Monthly archive

Melissa Stark

Job Title: 
Senior Advisor
Organization: 
Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management

Stark is a Senior Advisor in the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. Prior to joining FECM, Melissa spent 29 years working in the utilities and energy industry where she was Accenture’s Global Lead for Energy Transition Services.  During her time at Accenture, worked on energy and utilities projects across Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East, authored more than 50 papers and articles on clean energy and energy transition, and patented a “Real-time S-curves” tool that uses science and engineering drivers to estimate the cost evolution of nascent technologies. Prior to joining government service, was a member of the U.S. National Petroleum Council. She was also a Fellow of the U.K. Energy Institute and Chaired the U.K. Energy Institute’s Electricity Board. She was a member of the U.K. Electricity System Operator’s Technology Advisory Council; on the advisory board of The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) for a project on U.K. National Security and the Net Zero Transition, and a member of the U.K. Royal Academy of Engineering’s Net Zero Grid Project Working Group. Melissa was also a Fellow of the World Economic Forum working on Clean Power and Electrification, Industrial Clusters, Net Zero Carbon Cities, Hydrogen, and Managing Investments in the Clean Energy Transition in Emerging Economies. From 2010-2012, she was the Assistant Chair of Technology for the U.S. National Petroleum Council study, “Advancing Technology for America’s Transportation Future”. Melissa has an MBA from Northwestern University and a BSc from the University of California at Berkeley.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Andrew Jensen

Job Title: 
Policy Advisor
Organization: 
The Office of Gov. Dunleavy

Andrew Jensen has worked for Governor Dunleavy since October 2021, first as a communications assistant and currently in a policy advisor role for food and energy security. Prior to that, Jensen was the Managing Editor of the Alaska Journal of Commerce from 2012-2021 after moving to Alaska to work as a reporter for the AJOC in 2010. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism with a minor in political science from the University of Arkansas.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Women in Energy: Veronica Saenz Marin

April 16th, 2024

The Women in Energy series is a joint project between USEA and USAID to help improve the visibility of women's participation and leadership in the traditionally male-dominated energy sector and their active participation in policies and gender outcomes in organizations.

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Veronica Saenz Marin 

Job Title: 
Corporate Sustainability Manager
Organization: 
SMI

Veronica Saenz Marin is a biologist and sustainability expert with over 15 years' experience in management of environmental and sustainability projects. Her experience expands from extensive field work; plant supervisions; compliance and monitoring; reporting; to designing high level corporate strategies. Experience in developing sustainability and circular economy strategies and reporting in leading companies of the extractive, energy, and industrial sectors. Experience in socio-environmental conflict resolution, in articulating complex projects and managing alliances with government entities, NGOs and communities in circular economy projects, sustainability, and social inclusion. She holds an MSc in “Environmental Management” from Aberystwyth University in Wales, UK, graduated with honors. 

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Nagruk Harcharek

Job Title: 
President
Organization: 
Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat

Nagruk Harcharek is the president of the Voice of Arctic Iñupiat, a nonprofit organization established in 2015 by the region’s collective Iñupiat leadership to speak with a unified voice on issues impacting the North Slope Iñupiat, their communities, their economy, and their culture. Its members include local government, business, tribal, and civil society across the North Slope of Alaska.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Gabriel Hernandez

Job Title: 
Special Assistant
Organization: 
U.S. DOE - Office of Fossil Energy & Carbon Management

Gabriel Hernández is a Special Assistant at the U.S. Department of Energy in the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. He previously worked for the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He is originally from Pharr, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley and is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Master of Public Administration from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Dr. Nettie La Belle-Hamer

Job Title: 
Vice Chancellor for Research
Organization: 
University of Alaska - Fairbanks

Nettie La Belle-Hamer was named UAF’s vice chancellor for research in January 2022, following her interim service in the position since May 2020. The vice chancellor's role is to build capacity and depth in UAF's research and development efforts.

In becoming vice chancellor, La Belle-Hamer will step down as director of UAF's Alaska Satellite Facility, a position she has held since 2002. Under her leadership, the satellite facility grew into a highly successful program providing remote-sensing data access. 

La Belle-Hamer served as the UAF Geophysical Institute's deputy director from 2015-2020 and the UAF associate vice chancellor for research from 2011-2015. She managed the ASF Science Center from 2000-2002 and was employed by a private company working with ASF in the 1990s.

A lifelong Alaskan, La Belle-Hamer received her bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1985 and her master’s degree in space physics at UAF in 1988. She worked as a Geophysical Institute research assistant from 1987 until 1994, the year she earned her Ph.D. in space physics from UAF.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Curtis Thayer

Job Title: 
Executive Director
Organization: 
Alaska Energy Authority

Curtis W. Thayer is the executive director of the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA), the state's energy office and lead agency for statewide energy policy and program development. Before joining AEA, Thayer served as president and chief executive officer of the Alaska Chamber, the largest state trade association.

Previously, he was the commissioner for the Department of Administration and cabinet member for Governor Sean Parnell, responsible for 1,100 public employees and an annual budget of $350 million. As part of his public service, he served as the deputy commissioner of the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development and worked in Washington, D.C. with Alaska’s Congressional Delegation.

Formerly, he was on the management team of ENSTAR Natural Gas Company and the Alaska Gas Producers Pipeline Team. Thayer has served on boards at Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, Alaska Gasline Development Corporation, Alaska Retirement Management Board, Alaska Royalty Oil and Gas Development Advisory Board, United States Chamber of Commerce’s Committee of 100, and currently chairs Alaska’s Board of Marine Pilots.

A graduate of the United States Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory Executive Energy Leadership Institute program, Thayer has gained a comprehensive understanding of advanced energy technologies that has helped him guide his organizations in making energy-related decisions. He is also an alumnus of the United States Chamber of Commerce Foundation's Institute for Organization Management, which recognizes graduates as leaders in their industries and organizations.

Thayer earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a major in political science and a minor in business.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Dr. Erin Whitney

Job Title: 
Director
Organization: 
U.S. Department of Energy - Arctic Energy Office

Dr. Erin Whitney is the Director of the Arctic Energy Office. In this role, she leads the Arctic Energy Office mission to bring the Arctic to the U.S. Department of Energy and the Department of Energy to the Arctic. Director Whitney is based in Alaska and works with Arctic stakeholders in innovative ways to meet the energy, science, and national security needs of the United States and its allies. She implements the Department of Energy's Arctic Strategy to facilitate national energy policies and initiatives.

As a former member of the research faculty at the Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP) and previously as a staff scientist at DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), she brought a wealth of experience and deep knowledge of Arctic issues when she joined the Arctic Energy Office in January 2023.

While at ACEP, she founded and directed its thriving Solar Technologies Program, managed the Data Collection and Analysis Program, and led ACEP's work on the Alaska Affordable Energy Strategy that highlights Alaska’ technology-specific energy development needs. She also led a multi-year National Science Foundation project exploring food, energy, and water security, and led the University of Alaska’s regional partner team for the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP). Dr. Whitney coordinated a range of activities to integrate hydrogen with Alaska’s energy systems, including the launch of the Alaska Hydrogen Working Group. Dr. Whitney was a 2022-23 Fulbright U.S. Scholar to Germany at the Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy in Freiburg, studying hydrogen energy systems for remote microgrids. 

From her time at NREL, Dr. Whitney has a strong research background in materials R&D, energy analysis, energy efficiency, and energy storage. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Williams College in Massachusetts and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

May Virtual Press Briefing: What Climate and Energy Tech Innovations Are in the Works at the National Laboratories?

May 1st, 2024

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