— February 13, 2023
Many geoscientists and NMT and throughout the southwest will remember Rich Esser, who finished an MS degree at New Mexico Tech in 1996, and then worked in the Argon Lab at the Bureau for a number of years. He went from here to University of Utah, where he continued to collaborate with people at NMT on a range of projects.
Rich went missing from his home on Wednesday evening, and his body was found on February 3, 2023 in the mountains to the east of his house in Salt Lake City. I'm so sorry to have to share this terribly sad news with you. Rich was a dear friend to many of us. I spent many Antarctic field seasons with him, and couldn't have asked for a kinder, pleasanter, or more generous field companion. I am heartbroken that I'll never see him and talk to him again. He leaves his wife Dina, and two young sons, Solomon and Knut. A GoFundMe page has been created to help the Esser family with funeral and living expenses.
— Nelia Dunbar