 1995
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, German Academic Exchange Organization, 1994 - 1995
  • Research-Fellowship German Academic Exchange Organization, 1989
  • Springorum Award for Summa Cum Laude M.Sc., Aachen University, 1989
  • Hunnebeck Award for best Master Thesis, Hunnebeck Society, 1989
  • Scholarship for Excellent Students, German Government, German National Academic Foundation Member "Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes", 1986 - 1989
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