Dr. Peter Folger, Natural Resources Scholar

Folger is a Specialist in Energy and Natural Resources Policy at the Congressional Research Service in Washington, D.C. At CRS he has worked on carbon capture and sequestration, natural hazards, water resources, climate change, federal geospatial policy, and other natural resource issues such as shale gas, methane hydrates, and uranium. Folger came to CRS in 2006 after eight years with the American Geophysical Union (AGU) where he was Director of Outreach and Research Support.

Prior to working at AGU, Folger was a geological engineering consultant in the Denver, Colorado area working on groundwater remediation and water supply problems in Colorado and the Midwest. He also was a Senior Fellow with the Center for the New West in Denver, working as a specialist for natural resources, energy, and environmental issues affecting the free-market economy of the West. Folger worked as a Congressional Science Fellow for one year in the office of Senator Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico where he was responsible for energy, natural resource, and science policy issues. Within a few months of starting his Fellowship, the government shut down. Prior to the Fellowship, he was Manager of the Geochemical Programs Group at the Rocky Flats Plant, responsible for aspects of environmental monitoring and remediation. Shortly after starting work at Rocky Flats, the FBI raided the plant. Folger also worked for the AMAX mining company as a mineral exploration geologist prospecting for precious metal deposits in Nevada and Montana. He left much gold and silver undiscovered.

Folger received his A.B. from Dartmouth College, M.S. from the University of Montana, and Ph.D. from the Colorado School of Mines.