As founding director of the Solar Biofuels Consortium, Dr. Benjamin Hankamer focuses on the development and implementation of high-efficiency, next generation biofuel systems. While on his fellowship, he met with industry representatives, academic researchers, and government officials to exchange ideas on ways to fast-track the commercial deployment of microalgal biofuel technologies, and to investigate the pros and cons of establishing an open source “Apollo project” for biohydrogen.

Jenny McAllister leads a team of 60 drawn from a broad range of technical and professional backgrounds whose mission is to develop and implement NSW policies with respect to climate change and environmental protection. Among other things, while on her fellowship she explored innovative approaches to how government can support the economic and social transition to a low carbon economy.

As CFO of the third-largest investor in the Brazilian electricity sector, Erik Breyer is responsible for financial operations and strategy for Neoenergia’s companies. This includes financing and constructing nine hydroelectric plants, overseeing financial management of four power generation plants and three power distribution companies, and handling investor relations for the group’s enterprises. On his fellowship, he examined strategies to minimize the impact of financial market crises on investments in energy infrastructure and the mobility of capital to finance energy production during these crises.

Dr. Glaucia Souza coordinates several initiatives in sugarcane genomics in Brazil and is the Coordinator of Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo Bioenergy Program (BIOEN). The BIOEN Program conducts research on plants and microorganisms with a potential use in biofuel production. On her fellowship, she focused on the biotech and ethanol industries in the United States, including visits to plant breeding programs and renewable energy research centers; meetings to learn how the intellectual property system can be used to promote economic and social development; and visits to organizations that fund research to learn about methods for administering and evaluating science programs.

As Secretary to the Board of Directors of China Shenhua Energy Company Limited, Mr. Huang Qing has responsibility for the group’s companies in the energy sector, as well as financing and capital markets relating to energy research and the energy-related economy. While on his fellowship, Mr. Huang explored the U.S. energy sector, with a focus on recent developments in the coal industry, energy diversification, emission standards, and energy policy as it relates to international energy cooperation.

ZHU Yue Zhong is Director of the Research Management and International Collaborative Division at the Energy Research Institute, National Development and Reform Commission. Prior to this he oversaw energy demand forecasting at the Energy Research Institute and conducted economic evaluations of energy conservation technologies and energy scenario analyses with the Beijing Energy Efficiency Center. On his fellowship, he sought to gain a fuller understanding of energy security issues, responses to global climate change, and data collection methodologies with respect to energy consumption.

Through her work as Projects Officer with the International Finance Corporation, Cherine Samir El-Sayed promotes commercial microfinance in the Middle East and North Africa via direct investments and technical assistance. While on fellowship, she will focus on green microfinance, including the Millennium Development Goals for eradicating hunger and poverty and ensuring environmental sustainability. Specifically, she examined the role of microfinance institutions in providing clients with clear, renewable energy technologies, and providing financially viable green solutions to mitigate the effects of global climate change.

Dr. Michel Morvan is the Scientific Director at Veolia Environment Group, a leading multinational firm involved in environmental services active in the domains of energy, water, waste, and public transportation. He is also External Professor at the Sante Fe Institute. On his fellowship, Dr. Morvan met with politicians, think tank leaders, researchers, and corporate directors to gain insight into integrative models of sustainable development and growth and how these are applied. He also investigated information processing and computation in complex systems, and the robustness of complex systems models.

As Counselor of the High Commission for Atomic Energy, Dr. Thierry Pussieux manages France’s fusion energy research programs and works with partner countries to develop large international research projects. Dr. Pussieux believes that nuclear energy can help ensure sustainable development in the 21st century and beyond. While on fellowship, he visited U.S. federal agencies; electricity producers, including nuclear reactors; think tanks and lobbies; and research laboratories to discuss peaceful nuclear activities, nuclear non-proliferation treaty requirements and nuclear waste management.

Kapil Mohan believes electricity must be available to all in order for there to be sustainable and equitable development in India. As Director in charge of electricity distribution at the Ministry of Power, he manages a budget of $7 billion to provide electricity across the country, including over 100,000 villages and 75 million households. He is also trying to reduce transmission and commercial losses due to theft and a dilapidated distribution infrastructure. While in the United States, Mr. Mohan explored the latest technologies and policy interventions to bring efficiency to the electricity sector.

Fabby Tumiwa is responsible for overall management and fundraising at the Institute for Essential Services Reform, an NGO that conducts research, policy advocacy, and lobbying in four thematic areas: access to energy, electricity governance, climate change mitigation, and sustainable biomass. While on fellowship, he met with government agencies, universities, NGOs and businesses that are part of the green economy movement. He believes that the development of renewable industries may help revitalize and boost economic performance as well as help achieve a low-carbon economy.

Dr. Ayobami Salami serves as Director of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Studies and is working to formulate an approach for Nigeria that is economically viable, ecologically sustainable, and socially desirable. Nigeria is one of the most rapidly developing nations in the world and must address carbon dioxide emissions, climate change, and deforestation. While in the United States, Dr. Salami met with experts in both the private and public sectors who are working to develop policies and renewable sources of energy that positively impact the environment.

At ScanEx, Russia’s leading remote sensing company, Mr. Oganes Targulyan is responsible for new project development, engagement with external stakeholders, environmental projects, and media outreach. He is strongly committed to enhancing corporate environmental performance and has established productive, on-going linkages between top energy companies and international NGOs. During his fellowship, Mr. Targulyan focused on learning about oil and gas companies’ efforts to enhance environmental performance and non-financial transparency, innovations in sustainable development, remote sensing applications for environmental protection, and sustainable management of national parks.

As the Chief Petroleum Engineer of Saudi Aramco, Dr. Muhammad Al-Saggaf oversees the development and management of all of the company’s oil and gas fields and reservoirs, encompassing about one-fourth of the world’s total oil reserves, and a substantial portion of the global oil output. Dr. Saggaf has expertise in mathematics, petroleum engineering, geosciences, computer science, and business. His core fellowship objective was to investigate achieving common energy solutions that balance the various priorities in order to realize both economic growth and sustainability of the ecosystem.

As chairman of the construction, energy and infrastructure units at IC Holding, Mr. Cecen allied with AES Corporation and started operations under AES-IC ICTAS Energy Company. In 1996, he initiated feasibility studies of Turkey’s first energy generation plant. As a result, Turkey has started to liberalize the energy market. Living in this energy-importing country, Mr. Cecen used his fellowship to learn about global trends in energy technologies, energy market structures, and developments in renewable energy and energy efficiency areas.