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Board Members Los Alamos National Laboratories Dr. José A. Olivares, Ph.D., is currently Deputy Division Leader for the Bioscience Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), which includes more than 200 staff members and $50 million in programs. He has been at LANL for 20 years. Dr. Olivares took a nine-month entrepreneurial leave from LANL in 2006 to join Claro Scientific LLC in Tampa, FL, as Chairman of the Executive Team, Vice President for Research and Development and, for a short time, CEO. Claro Scientific was formed to bring to market technologies for bacterial detection primarily developed at the University of South Florida with collaboration and funding from LANL. Prior to his career at LANL, he worked with E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. Savannah River Laboratory and Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories in Richland, WA, where he designed an interface for capillary zone electrophoresis-mass spectrometry under the direction of research supervisor, Dr. Richard D. Smith. Dr. Olivares received his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry, in 1985, from Iowa State University of Science and Technology. Dr. Olivares has over 33 publications in peer-reviewed journals, five patents, and has presented his research work at national and international forums. He organized and chaired the Future of Biodetection Systems Workshop, October 2006, Santa Fe, NM. www.lanl.gov » Institute for Energy & the Environment - New Mexico State University Dr. Abbas Ghassemi is the Director of the Institute for Energy and Environment (IEE) and professor of Chemical Engineering at New Mexico State University. He oversees the operations of WERC: A Consortium for Environmental Education and Technology Development, the Southwest Technology Development Institute (SWTDI) and the Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring & Research Center (CERMC). As the Director of IEE, he is the Chief Operating Officer for programs of over $10 million annually in education and research on renewable energy, water quality and quantity, and environmental issues. He manages activities between four academic institutions, two National Laboratories and several industrial organizations. Dr. Ghassemi is also responsible for formulation, coordination, and implementation of WERC’s activities. In addition, he is responsible for interaction and involvement of 70 industrial partners and government agencies in all aspects of the programs. Dr. Ghassemi has authored and edited several textbooks and has many publications and papers in the areas of energy, water, waste management, process control, thermodynamics, transport phenomena, education management and innovative teaching methods. His research areas of interest include risk-based decision making, renewable energy and water, energy efficiency and pollution prevention, multiphase flow and process control. Dr. Ghassemi serves on a number of public and private boards, editorial boards, and peer review panels. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from New Mexico State University. iee.nmsu.edu » Green Earth Fuels, LLC Jeffrey Trucksess is Executive Vice President, Government and Regulatory Affairs, for Green Earth Fuels, LLC, a vertically integrated global leader providing renewable, environmentally clean, high-value products to customers throughout the U.S. and the world. Mr. Trucksess brings a 10-year record of government relations and business development to his work with SWBA. During his career, Mr. Trucksess has helped direct campaigns that led to the passage of Renewable Portfolio Standards in Colorado and Washington, the funding of a Production Incentive for Biofuels in Texas, and the creation of a rebate program for Energy Storage. Mr. Trucksess has registered and permitted several biodiesel production facilities in Texas and Louisiana, led numerous industry coalitions, and served as a consultant to the National Biodiesel Board. Experienced in environmental permitting, fuels tax licensing, and grant/incentive program registration, Mr. Trucksess has a successful history working with federal institutions such as the EPA, IRS, and USDA, as well as with regional organizations such as the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Southwest Research Institute, and the Texas Comptrollers Office. He has also had significant success working with legislatures and regulatory agencies in several states including California, New York, New Jersey, Washington, Oregon, and Washington, D.C. Prior to joining Green Earth Fuels, Mr. Trucksess served as the Clean Energy Program Manager for an Austin, Texas-based consulting and lobbying firm where he directed legislative, regulatory, and business development efforts for clients in a wide range of alternative energy and clean technology industries. He has also worked with communities throughout North America to help establish positive legislative and regulatory environments, including renewable portfolio standards and other incentives, either as part of deregulation legislation, or independently, to foster industry growth. In addition, Mr. Trucksess has worked with major utilities seeking to hedge fossil fuel power production costs and/or comply with environmental regulations. Mr. Trucksess's earlier efforts generated more than $30 million in new contracts with the United States Agency for International Development for a leading consulting firm. He holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. www.greenearthfuelsllc.com » American Renewable Fuels Ross Garrity is President and CEO of American Renewable Fuels (ARFuels), LLC, which was formed as part of an expansion program undertaken by Australian Renewable Fuels, Ltd. after it successfully developed two 12-million-gallon-per-year biodiesel production facilities in Australia. ARFuels' vision is to become the largest producer of animal fats-based biodiesel in the US. Prior to joining ARF, Inc., Mr. Garrity was Executive Vice President of worldwide operations for Chicago-based SSA Global Technologies, Inc. (SSA). Prior to joining SSA, Mr. Garrity was Vice President of Global Technology Services at BearingPoint (formerly KPMG). Mr. Garrity moved to the U.S. from Australia in 1998 after being recruited to join the oil and gas practice at KPMG as a partner. Mr. Garrity also held numerous positions with Woodside Offshore Petroleum Limited, an oil and gas exploration and production company in Australia. He gave management support for major capital projects and to joint venture participants in the North West Shelf Venture. He holds a degree in accounting and information systems from Curtin University in Western Australia and is a member of the Australian Society of CPAs. www.arfuels.com » Sandia National Laboratories Dr. Grant Heffelfinger, Ph.D., is Senior Manager for Molecular and Computational Biosciences and the Biofuels Program Lead in the Biological and Energy Sciences Center at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM. Dr. Heffelfinger also serves as the Sandia Program Manager for the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), a San Francisco Bay Area scientific partnership led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. JBEI’s primary scientific mission is to advance the development of the next generation of biofuels. Dr. Heffelfinger’s research achievements include co-inventing the dual control volume molecular dynamics simulation method for modeling diffusion in molecular systems with chemical potential gradients, such as diffusion through membranes. Dr. Heffelfinger was the principal author and technical leader for "Accelerating Biology with Advanced Algorithms and Massively Parallel Computing," a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between Sandia National Laboratories and Celera Genomics signed on January 19, 2001. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University in 1988. www.sandia.gov » Sapphire Energy Tim Zenk is Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Sapphire Energy, a California-based alternative fuel company. He has spent much of his career shaping public policy on key issues impacting the nation and the globe. Most recently, as executive vice president for Edelman, an international communications firm, he built and led numerous campaigns, organized public-private partnerships, and counseled energy, biotech and technology leaders. Prior to that, he was founder and vice president of Chameleon Technology, a venture-funded leader in wireless infrastructures. He also was a top executive for Telecommunications Systems (NYSE - TSYS), a leading provider of mission critical wireless data systems for wireless carriers, governments and intelligence organizations. Mr. Zenk has also worked on political campaigns ranging from gubernatorial to congressional to presidential. Through his work at Sapphire Energy and with SWBA, he is focused on solving the environmental, political and economic need for energy independence. www.sapphireenergy.com »
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