 Peter Fiske
Research Scientist
Lawrence-Livermore Laboratory
Lawrence, CA
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 B.S. Geology,
Princeton University
Ph.D. Geological
and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University |
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Research Scientist |
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"One of the biggest
challenges, I think, for the geosciences community is
integrating what we know about the earth and our tools, with
these other systems -- biological and anthropological -- to have
a more unified understand of how our planet works as a system." |
Fiske:
"Well, I think first and foremost, geologists have a very important niche
of expertise. They are the experts on space ship Earth. This is the one
planet that we live on. This is the one planet that we inhabit. Presently
it does not look very realistic that we will inhabit another planet any
time soon. So this is the one that we're stuck with. Up to now geosciences
have been focused, to a great extent, on resources -- resource
development. Now we face a new challenge, resource management."
Fiske:
"I think the industries
related to environment are here to stay, and here to grow. As we find it
more expensive to utilize and do our business on earth, we're going to
find things like keeping the ground clean and the air clean and the water
clean to be increasing in value. And, we see any number of industries,
from geological engineers who actually deal with site remediation to
geochemists, who may work on new ways to use mineral surfaces for example
to absorb contaminants and keep pollutants in place. So as a profession, I
think just basically we have a lot of experience in dealing with the sorts
of data that are going to be important in the future. And one of the
biggest challenges, I think, for the geosciences community is integrating
what we know about the earth and our tools, with these other systems --
biological and anthropological -- to have a more unified understand of how
our planet works as a system."
"I think the
industries related to environment are here to stay and here to grow. As we
find it more expensive to utilize and to do our business on Earth, we're
going to find things like keeping the ground clean and the air clean and
the water clean, to be increasing in value. And we see any number of
industries, from geological engineers who actually deal with site
remediation, to geochemists who may work on new ways to use mineral
surfaces, for example, to sorb contaminants and to keep pollutants in
place. So as a profession, I think just basically, we have a lot of
experience in dealing with the sorts of data that are going to be
important in the future and one of the biggest challenges that the
geoscience community is integrating what we know about the Earth and our
tools, with these other systems, biological and anthropological -- to have
a more unified understanding of how our planet works as a system."
Peter was led to
geology early in life: his father is a geoscientist with the Smithsonian
Institution. The Fiske family spent many summers in the Sierra Nevada
where the elder Fiske carried out field research. While a graduate student
at Stanford, Peter studied the physical and chemical properties of molten
lava. In the summer of 1990 he and former professors from Princeton
University discovered the remains of the Beaverhead Impact Structure, the
largest meteorite impact structure in the United States. After graduating
from Stanford in 1994 Peter became a post-doctoral research fellow at
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he continued his research
into meteorite impacts and carried out field work in Thailand and Montana.
In 1996 Peter was selected to be a White House Fellow in Washington D.C.
He subsequently served as an Assistant to the Secretary of Defense. Peter
returned to Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in the Fall of 1997 and resumed
his life as a research scientist. In addition to his activities as a
scientist, Peter is an active writer and lecturer on the subject of
Careers, Career Development, and Career Alternatives for Scientists. He is
the author of To Boldly Go: A
Practical Career Guide for Scientists and the author of Tooling
Up, a monthly column on the science employment website
NextWave. He is an active member of
the American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of America, and the
American Geological Institute.
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