Monthly archive

Dr. Christina Lopano

Job Title: 
Geochemist
Organization: 
National Energy Technology Laboratory

Christina Lopano is a research physical scientist in NETL’s Research and Innovation Center. A mineralogist by training, Christina uses advanced geochemical characterization to inform environmental stewardship and resource management across a range of project areas.  Utilizing conventional and synchrotron-based X-ray analysis techniques, she brings more than 12 years of experience to the analysis and characterization of geochemical reactions in minerals, rocks, and cement materials associated with CO2 storage, shale gas activities, and critical element recovery.  Most recently she has utilized her expertise in characterization to determine REE binding environments in coal combustion and refuse materials to inform environmentally sustainable extraction techniques.  

Christina received her doctorate from the Pennsylvania State University’s Department of Geosciences and her bachelor’s degree in geological sciences from Virginia Tech, summa cum laude. She joined NETL in 2009 after spending some time in the field of consulting.

Christina was recently recognized as a 125th Anniversary Fellow by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State. In December, she received the Secretary of Energy’s Excellence Award for her leadership in innovative research and development efforts to recover rare earth elements and critical minerals from coal waste streams such as fly ash and acid mine drainage.

In her free time, Christina enjoys watching and playing basketball, spending time with her family and figuring out how to take care of a puppy.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Dr. Pat Okita

Job Title: 
Subject Matter Expert
Organization: 
Enegis

Pat is an Economic Geoscientist with a record of success leading acquisition, exploration, assessment, and development of mineral resource assets. He has amassed deep and broad expertise throughout the value chains of the international mineral and energy industries through firsthand, lived experience and accountability for capital projects and operations in 23 countries for 29 commodities. Pat has over 35 years of experience generating exploration projects; executing definitive assessment programs; performing due diligence and pre-entry risk studies; leading de-risking and project delivery work streams; and studying commodity markets worldwide.

Pat integrates those roles to serve as a bridge among stakeholders and disciplines and can “speak the languages” of project teams. His insightfulness enables the creation and delivery of innovative and bespoke solutions to technical and commercial needs. Pat creates cross-industry collaborations to transfer commercial and pre-commercial technologies to mining and mineral processing solutions. In business creation and project delivery he applies DBOM (design-build-operate-maintain) principles, backward-planning practice, and FEL (front-end loading) processes.

Pat is adept at addressing industrial, commercial, scientific, and social issues for many resources deemed critical to goals and objectives of agriculture, decarbonization, electrification, and advanced technology (viz. alumina, borate, cobalt, copper, graphite, helium, lithium, magnesium, manganese, potash & polyhalite, rare earth elements & scandium, silver, sulfur, 3TG).  Pat has held technical and leadership positions with the U.S. Geological Survey, BHP, Intercontinental Potash Corp., and several clients. He is the founder of Upstream Resources LLC, an advisory and technical services provider, and co-founder of Valency Ventures LLC, a business development and project delivery firm. Pat has a Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Cincinnati, an MSc. in Geology from Louisiana State University and a B.Sc. in Geology and Biology from the University of Rochester.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Todd Schaeff

Job Title: 
Subsector Manager, Subsurface Energy Systems
Organization: 
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Todd Schaef has been a staff member at PNNL for over 27 years and has attained the position of senior research scientist (IV). He is a team lead in the Geochemistry Group, subaccount manager for the Carbon Management and Fossil Energy sector's subsurface portfolio, and he has served as principal investigator, co-principal investigator, and project manager on a diverse range of projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and Solar Energy Technologies Office.

In these roles, Schaef leads proposals, manages project budgets, tracks milestones, prepares quarterly reports, presents findings to clients, and leads publications in high impact journals. Highlights of his recent work include efforts directed at greenhouse gas emission management and range from a field validation project to establishing research in water-bearing supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) fluids related to energy extraction technologies. He and researcher Pete McGrail have pioneered work at PNNL on geological storage of CO2, publishing a substantial body of work investigating conversion to stable carbonate minerals. Those ideas were put to practical test in 2013 by completing the world’s first supercritical CO2 injection into a basalt formation, located in southeastern Washington State; the feat was featured on the cover of Environmental Science and Technology Letters. Schaef also has conducted laboratory and field research on marine gas hydrates and ice-like methane-bearing solid clathrate, which included teaming with University of Alaska and British Petroleum. He has developed collaborations with the University of Michigan, St. Mary’s College, and University of Washington at St. Louis, while mentoring students and faculty through the DOE-sponsored Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship and Visiting Faculty Programs.

As part of business development at PNNL, Schaef provides leadership for project reviews, supporting institutional-level proposals spanning multiple directorates. He has received one patent for a downhole fluid injection system and has over 150 publications and presentations at national and international conferences, amassing >4,300 citations.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Dr. Guangping Xu

Job Title: 
Principal Member of Technical Staff
Organization: 
Sandia National Laboratories - Geochemistry Dept.

Guangping Xu is a principal member of technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories since 2017. Prior to this position, he worked at Schlumberger – Doll Research in Cambridge, MA and Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO. He received a BS and ME degrees in geology and mineral exploration, respectively, from Nanjing University in China, and PhD in geochemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since joining Sandia Dr. Xu has been worked on critical metals extraction from primary and secondary CM-bearing minerals, such as coal ash, shale, produced water, mine and slag tailings. He led a team won 2021 R&D 100 gold medal award for Green Tech REE extraction. Dr. Xu is currently leading a project funded by NETL on critical mineral resources assessment in shale formations. He is the project leads at Sandia in collaboration with university partners on CORE-CM project and lithium recovery from produced water project.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Dr. Douglas Wicks

Job Title: 
Program Director
Organization: 
U.S. DOE - Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy

Dr. Douglas Wicks currently serves as a Program Director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA‑E). His focus at ARPA-E is on waste-to-energy technologies.  

Wicks joins ARPA-E from Imerys, a French industrial minerals production and processing company, where he was most recently the Director of Transformational and External Innovation. At Imerys, he developed an innovation network comprised of academic, contract research organizations, start-ups and strategic partners. Before joining Imerys, Wicks worked in a variety of roles at several start-up companies focused on innovative materials. Dr. Wicks began his career at Bayer Corporation, where he ultimately became Vice President of Research for the Coatings and Colorants division.

Wicks earned a B.S. in Chemistry from North Dakota State University and a Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Technical Focus: Critical Materials; Industrial Decarbonization

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Request for Proposal: Methane Emissions Benchmarking Study

Components of this RFP as follows:

    • Scope of Work (SOW) described under article IV
    • Instructions for the preparation of the proposal described under article VI
    • Evaluation criteria described under article VII
    • Budget table template as annex 1

Please submit your offer in soft copy with a read receipt to Ms. Sarah Blanford, Deputy Program Director, USEA, at sblanford@usea.org.

Dear Offeror,

Marnie Funk

Job Title: 
Lead Climate and Energy Transition Corporate Relations USA
Organization: 
Shell USA, Inc.
Marnie Funk is Lead Climate and Energy Transition Corporate Relations USA for Shell USA, Inc.
Profile Type: 
Board

Dr. Lance Miller

Job Title: 
Vice President of Natural Resources
Organization: 
NANA Regional Corporation

Lance Miller is Vice President of Natural Resources for NANA Regional Corporation where he works to help guide NANA through responsible resource development and grow the corporation to meet the present and future needs of NANA shareholders.

Lance has worked for over 30 years in the minerals industry throughout North America from Mexico to the Canadian and U.S. Arctic, in Asia, Russia and Africa. Miller has also worked in the economic development sector leading a technology transfer, entrepreneurial/business development organization.

He is Board President of the Resource Development Council, Member of the Alaska Metal Mines, past chairman of the Alaska Minerals Commission and is on the University of Alaska Anchorage Geosciences Community advisory board as well as a mentor for Covenant House.

Miller has authored and co-authored over 25 scientific publications and holds a Ph.D. in economic and structural geology from the University of Arizona, an M.S. in economic geology from the University of Alaska and a B.S. in geology from Stanford University.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Christine Lins

Job Title: 
Executive Director
Organization: 
Global Women's Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET)

Christine Lins works as Executive Director of GWNET, the Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition, which aims at empowering women in the sustainable energy sector. GWNET has more than 5.000 members from 150+ countries. Furthermore, she is Member of the Board of Directors of ISES, the International Solar Energy Society.

From July 2011 until March 2018, Christine Lins acted as Executive Secretary of REN21, the Renewable Energy Policy Network of the 21st Century, headquartered at UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme in Paris/France. Between 2001 and 2011, Ms. Lins served as Secretary General of the European Renewable Energy Council. Previously, she worked in a regional energy agency in Austria promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. Ms. Lins holds a master’s degree in international economics and applied languages. She has more than 25 years of working experience in the field of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency.

Profile Type: 
Speaker

Women in Energy: Christine Lins

May 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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