John Eichelberger (he/him/his)

Adjunct Research Professor

Email: jceichelberger@alaska.edu
Phone: 907-888-0204

Expertise

  • Geothermal
  • Volcanology
  • Natural hazards
  • International science diplomacy

BIO

John Eichelberger’s career spans a half century in volcanology, scientific drilling, geothermal energy, natural hazards, and international Arctic education. 

Educated at MIT and Stanford, Eichelberger was on the research staff at Los Alamos and Sandia National
Laboratories from 1974 to 1979, and 1979 to 1991, respectively. In 1991 he became professor of geology at University of Alaska Fairbanks (Geophysical Institute and Department of Geology and Geophysics) where he led the Alaska Volcano Observatory and pioneered cooperative volcano monitoring, science, and education programs with Kamchatka, Russia and Hokkaido, Japan. 

Eichelberger then served as program coordinator for volcano hazards at United States Geological Survey headquarters, Reston, VA, but returned to UAF in 2012 as graduate school dean and vice president academic of the University of the Arctic. 

Eichelberger received the UAF Usibelli Research Award in 2005, the European Geosciences Union’s Soloviev Medal in Natural Hazards in 2015 and the Geological Society of America designated him Distinguished Lecturer for
Continental Scientific Drilling in 2020. 

Eichelberger founded the Krafla Magma Testbed (kmt.is), Iceland, which is developing the world’s first international observatory for studying an active magma body and applying that knowledge to vastly increasing geothermal energy production and the reliability of eruption forecasting for disaster mitigation.

Current Projects

  • Krafla Magma Testbed (kmt.is), Augustine geothermal