He left High School to join the US Army in 1946, and was assigned to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, but then volunteered for duty at Bikini Atoll, in the Pacific.
He went straight on to graduate work at the University of Washington in Seattle, and in 1957 completed a Ph.D. on the Oligocene volcanic and sedimentary strata southwest of Mount Rainier.
[2] Fisher's work on these rocks led to a series of published papers on the definition, classification and interpretations of volcanic breccia, which still provide the foundation for research in this area.
[5] In his early work on maar volcanoes, and the nature of hydrovolcanic eruptions, Fisher proposed that the interaction of hot magma with surface water would form a violent, expanding ash cloud that he called a ‘base surge’; analogous to features he had witnessed during the nuclear explosions at Bikini Atoll.
This led to a considerable body of work around the world, on the transport and deposition of pyroclastic rocks from density currents (PDCs).
This medal recognises scientists who have 'made outstanding contributions to volcanology based primarily upon field observations', reflecting Fisher's research in this area.