Daniel Burke Brunson is a doctoral student in Geology at the University of North Dakota Harold Hamm School of Geology and Geological Engineering in Grand Forks, ND with research advisor Dr. William Gosnold. His subdisciplines of focus are geophysics, structural geology, and geodynamics. His research interests include geothermics and computational modeling.

Burke assists in management of the UND Geothermal Lab, which specializes in techniques to characterize geothermal resources. These techniques include divided bar and portable divided bar thermal conductivity measurement devices, borehole temperature logging equipment, and a gamma ray spectrometer for rock material uranium, thorium, and potassium radioactivity measurements. The lab also contains various applied geophysics field and lab equipment. He also works as a Core Library Technician for the North Dakota Geological Survey’s Wilson M. Laird Core and Sample Library.

A Master’s thesis project involving creation of a computational 2-D thermal model and geothermal gradient assessment of the Williston Basin was undertaken in 2016-2017 and completed in December 2017. Prior to re-entering school, he worked for Schlumberger as a Geoservices Offshore Drilling Data Analyst out of Lafayette, LA. Burke holds a M.S. degree in Geology and GISc in Geography from University of North Dakota and two B.S. degrees from The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL and enjoys the outdoors for adventure and exercise activities.