Peter Nico is the director of the Energy Geosciences Division. His research emphasizes the role of mineral surfaces and redox active metals such as Fe and Mn. Much of the work uses synchrotron-based X-ray spectromicroscopy techniques to probe chemical and physical heterogeneity on the micron and nanometer scale. Nico received a PhD in agricultural and environmental chemistry from the University of Davis, and a master's in organic chemistry from the University of California Los Angeles.