Dr. Peter M. Berger

I received my BS in Geology with a minor in Computer Science from Bowling Green State University then went on to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While studying there for my MS I also worked as a research programmer for the Geochemist’s Workbench™ suite of programs. I then worked worked for the Illinois State Geological Survey as an assistant geochemist, taking field samples and creating simulations of various carbon sequestration scenarios.

After several years, I decided enroll at CODES at the University of Tasmania and study economic geology. This focus continued during my postdoc position at the GFZ-Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, Germany.

My specialty is, overall, reactive transport modeling. This is a flexible tool that can be applied to a wide variety of problems and scenarios.

I have used GWB, PHREEQC, TOUGH2, TOUGHREACT, CHIM-XPT, Crunchflow, MIN3P, and PFLOTRAN. I have also embedded ChemPlugin™ in various programs to add reaction modeling capabilities. Experienced in programming C++, Fortran, Python, TCL/TK, and Julia.

Selected publications

Carbon sequestration

Berger, P.M., Yoksoulian, L., Freiburg, J.T., Butler, S.K., and Roy, W.R., 2019a, Carbon sequestration at the Illinois Basin-Decatur Project: experimental results and geochemical simulations of storage: Environmental Earth Sciences, v. 78, doi: 10.1007/s12665-019-8659-4.

Berger, P.M., Wimmer, B., and Iranmanesh, A., 2019b, Sensitivity thresholds of groundwater parameters for detecting CO2 leakage at a geologic carbon sequestration site: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, v. 191, doi: 10.1007/s10661-019-7880-7.

Economic geology

Berger, P.M., Freiburg, J.T., and Barker, S.L.L., 2021, Simulation and sensitivity of isotopic alteration and vein development in carbonate rock formations: Journal of Geochemical Exploration, v. 229, 106841, doi: 10.1016/j.gexplo.2021.106841.

Berger, P.M., Magnall, J.M., Kühn, M., and Gleeson, S.A., 2025, Sulfide textures and ore grades in mineralized carbonates depend on Péclet and Damköhler numbers: Economic Geology, v. 120, p. 215–223, doi: 10.5382/econgeo.5126.

Coal fly ash

Roy, W.R., and Berger, P.M., 2011, Geochemical controls of coal fly ash leachate pH: Coal Combustion and Gasification Products, v. 3, p. 63–66, doi: 10.4177/CCGP-D-11-00013.1.