J. Burton Fisher | Ph.D.

Dr. Fisher has worked on geoscience aspects of environmental since 1973 and has worked intensively on environmental issues related to oil and gas exploration and production with special emphasis on salt contamination of soils, ground water and surface water since 1990. He has expertise in geology, geochemistry, geophysics, surface hydrology and hydrogeology.

Fisher holds a B.S. in Geology and Geophysics from Yale University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from Case Western Reserve University. He gained 14 years of oil and gas industry experience in his employment by Amoco Production at the Tulsa Research Center. He began his technical career in environmental consulting with Normandeau Associates, later served as a principal scientist for Exponent, a multidisciplinary science and engineering consulting firm, and is the founder and managing principal of Lithochimeia, LLC, an environmental geoscience consulting firm. In addition to his oil and gas industry and consulting experience, Dr. Fisher has taught in the Department of geosciences at the University of Tulsa and is currently an adjunct professor in the Oklahoma State University Environmental Sciences Graduate Program. Fisher has also served as in-house technical counsel for the environmental section of the law firm of Garde re Wynne Sewell.

Fisher has expertise in air and satellite imagery analysis and interpretation and on-ground site investigations of oil and gas environmental sites. He regularly employs near-surface electrical geophysics, specifically terrain conductivity measurements to map the spatial distribution of salt contamination and resistivity profiling to determine the depth of salt contamination when evaluating oil and gas environmental sites. The geophysical data obtained is then used to develop targeted sampling plans to fully characterize the degree and extent contamination by oilfield salt and other oilfield contaminants. Once contamination at an environmental site has been characterized in 3-dimentisons, Fisher works with other experts to design a remediation plan.