Peter E. Driscoll, Ph.D.
Staff Scientist in Geophysics
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"If there's a thing you wish people knew more about in terms of Earth's magnetic field, what would that be?"
There are many things, but perhaps the one thing I think people should keep in mind is that even though it is difficult to image and envision what is going on in Earth's deep interior, it is the major controlling factor that keeps Earth's surface habitable over long time scales. Without a magnetic field or plate tectonics, Earth might not have been able to retain a habitable surface and a water-rich atmosphere. Life as we know it might not exist. That sounds more like a threat than I intended, so let's also say that the Earth's interior is just super interesting!
About Me
I am a Staff Scientist in the Geophysics Group in the Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, in Washington, D.C. studying the dynamic evolution of Earth and planetary interiors.
Research
Much of my research is driven by a single question:
What makes Earth a habitable planet?
Earth is unique in many ways. (Of course every planet is unique in their own way but Earth is really in a category of its own.) Earth is the only planet that has maintained a strong magnetic field, plate tectonics, surface liquid water, and life over billions of years.
What is it about Earth’s interior that has allowed these complex phenomena to occur? How do they work? Are they connected in any way?
These topics are intertwined through the bulk thermal, chemical, and magnetic evolution of the planet. I employ an assortment of numerical methods and models to investigate the thermal evolution of Earth’s interior, dynamics of the core, polarity reversals of Earth’s magnetic field, magnetic-limited atmospheric escape, coupled surface-interior volatile cycling, the divergence of Earth and Venus, and the internal dynamics and detectability of terrestrial exoplanets.
I use first principles numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulations to investigate dynamo behavior over a range of parameters and timescales. In addition I develop 1D models of heat and mass transfer within the interior. The evolution of the deep interior is manifested in paleomagnetic and tectonic observations that requires an understanding of the long-term coupling of the mantle and core.
In particular, I am focused on how the evolution of the geodynamo over the last 500 million years is related to convective cycles in the mantle, the growth of the solid inner core, and changes in rotation. I investigate the process of magnetic polarity reversals by comparing numerical dynamo simulations to geomagnetic observations and to push towards more realistic Earth-like dynamo simulations. I am also investigating the dynamics of rocky exoplanets, in particular through coupling internal and orbital evolution models to make predictions for their detectability and habitability.
Research Interests:
Thermal Evolution of Earth (mantle and core cooling, magnetic field history, carbon cycling, 1D climate modelling, Earth-Venus dichotomy)
Planetary Dynamos (geomagnetic polarity reversals, core-mantle boundary influence, inner core growth history, numerical dynamo modeling)
Exoplanets (internal structure, thermal evolution, exo-magnetic detection, hot Jupiter dynamos)
Background:
Prior to joining DTM I was a postdoctoral fellow from 2013-2015 in the Virtual Planet Lab at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. From 2012-2013 I collaborated with the Open Earth System research group as an NSF Postdoctoral Associate in the Geology and Geophysics Department at Yale University in New Haven, CT. From 2010-2012 as a Bateman Fellow at Yale I investigated the influence of planetary magnetic fields on atmospheric escape, the effects of heat loss due to melting on the thermal history of the Earth, and how magnetic field polarity bias relates to reversal frequency in the Phanerozoic and Precambrian.
I earned my Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Science from Johns Hopkins University in 2010. The subject of my Ph.D. thesis was numerical dynamo modeling of magnetic field reversals, core evolution, and the possibility of detecting dynamos in terrestrial exoplanets (so-called "exodynamos").
Prior to my doctoral studies at JHU I was a member of the California and Carnegie Planet Search Team at San Francisco State University, where I earned a M.S. in Physics in 2006. My research focused on developing statistical methods for estimating planetary parameters from exoplanet radial velocity observations. In 2003 I received a B.S. in Physics and Astronomy from Dickinson College, in Carlisle, PA. In 1999 I graduated from Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, PA.
Latest
1/16/25: Talk at AAS: "“INTREPID”: A New Open Source Python Code to Model the 1D Internal Structure and Thermal Evolution of Rocky Planets with Arbitrary Composition and Mass, With Applications to Solar System and Exo-Planets"
12/9/24: Poster presentation at AGU: "“INTREPID”: A New Open Source Python Code to Model the 1D Internal Structure and Thermal Evolution of Rocky Planets with Arbitrary Composition and Mass, With Applications to Solar System and Exo-Planets".
8/27-30/24: Attended and gave invited talk at "Magnetism, Atmospheres, and Life" Workshop, University of Illinois.
7/8-19/24: Invited lecturer at Brin Summer School: "Tracer Mixing in Fluids Across Planetary Scales", University of Maryland.
6/24-28/24: Attended, conviened, and presented poster at SEDI (Study of Earth's Deep Interior) Conference, Great Barrington, NY.
5/19/24: Paper published in JGR Planets: "A Scaling Relation for Core Heating by Giant Impacts and Implications for Dynamo Onset" by Zhou et al. (2024)
5/7/24: Quoted in CNN article: Over 500 million years ago, weird complex creatures emerged on Earth. Scientists now think they know why.
4/11/24: Invited seminar at University of Chicago, Origins of Life Speaker Series.
12/13-14/23: Posters presented at American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting: DI41B-0002 The “New Core Paradox”: Challenges and Potential Solutions. DI31B-0018 Scaling law for core heating during giant impacts and implications for Earth.
12/7/23: Carnegie Neighborhood Lecture "Is Earth’s core young at heart? The search for inner core formation using paleomagnetism & dynamo theory."
11/7/23: Invited seminar at ETH Zurich.
9/29/23: Invited speaker at Building Bridges Across Planetary-Related Science II Workshop, U. Maryland.
8/29-30/23: Science Organizer of VPLanet Workshop 2023, remote.
7/26/23: Invited talk at NASA Headquarters, "The Lifecyle of Planetary Magnetic Fields", Washington, DC.
6/21/23: Gordon Research Conference, "Material Properties of the Mantle and Core and their Constraints, Causes and Consequences for Earth Evolution", Discussion leader of "Journey to the Center of the Earth: The Core", Mount Holyoke College, MA.
6/12/23: Attendee of CIG Rayleigh Hackathon, Golden, CO.
1/10/23: Invited talk at AAS, Seattle: "Terrestrial Planet Magnetic Field Generation and Evolution", session "Planetary Atmospheres, Space Weather, and Magnetic Fields: A Joint AGU-AAS Session".
12/14/22: Paper accepted in JGR - Solid Earth.
12/14/22: Talk at AGU, Chicago: "Influence of depth-dependent thermal conductivity on numerical dynamos, and implications for geodynamo evolution", session DI35A.
6/20-7/1/22: Attendee/lecturer at CIDER 2022 Summer Program: Earth’s evolution as an inhabited world, Berkeley, CA.
3/23/22: Virtual conversation with Carnegie President Eric Isaacs, "Planetary Magnetic Fields: Habitability, Generation, and Detectability".
2/16/22: Invited seminar at Yale University, Earth & Planetary Sciences
1/8/22: Invited talk at National Capital Astronomers
12/16/21: AGU poster presentation "GP45E-0453 - How Dynamos Die"
10/4/21: Invited seminar (virtual) at University of Rochester, Physics & Astronomy.
6/8-10: VPLanet Workshop (virtual)
5/24-28: Rayleigh Hackathon (virtual)
5/14/21: Invited seminar (virtual) at UCLA Earth & Space Sciences.
3/16/21: Dickinson College: Alumni Profile
3/9/21: Paper published "History and Future of the Martian Dynamo and Implications of a Hypothetical Solid Inner Core" in The Journal of Geophysical Research -- Planets, Hemingway and Driscoll (2021).
2/24/21: Outreach talk (virtual), "Science Rock Stars", Stratford Friends School.
2/9/21: Paper published "Melting and density of MgSiO3 determined by shock compression of bridgmanite to 1254GPa" in Nature Communications, Fei et al. (2021).
12/9/20: AGU Poster presentation "Effects of depth-dependent conductivity on the geodynamo", live chat 10-11 am EST.
8/27/20: Inaugural Talk, COMPRES Keynote Lecture Series, "Earth's Inner Core Age and Paleomagnetic Expression".
5/14/20: Paper published, "Super‐Earth Internal Structures and Initial Thermal States" in JGR Planets: Boujibar et al. (2020).
12/9/19: AGU Talk, "Conductivity Limits of Dynamo Action in Earth and Planetary Cores", DI13A-03.
11/13/19: Invited seminar, Princeton U., Department of Geosciences, "Earth's Inner Core Age and Paleomagnetic Expression".
10/21/19: Invited talk, Exoplanetary Worlds Workshop, Carnegie Science, "Exoplanetary Magnetic Fields".
07/08/19: Paper published in Geophysical Research Letters "Geodynamo Conductivity Limits", Driscoll & Du (2019).
06/26/19: Editorial published in Frontiers in Earth Science "Stratification in the Cores of Earth and Other Planets" Amit et al. (2019).
06/18/19: Paper published in Geophysical Research Letters "Experimental Constraints on an MgO Exsolution‐Driven Geodynamo" Du et al (2019).
05/16/19: Carnegie Venture Grant Awarded: "Carbon-rich Super-Earths: Constraining Internal Structure from Dynamic Compression Experiments" with Sally Tracey.
05/02/19: Perspective published in Science "What makes a planet habitable?" Shahar et al. (2019).
05/02/19: Invited seminar at United States Naval Observatory, "Why is the geomagnetic dipole wandering?"
01/28/19: Nature Geoscience News & Views published "Geodynamo Recharge" Driscoll (2019).
12/11/18: Panel member: "Habitability: What Earth and the inner planets can teach us about the search for life on rocky exoplanets" at Carnegie Institution for Science.
12/11/18: Presenting poster at AGU: "GP21C-0673 Paleomagnetic Biases Inferred from Numerical Dynamos and the Search for Geodynamo Evolution"
12/10/18: Convening session at AGU : "DI14A Connecting the Dynamics of the Core and Mantle to Observations and Experiments I"
11/14/18: Invited seminar at The Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.
11/08/18: Neighborhood Lecture: "The Geodynamo: A Unique Window Into the Dynamics of Earth's Deep Interior." 6:30 pm, at DTM.
07/25/18: Paper accepted in Frontiers: "Paleomagnetic Biases Inferred from Numerical Dynamos and the Search for Geodynamo Evolution" Driscoll & Wilson (2018).
06/13/18: Invited speaker at Johns Hopkins University Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences 50th Anniversary Symposium, Baltimore, MD.
03/14/18: Invited speaker at Geological Society of Washington, Cosmos Club, Washington, DC.
03/01/18: Featured in Sky & Telescope: "Earth’s Changing Magnetic Field", March 2018.
02/28/18: Invited seminar at Rutgers University, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, New Brunswick, NJ.
01/02/18: Invited paper accepted in Handbook of Exoplanets "Planetary Interiors, Magnetic Fields, and Habitability", Springer.
12/13/17: Session Convener & Poster, AGU Fall Meeting, New Orleans, LA
11/10/17: Paper accepted in Geophysical Research Letters
07/17/17: Participated in Z-Machine Workshop, Sandia Labs, Alburquerque, NM
03/21/17: Invited seminar, NASA Goddard Exoplanet Group, Greenbelt, MD
12/12/16: Invited Talk, AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA
10/21/16: Colloquium talk at University of Maryland, Department of Geology.
08/08/16: Cecilia Emmaline Driscoll born.
06/24/16: Press release
06/20/16: Keynote lecture, Planetary Perspectives on Geodynamics, CIG Meeting, UC Davis.
06/06/16: Paper published in GRL "Simulating Two Billion Years of Geodynamo History".
05/10/16: Paper accepted in GRL: "Simulating Two Billion Years of Geodynamo History".
04/14/16: Department seminar, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA.
03/30/16: Department seminar, University of Pennsylvania, PA.
02/17/16: Talk, Melt in the mantle Workshop, Isaac Newton Institute, University of Cambridge, UK.
02/03/16: Press release: "Consistency of Earth's Magnetic Field History Surprises Scientists"
12/24/15: Paper accepted in Earth & Planetary Science Letters: "Frequency of Proterozoic Geomagnetic Superchrons".
12/17/15: Conference talk, "Towards a resolution of the new core paradox", AGU, San Francisco, CA.
11/12/15: Bromery Seminar, Earth & Planetary Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD.
10/21/15: Talk at Carnegie Origins Workshop, Washington DC.
09/28/15: Press release on paper published in Astrobiology.
09/25/15: Paper published in Astrobiology: "Tidal Heating of Earth-like Exoplanets around M Stars: Thermal, Magnetic, and Orbital Evolutions."
09/19/15: Quoted in Science News article about Earth's Magnetic Paradox.
08/01/15: Joined the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution for Science as a Staff Scientist in the Geophysics Group.
06/17/15: Research talk at the Astrobiology Science Conference, Chicago, IL.
05/25/15: Paper accepted in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth: "Testing the dynamic coupling of the core-mantle and inner core boundaries".
02/14/15: Accepted new position as a staff scientist in the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C., starting in August.
01/21/15: Cooperative Studies of Earth's Deep Interior (CSEDI) Science Plan Workshop, Scripps Institution, La Jolla, CA.
01/07/15: Conference Poster: American Astronomical Society (AAS) Conference, Seattle, WA.
12/19/14: Conference Poster: American Geophysical Union (AGU) Conference, San Francisco, CA.
12/02/14: Invited Seminar: Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institute of Washington, DC.
11/12/14: Research Talk: Division for Planetary Sciences Conference, Tucson, AZ.
10/21/14: Invited talk: Astrobiology Magazine, University of Washington.
10/13/14: Paper submitted: "Testing the dynamic coupling of the core-mantle and inner core boundaries", JGR Solid Earth.
08/29/14: Paper published: "On the thermal and magnetic histories of Earth and Venus: Influences of melting, radioactivity, and conductivity." Physics of Earth and Planetary Interiors, 236, 2014.
06/06/14: Invited Talk: "Coupled Water-Carbon Cycle Modeling", Carnegie Institute, Deep Carbon Modeling Workshop, Washington, D.C.
06/05/14: Invited Talk: "High core heat flow solution to Earth thermal and magnetic paradoxes", Carnegie Institute, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Washington, D.C.
04/22/14: Olivia Ellyanne Driscoll born.
03/18/14: Conference Poster: "Influence of internal heating on exoplanet dynamos", Exoplanets, Biosignatures, and Instruments Conference, Tucson, AZ.
02/18/14: Invited Talk: "How to maintain (or supress) dynamo action in an exoplanet", Planetary Magnetic Fields Workshop II, Keck Institute for Space Science, Caltech, Pasadena, CA.
12/11/13: 9:45 AM - 10:00 AM: AGU Invited Talk: "Divergent evolution of Earth and Venus: Influence of degassing, tectonics, and magnetic fields" (V31E-08). Session: V31E "The Early Earth II", 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM; 306 (Moscone South).
10/30/13: Paper submitted to PEPI, "Influence of melting and radioactivity on the thermal and magnetic evolution of Earth and Venus".
10/17/13: Invited talk (University of Washington, Astronomy Department Colloquium).
10/08/13: Invited talk (University of Washington, Astrobiology Seminar).
08/25/13: Invited talk (International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy, Merida, Mexico).
08/01/13: Joined The Virtual Planet Laboratory, Astronomy Department, University of Washington.
07/25/13: Invited talk (Open Earth Systems, Earth & Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University).
07/25/13: Paper accepted in ICARUS, "Divergent evolution of Earth and Venus: Influence of degassing, tectonics, and magnetic fields".
06/18/13: Paper submitted to EPSL, "Nonrandom geomagnetic reversal times and geodynamo evolution".
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