Monthly archive

Dr. Anjana Shah

Job Title: 
Research Geophysicist
Organization: 
United States Geological Survey

Anji Shah is currently the Earth MRI lead geophysicist for the Eastern US, overseeing new airborne magnetic and radiometric surveys for a region covering about 20 states plus Puerto Rico. She is the Chair of the Geological society of America Geophysics and Geodynamics Division, and is also a GSA fellow.

She specializes in the use of magnetic, gravity, and radiometric methods to image shallow and subsurface geology, with applications to better understanding mineral resource systems and characterizing mine waste. She also uses geophysical data to image faults that can cause intraplate earthquakes.

She received her PhD from Columbia University, did a postdoc at the Naval Research Laboratory, and has been a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey since 2007.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Jason Burwen

Job Title: 
VP of Policy and Strategy
Organization: 
GridStor

Jason was previously Vice President of Energy Storage at the American Clean Power Association (ACP), as well as interim CEO and Vice President of Policy at the U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA), where he built and directed the energy storage industry’s comprehensive federal, state, and regional market policy advocacy strategy from 2015 to 2023. His advocacy directly shaped the energy storage federal investment tax credit in the Inflation Reduction Act; the directives of FERC Order 841; several state deployment targets; capacity accreditation reforms in PJM; and other laws and regulations pertaining to energy storage. He has been cited as an expert on energy storage technology, policy, and markets in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, NPR, the New Yorker, and numerous trade publications.

Earlier in his career Jason directed research and advocacy on U.S. energy innovation and tax policy as the Associate Director for Energy Innovation at the Bipartisan Policy Center; consulted to utilities on demand response program design at FSC Group/Nexant; and reviewed utility renewable energy contracting processes for the California Public Utilities Commission. Jason holds MA’s from the University of California – Berkeley’s Energy and Resource Group and Goldman School of Public Policy, as well as a BA from Columbia University.

John Zahurancik

Job Title: 
SVP and President, Americas
Organization: 
Fluence

John Zahurancik is a founder of Fluence, the leading energy storage and digital power optimization company. Formed in 2018, Fluence combined the capabilities of Siemens and The AES Corporation to deliver best-in-class storage solutions including fully integrated hardware, software, and digital bidding capabilities to utility, power developer, and commercial customers in more than 30 countries.

As Fluence’s leader for the Americas, John’s team partners with forward-thinking utilities and power system players to deliver and manage flexible modern power infrastructure that reduces the total cost of electricity improves the reliability of power systems and supports the growth of low-carbon and renewable power generation. A storage industry pioneer, John was a co-founder of AES Energy Storage in 2007 and led AES’ team in creating more than thousands of megawatts of utility-scale applications of battery-based energy storage projects in the U.S., Chile, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic.

David Schleicher

Job Title: 
President
Organization: 
Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative

David Schleicher has more than 40 years of combined experience with investor- and member-owned electric utilities. In his previous leadership positions at NOVEC, Schleicher was responsible for engineering functions such as system planning, distribution design, and substation design; operating functions like substation maintenance and the fiber optic network; and corporate administration functions including purchasing, warehousing, facilities management, and transportation.

Prior to joining NOVEC, he held leadership roles with EnergyUnited EMC in central North Carolina as vice president, engineering & operations; and with PPL Electric Utilities in south-central Pennsylvania as vice president, transmission; and director, engineering and design.

Schleicher holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Drexel University and a Master of Business Administration in operations management from the University of Scranton (Pa). He is a registered professional engineer in Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Christopher Wellise

Job Title: 
Vice President for Sustainability
Organization: 
Equinix

Christopher Wellise is the Global VP of Sustainability for Equinix. He and his team set the sustainability strategy and key targets for the company, and collaborate with CEO, CFO, CRO, Operations and Board to interpret changes in the external sustainability environment and work out strategic consequences for Equinix. They communicate and cut through organizational complexity to enable Equinix to deliver on ESG commitments.

Prior to Equinix, he led AWS’ global sustainability effort focused on improving company performance and meeting customer needs. Prior to AWS, he was the Chief Sustainability Officer at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) where he led the setting of the first Scienced-based supply chain climate target and built a customer facing sustainability team to deliver revenue. He began his career as an Environmental/Physical Scientist working for the US Department of Interior studying the impact of investment in pollution control system on river and estuary ecosystems.

Noah Roberts

Job Title: 
Senior Director, Energy Storage

Noah Roberts is the Senior Director of Energy Storage at the American Clean Power Association. As Senior Director, Noah leads all policy and advocacy efforts on behalf of the U.S. energy storage industry.

Noah Roberts previously served as the energy and climate advisor to the Governor of Wisconsin where he helped craft the state’s first clean energy plan. Subsequently, Noah served as Director of the Wisconsin Office of State-Federal Relations where he led federal advocacy efforts on behalf of the State of Wisconsin. Additionally, Noah has served as Chair of the Wisconsin Delegation to the Great Lakes Commission, Chair of the Council of Great Lakes Governors’ Executive Committee, and President of the Verona Area School District Board of Education.

Noah Roberts holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs. In his free time, Noah loves to spend time outdoors, hiking and camping, and visiting America’s beautiful national and state parks.

Sean Porse

Job Title: 
Data, Modeling, and Analysis Program Lead
Organization: 
Department of Energy
Sean Porse is the Data, Modeling, and Analysis Program Lead with the U.S. Department of Energy's Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO), where he leads GTO's efforts in identifying the value of geothermal energy in a rapidly decarbonizing grid, crafting strategic research and analysis that informs and prioritizes GTO RD&D investments, as well as cultivating technology collaboration opportunities across DOE. Sean also leads the GTO American-Made Geothermal Manufacturing Prize, a $4.65 million competition that seeks to leverage technologies like additive manufacturing to catalyze geothermal manufacturing innovation. Prior to his current role at GTO, Sean served as a Special Assistant at the White House Office of Management and Budget, a research scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, as well as a policy and regulatory specialist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He holds a Masters in geology from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelors in geology and environmental science from James Madison University.

David Deak

Organization: 
EnergySource Minerals
Dr. David Deak is an entrepreneur whose expertise spans across lithium mining development, battery supply chain developments, energy storage, renewable energy, and electric vehicles. He is President of Marbex LLC, was formerly the CTO and SVP of Lithium Americas Corp., and is an alum of Tesla Inc., Ambri Inc. (MIT start-up), Lux Research Inc., and Siemens Wind Power. He was educated at the University of Toronto and Oxford University.

Brian Taylor

Job Title: 
VP of Environmental Solutions
Organization: 
Project Canary

Brian Taylor is the VP of Environmental Solutions at Project Canary, responsible for building and maintaining strategic relationships with external stakeholders by providing expertise to drive environmental performance and success. Brian is also responsible for collaborating with customers and regulators to align methane regulation objectives with advanced detection technology capabilities.

Before joining Project Canary, Brian worked in the oil and gas industry for over 20 years, driving environmental excellence in an ever-changing regulatory landscape. During that time, Brian supported all facets of EHS and Air Quality groups and most recently acted as a Senior EHS manager at Noble Midstream and Noble Energy (now Chevron). Before that, Brian worked as an environmental consultant and owned a successful consulting business for 7 years before moving to the industry in a leadership role at DCP Midstream.

Brian holds a BS in Meteorology with a minor in Mathematics from Metropolitan State University in Denver.

Kellen Schefter

Job Title: 
Senior Director of Electric Transportation
Organization: 
Edison Electric Institute

Kellen Schefter is Senior Director of Electric Transportation at the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the association for U.S. investor-owned electric companies. At EEI, Kellen leads cross-industry coordination to advance transportation electrification, including policy advocacy, business model development, and stakeholder engagement. He previously worked on regulatory and compliance issues at plug-in electric vehicle manufacturer Fisker Automotive. Prior to that, Kellen managed R&D projects in the Vehicle Technologies Office at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Pages