Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has tapped Peter Fiske to be the director of its Water-Energy Resilience Institute, a new position that underscores the Lab’s commitment to developing solutions for the challenges associated with the interdependence of water and energy systems. Fiske will join Berkeley Lab on May 15.

Peter Fiske

Fiske comes from Richmond, CA-based PAX Water Technologies, Inc., where he was the Chief Executive Officer.

The Water-Energy Resilience Institute is a lab-wide initiative focused on addressing water and energy challenges by harnessing Berkeley Lab’s deep expertise in energy technologies, computational sciences, energy sciences, physical sciences, biosciences, and earth & environmental sciences. The institute builds on years of research at Berkeley Lab devoted to discovering fundamental processes that underpin water and energy dynamics and their coupling, as well as the development of resilient systems-level solutions.

“Peter has the vision and experience to lead this multidisciplinary initiative,” said Susan Hubbard, the Associate Laboratory Director for Earth and Environmental Sciences. “His scientific background and entrepreneurial experience will be critical for shaping Berkeley Lab’s water-energy research portfolio.”

Early initiative activities include the development of vastly improved hydroclimate predictions at resolutions appropriate for underpinning water-energy strategies, revolutionary concepts for efficient and sustainable groundwater systems, including water banking at scale, and science and technology breakthroughs in desalination.

“Berkeley Lab is ideally suited to take on the water-energy challenge. We have the opportunity to develop fundamental insights—and real-world solutions—through systems-level approaches,” said Ramamoorthy Ramesh, the Associate Laboratory Director of the Energy Technologies Area.

Under Fiske, PAX Water Technologies developed ways to use biomimicry and advanced process control hardware and software to create energy efficient technologies for municipal water systems. Prior to joining PAX Water, Fiske co-founded Fremont, CA-based RAPT Industries, Inc., which developed the use of plasma processing for optics and semiconductors. He was also a scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and has been involved in the DOE Lab-Corps program.

Fiske received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in Geological and Environmental Sciences with a concentration in Materials Science and Engineering. He is the author of numerous technical articles, including in the journals Science and Nature. Fiske is also a frequent writer and lecturer on the subjects of career strategy, entrepreneurship, and leadership for scientists and engineers.

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Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world’s most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab’s scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. For more, visit www.lbl.gov.

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