Michael
WalterHe/His
Experimental petrologist Michael Walter became Director of the Geophysical Laboratory beginning April 1, 2018. The Lab merged with the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism in 2020, forming the Earth and Planets Laboratory, where he was Deputy Director until January 2022, when he became Director.
Mike specializes in high-pressure-temperature experimental petrology and mineral physics to address problems relating to the origin and evolution of planets, their differentiation into mantle and core, mantle melting and element partitioning, high-pressure phase relations and crystal chemistry, and the origin of deep mantle diamonds and their mineral inclusions. Mike’s work on diamonds has focused on sub-lithospheric diamonds and their origin in relation to the subduction of surface rocks into the deep mantle, and how they inform us about the cycling of carbon, water, and other volatile components into the deep Earth.
CV
- University of Nebraska Omaha, BSc in Geology, 1985
- The University of Texas Dallas, PhD in Petrology, 1991
- University of Alberta, Edmonton, Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1991-1993
- Geophysical Laboratory, Washington, D.C., Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1993-1995
- Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (2019)
- Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America (2016)
- NSF Panel Member (2020, 2021)
- National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution Visiting Committee (2020)
- Edited Book: Fei & Walter, Cambridge Press, ‘Static and Dynamic High Pressure Mineral Physics’ (2022)
- Senior Editor, Journal of Geophysical Research – Solid Earth
- Edited Book: Badro & Walter, Wiley and Sons, ‘Accretion and Differentiation of Earth’ (2015)
- 2022 – present Director, Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science
- 2020 – 2022 Deputy Director, Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science
- 2018 – 2020 Director, Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science
- 2013 – 2018 Head of School, School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol
- 2008 – 2018 Professor, School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol
- 2004 – 2008 Reader, School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol
- 2001 – 2004 Professor, Institute for Study of the Earth's Interior, Misasa, Japan
- 1996 – 2001 Associate Professor, Institute for Study of the Earth's Interior, Misasa, Japan
- 1995 –1996 COE Visiting Scientist, Institute for Study of the Earth's Interior, Misasa, Japan
Recent Talks
Goodness Gracious, Great Balls of Fire! Magma Oceans & Planetary Evolution
Deep Earth Through a Diamond Looking Glass - Dr. Michael Walter
On Becoming a Scientist
Geophysical Laboratory Seminar - Michael Walter
