Nicholas Pester

Nicholas Jon Pester

Guest Scientist

Affiliate

Building 074, Room 0212H

M/S 74R316C

Phone: 510-486-6983

Fax: 510-486-5686

njpester@lbl.gov

Curriculum Vitae

Biography

Nick Pester is an aqueous geochemist and oceanographer with specific expertise in fluid-mineral exchange reactions and chemical mass transport in natural hydrothermal systems. He received a Ph.D. in Geology/Chemistry from the University of Minnesota, where his research focused on discerning the physical and geochemical variables that control the chemistry of deep-sea hydrothermal fluids. He followed this with post-doctoral work in energy geosciences at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, concentrating on geochemical aspects of carbon sequestration and geothermal reservoir management. He is currently a research scientist in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science at UC Berkeley. As an LBNL affiliate, he manages the hydrothermal laboratory, conducting experiments with broad implications for modeling chemical/isotope exchange reactions between fluids, minerals and gases in the Earth’s crust.

Research Interests

Experimental observations constitute building blocks for the development and calibration of increasingly complex models that might allow us to understand heat and chemical mass balances in the crust. I have particular interest in the transport and fate of trace metals and their isotopes, which are important tracers in long-term geochemical cycles. One of my overarching goals is to elucidate how seawater chemistry may have evolved throughout Earth's history via a combination of changing hydrothermal and continental weathering inputs into the ocean. I am further interested in expanding such studies to include the evolution and habitability of subsurface oceans on icy moons such as Europa (Jupiter) and Enceladus (Saturn). Specific research currently includes: using alkaline earth metal isotope systematics to understand rates and mechanisms of chemical exchange between seawater and ocean crust, the abiotic synthesis and stability of organic compounds and prebiotic molecules, the effects of geological carbon sequestration on reservoir chemistry, partitioning of tracer gases between brines and supercritical CO₂, the effect of fluid chemistry on subcritical crack growth in stressed minerals, and rates of hydrogen isotope exchange between water and light hydrocarbons.