Erik Oerter is an earth scientist specializing in stable isotope geochemistry and its application to water and elemental cycling in the near-surface environment. After graduating with his PhD in environmental science, Oerter worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Utah. He joined the team at LLNL in 2016 and has since worked on projects tracking water through the “critical zone” and exploring stable isotope signatures of uranium mineral surface oxidation and the nuclear fuel cycle.
In his work, Oerter likes to closely couple laboratory measurements, experiments, and field studies to understand the record of Earth’s history recorded in geological materials and to better predict the dynamic modern environment. He places research emphasis on developing novel instrumentation techniques that can enable new insights into outstanding problems in geochemistry and material science.