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Patrick F. Dobson

Geothermal Systems Program Lead

Staff Scientist

Building 074, Room 0308

M/S 74R316C

Phone: 510-486-5373

pfdobson@lbl.gov

Curriculum Vitae

  • Researcher ID
  • Google Scholar
  • Publication listing
  • Education
  • Experience
  • Awards
  • Professional Affiliations
  • Scholarly Service
  • Synergistic Activities

Biography

My first real exposure to geology came while serving as a high school volunteer for the Student Conservation Association at Zion National Park. After spending two summers working as a field assistant in northern New Mexico for a geology professor at Williams College, I decided to change my major to geology. I headed west to graduate school at Stanford University, where I did field mapping and laboratory investigations of the Los Azufres Geothermal Field in Mexico and a detailed petrologic study of boninite series volcanic rocks from their type locality in the Bonin Islands of Japan.

I spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow at Caltech, where I was introduced into the world of experimental petrology. After a brief stint as a postdoc at UC Santa Barbara, I then moved to Unocal’s Hartley Research Center, where I ran the stable isotope laboratory. I then transferred to Unocal’s Geothermal Division, where I was involved in the exploration of geothermal systems in Indonesia, Central America, and South America.

I joined the former Earth Sciences Division of LBNL in 2000, and have been involved in a variety of geologic and geochemical research projects. I led LBNL’s efforts in the study of the Peña Blanca uranium deposits, a natural analogue for flow and transport processes at Yucca Mountain. From 2007 to 2009, I served as a detailee for the Geosciences Research Program of DOE’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences. I became the lead for LBNL’s Geothermal Systems Program in 2016.

Publications

  • Researcher ID
  • Google Scholar
  • Publication listing

Research Interests

I have worked on a number of field, laboratory, and modeling studies during my career. Much of my work has involved the study of volcanic rocks and the effects of water-rock interaction. My Masters thesis examined the volcanic stratigraphy and geochemistry of the Los Azufres geothermal system in central Mexico. For my dissertation, I studied the petrogenesis of boninite rocks from their type locality in the Bonin Islands, Japan. My postdoctoral work involved an experimental determination of the fractionation factor for hydrogen isotopes between water and natural and synthetic glasses at elevated temperatures.

During my professional career, I have continued working on geologic problems associated with water-rock interaction. I used stable isotope geochemistry to examine diagenesis in sedimentary rocks and to monitor changes in fluid and rock chemistry in a number of geothermal systems at Unocal's Hartley Research Center. While working for Unocal's Geothermal Division, I was a member of an interdisciplinary team that integrated geologic, geochemical, geophysical, and reservoir engineering data to develop conceptual models used to evaluate geothermal prospects and select exploration drilling targets for geothermal systems around the globe.

While at LBNL, I have been involved in a variety of geologic studies. I studied geothermal systems such as Yellowstone and the Nopal I uranium deposit in Mexico as analogues to geologic processes expected to be of importance at the proposed high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Field observations and laboratory measurements of water and rock samples collected from these analogues, along with measurements obtained from a laboratory experiment examining water-rock interaction and boiling in a single fracture, were used to constrain numerical simulations of coupled processes involving fluid flow and water-rock interaction in fractured rocks. More recently, I have been involved in field and coupled process modeling studies of The Geysers, leading the Exploration task group for the GeoVision study, participating in play fairway analysis of the Snake River Plain geothermal region, carrying out site characterization and testbed design for fracture stimulation and flow experiments being conducted as part of the EGS Collab project at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, SD, and evaluation of power curtailment at The Geysers geothermal field.

Education

  • Ph.D. Geology, Stanford University, 1986, Dissertation: The petrogenesis of boninite: A field, petrologic and geochemical study of the volcanic rocks of Chichi-jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.
  • M.S. Geology, Stanford University, 1984, Thesis: Volcanic stratigraphy and geochemistry of the Los Azufres geothermal center, Mexico
  • B.A. Geology (magna cum laude), Williams College, 1981

Experience

  • Geothermal Systems Program Lead, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) - Energy Geosciences Division (EGD), 2016-Present
  • Career Geological Staff Scientist, LBNL-EGD/Earth Sciences Division (ESD), 2010-Present
  • Detailee, DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Geosciences Research Program, LBNL-ESD, 2007-2009
  • Career Geological Research Scientist, LBNL-ESD, 2003-2010
  • Geological Scientist, LBNL-ESD, 2000-2003
  • Consultant, Empresa Nacional Del Petroleo (ENAP), Santiago, Chile, 1999-2001
  • Advising Geologist, Unocal Geothermal and Power Operations, Santa Rosa, CA, 1998-1999
  • Senior Geologist, Unocal Geothermal and Power Operations, Santa Rosa, CA, 1994-1998
  • Research Geologist, Unocal Science & Technology Division, Unocal Corporation, Brea, CA, 1989-1994
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of California, Department of Geological Sciences, Santa Barbara, CA, 1989
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow, California Institute of Technology, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, Pasadena, CA, 1986-1989

Awards

  • Outstanding Research Award, Geothermal Rising, 2022
  • Geological Society of America Fellow, 2020
  • SPOT Awards (7), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
  • Fulbright Specialist Grant in Environmental Science, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CISESE), 2017
  • Geothermal Special Achievement Award, Geothermal Resources Council, 2012
  • Fulbright Specialist Grant in Environmental Science, University of Chile, 2012
  • Outstanding Contributions in Geosciences Research Award, DOE Basic Energy Sciences, 2009
  • Special Recognition Awards (3), Unocal Corporation, 1995, 1998
  • Fred L. Hartley Research Center Creativity Award, Unocal Corporation, 1992
  • Harold T. Stearns Fellowship, Geological Society of America, 1984
  • Exxon Teaching Fellowship, School of Earth Sciences, Stanford University, 1982-1985
  • Phi Beta Kappa, Williams College Chapter, 1980

Professional Affiliations

  • American Geophysical Union
  • Geological Society of America
  • Geothermal Rising
  • Geological Society of Washington

Scholarly Service

  • Editorial Board, Geothermics, 2009-Present
  • Reviewer: Geothermics, Geology, Nature Geoscience, Environmental Earth Sciences, Geophysical Research Letters, Geothermal Energy Science, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, Energies, Geothermal Resources Council Transactions, DOE Geothermal Technologies Program Peer Review, Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (Chile), World Geothermal Congress, New Zealand Geothermal Workshop

Synergistic Activities

  • Member, DOE Geothermal Technologies Program Technical Monitoring Teams, Enhanced Geothermal Systems and Innovative Exploration Technologies, 2009-Present
  • Moderator/Organizer, International panel “Global Impact and Innovation Session,” Geothermal Rising Conference, 2021
  • Lead, Resource Exploration and Confirmation Task Force, US DOE Geothermal Technologies Office GeoVision Study, 2016-2018
  • Keynote speaker, New Zealand Geothermal Workshop, 2016
  • Panelist, Technical Workshop on Clean Energy Across the Borders, organized by the California Energy Commission, 2016
  • Panelist, Geothermal Best Practices for Risk Reduction Workshop, organized by U.S. Department of State and Geothermal Energy Association, 2014
  • Speaker, Geothermal Energy Transformations: Nationwide Resources and Value Chains, Energy from the Earth Briefing Series, Washington, D.C., 2014
  • Leader, Field trip to The Geysers geothermal field, AAPG Hedberg Conference on Enhanced Geothermal Systems, 2011
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