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3 - 6 November 2024
Student Union
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Featured Speakers
Opening Keynote
Speaker: Phillip May
President and CEO of Entergy Louisiana
Phillip May is president and CEO of Entergy Louisiana, an electric utility that serves more than 1.1 million customers in 58 Louisiana parishes. He is responsible for the company’s safe and reliable service, financial performance, customer service, regulatory and public affairs, resource planning, economic development programs and charitable contributions. May is actively engaged in capturing Louisiana’s unprecedented economic growth opportunities. To achieve this, May is strategically aligning the company to meet evolving customer expectations by transforming the grid towards greater resilience, reliability, and sustainability. This includes Louisiana’s first ever $1.9 billion comprehensive grid resilience plan along with the modernization of the generation fleet to meet our customers’ demand for low and no-carbon energy.
Monday Lunch Keynote
Speaker: Liz Murrill
Attorney General, State of Louisiana
In 2024, Liz Murrill made history as she was sworn in as Louisiana’s first female Attorney General. A graduate of LSU's Paul M. Hebert Law School, she has worked for more than three decades in both state and federal government. She began her professional journey by clerking in federal court for U.S. District Judge Frank J. Polozola and later for First Circuit Court of Appeal Judge Melvin Shortess. She later held several key positions within state government, including serving as Executive Counsel to Governor Bobby Jindal and the Commissioner of Administration, and she was Louisiana’s first Solicitor General, representing the state’s interests in complex legal matters and advocating for the enforcement of the law at the federal level. As Solicitor General, she argued five cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and served as lead counsel in over 35 cases challenging federal overreach, ranging from attacks on religious liberty to COVID-19 mandates.
Closing Session: An Armchair Discussion
Guest: The Honorable Mary Landrieu
Senior Policy Advisor, Van Ness Feldman, LLP
Senator Landrieu serves as a senior policy advisor at Van Ness Feldman, an energy and environmental law firm. She represents a variety of clients helping to navigate the energy evolution to a lower carbon future. She is co-founder of the Climate Solutions Foundation, which has built strong bipartisan caucuses in the House and Senate that are helping to forge a durable energy policy for the United States that will build prosperity and security for our nation. Landrieu served in the U.S. Senate for three terms, from 1997-2015. During her 18 year tenure, she chaired the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, the Homeland Security Appropriations Committee, and was the first Democratic woman to serve on the Armed Services Committee. She is credited with the passage of several important pieces of legislation: most notably, the landmark Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA); the Israel American Energy Alliance; and the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act (RESTORE Act) – the single largest environmental investment in the Gulf Coast in US history. While in the Senate, Landrieu was known for her bipartisan approach to addressing national challenges and her passionate advocacy for her home state of Louisiana, particularly in the aftermaths of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Moderator: Dr. Robert Twilley
Vice President, LSU Office of Research & Economic Development
Dr. Robert R. Twilley has been a professor in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, LSU College of Coast and Environment, since 2004. He has served LSU in several administrative capacities, including in his present position as vice president of research and economic development and formerly as executive director of Louisiana Sea Grant College Program (2012-2021). His research spans some of the largest ecosystem restoration efforts in the world, including the Mississippi River Delta, Chesapeake Bay, and Florida Everglades, and mangrove conservation and restoration throughout the neotropics of Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and Mexico. He has also served the state of Louisiana in several capacities as science advisor to coastal restoration planning projects, including the 2007 and 2012 Louisiana Coastal Master Plans, and regional planning efforts following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from East Carolina University and his Ph.D. from University of Florida.
Session: The Importance of the Gulf Coast Energy Hub to the U.S.
Moderator: Dr. Greg Upton
Executive Director & Associate Professor - Research
LSU Center for Energy Studies
Dr. Greg Upton's research interests are related to the analysis of economic, environmental and public policy issues in the energy industry. During his tenure at LSU, he has addressed topical energy issues of significance to Louisiana, including state mineral taxes, solar tax credits, and net metering policies, the impact of the oil price collapse on Louisiana’s budgetary challenges, and implications of the crude oil export ban’s lifting on the Louisiana economy, among others. He has presented research to more than 150 industry, governmental, and academic audiences, and has been quoted or cited approximately 150 times in local and national media, including the Wall Street Journal and NPR’s Marketplace. Dr. Upton holds a Ph.D. in Economics from LSU, where he also received both an M.S. in economics and a B.S. in economics with a concentration in empirical analysis.
Panelist: Phillip May
President and CEO of Entergy Louisiana
Phillip May is president and CEO of Entergy Louisiana, an electric utility that serves more than 1.1 million customers in 58 Louisiana parishes. He is responsible for the company’s safe and reliable service, financial performance, customer service, regulatory and public affairs, resource planning, economic development programs and charitable contributions. May is actively engaged in capturing Louisiana’s unprecedented economic growth opportunities. To achieve this, May is strategically aligning the company to meet evolving customer expectations by transforming the grid towards greater resilience, reliability, and sustainability. This includes Louisiana’s first ever $1.9 billion comprehensive grid resilience plan along with the modernization of the generation fleet to meet our customers’ demand for low and no-carbon energy.
Panelist: Christen Campbell
North America Energy & Sustainable Technologies and
Site Development Director, BASF
Christen Campbell is BASF’s Director of Energy & Sustainable Technologies for North America. She also is the Director of Site Development for BASF’s largest North American manufacturing site located in Geismar, La. She supports all NA sites with Clean Energy and Sustainability Assessments, Decarbonization Activities, Energy Efficiency, Optimization, and Strategies, including Energy Management (ISO50001), End-to-End Process Optimization, and Large Capital Projects. Christen joined BASF in 2012 as the Southeast Hub Process Safety Management/Risk Management Program Specialist. In 2017, she joined the Geismar Site Leadership Team and became the Southeast Procurement Hub Manager responsible for 20+ sites from Louisiana to South Carolina. Christen holds a B.S. in biological sciences and an MBA from LSU.
Brandon Frey
Executive Secretary, Louisiana Public Service Commission
Brandon Frey serves as Executive Secretary of the Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC). He has been in the role overseeing the day-to-day operations of the PSC since 2018. Prior to his current role, Brandon served as the PSC's Executive Counsel supervising the Commission's legal division. He received his J.D. from LSU's Paul M. Herbert Law Center in 1997.
Panelist: Kreshka Young
North America Business Director, Energy & Climate, Dow
Kreshka Young is Dow's North America Business Director for Energy & Climate. In this role, she is responsible for developing and implementing competitive and reliable energy and climate change strategies for Dow's manufacturing sites across North America, and for implementing strategic investments and business models to preserve Dow's competitiveness through the energy transition. In addition, she leads Dow's effort to implement a small modular nuclear reactor project at a USGC facility by approximately 2030. Kreshka holds a B.Sc. in electrical engineering from the University of Albert and an MBA from the University of Calgary.
Session: Accelerating Industrial Decarbonization through Renewables, Electrification, and Biofuels
Moderator: Ed Jimenez
Vice President of Business and Economic Development, Entergy Louisiana, LLC
As VP of business and economic development for Entergy Louisiana, LLC, Eduardo “Ed” Jimenez is responsible for developing revenue growth initiatives and goals and establishing commercial programs and policies that support the annual sales plan, including economic development, major industrial accounts, and competitive large residential and commercial developments. Prior to joining Entergy in 2011, Jimenez served as director of business development for Louisiana Economic Development (LED), managing lead development strategies for the state department and helping LED become one of the top state economic development organizations in the country. Previously, he was VP of sales for Your Other Warehouse, a subsidiary of The Home Depot. He holds a bachelor's degree in management information systems from LSU and a Master of Business Administration from Goizueta Business School at Emory University.
Panelist: Martin Hussey
Senior Director of Acquisitions and BTAs, Lightsource bp
Martin Hussey is a Senior Director of Acquisitions and BTAs at Lightsource bp. He joined Lightsource bp in 2020. Prior to his current role at Lightsource bp, Martin led origination in the Southeastern U.S., where he worked on offtake strategies for Lightsource bp’s Oxbow, Prairie Ronde, and Driver projects in Louisiana and Arkansas. Prior to joining Lightsource bp, Martin worked on solar development at BayWa r.e. and power and utilities consulting at KPMG. Martin has a B.S. in science tchnology and international affairs from Georgetown University.
Panelist: Hy Martin
Chief Development Officer, D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI)
Hy Martin serves as Chief Development Officer of D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI), having built and led the DESRI Development team and portfolio since its inception. Over the past two decades, he has developed, financed, or brought into commercial operations more than 14,000 MW of clean power generation projects. In his current role, he leads development of DESRI’s renewable energy portfolio across the United States, including market entry, greenfield siting, development acquisitions, real estate, interconnection & transmission, permitting, power marketing, and strategy. He serves on the board of the Sandia National Laboratory Solar Energy Advisory Board. Previously, Mr. Martin held positions at SunEdison, NRG Energy, and the U.S. Department of Treasury. He holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, an M.P.A. from Harvard Kennedy School, as well as a B.S. in Physics, a B.S. in Engineering Science, and a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Virginia.
Panelist: Amy Odom
Site Development and Technology Leader, BASF - Geismar
Amy Odom is the Site Development and Technology Leader for BASF’s largest North American manufacturing site located in Geismar, Louisiana. She supports the site’s sustainability efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and is the site liaison with community, universities, and other external partners. Amy joined BASF in 2014 as the Capital and Asset Strategy Manager for Polyols North America. Her previous experience includes Eastman Chemical, where she spent over 15 years developing polyethylene for customers and providing technical service in film extrusion markets. Amy also worked for Shell Chemical in reliability, project engineering and as an economist for the Norco Olefins Plant. Amy holds a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, where she currently serves on the Chemical Engineering Industry Advisory Board.
Session: De-risking and Decarbonizing the Transportation Value Chain
Moderator: Michael Plante
Principal Research Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Michael Plante is a Principal Research Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Indiana University in August 2009. His academic research interests include macroeconomics, time series econometrics and energy economics. His research has been published in journals such as the American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, the Energy Journal, and the Review of Economic Dynamics. Michael’s work at the Dallas Fed also includes analyzing energy markets, with a focus on oil and gas, batteries and EVs, and lithium. Michael has been the project manager of the Dallas Fed Energy Survey, a position he has held since the survey’s inception in 2016.
Panelist: Gracelin Baskaran
Director, Critical Minerals Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Gracelin Baskaran is the Director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A mining economist, she began her career in South Africa’s platinum belt. She later spent five years at the World Bank in South Africa. She has also held positions at the University of Cambridge, University of London, and University of Cape Town. Dr. Baskaran is now writing a book on an international strategy for critical minerals engagement for the United States. She has been widely cited as an expert, including in the Financial Times, Washington Post, Bloomberg and Foreign Policy, and has testified before Congress. She has also published more than150 op-eds and columns, policy reports, and white papers and published research in the Mineral Economics journal. Dr. Baskaran holds a doctorate from the University of Cambridge.
Panelist: Dr. Elaine Buckberg
Senior Fellow, Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, Harvard University
Elaine Buckberg, Ph.D., is a senior fellow of the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability at Harvard University. Previously, she was chief economist of General Motors (GM) from 2018 to March 2023. At GM, Elaine was responsible for assessing the impact of worldwide economic developments on the corporation, and for providing advice on various competitive and economic policy issues. From 2013-16, Elaine served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Coordination in the Office of Economic Policy at the U.S. Treasury Department. She has also worked in economic consulting, at the Brattle Group and NERA Economic Consulting, in finance at Morgan Stanley, and at the International Monetary Fund. Elaine received her Ph.D. in Economics from MIT and her B.A. from Yale.
Panelist: Brad Simmons
Senior Director, BowerGroupAsia
As a Senior Director, Brad manages BowerGroupAsia client relationships, business development, and engagements across the Indo-Pacific in the energy, climate and resource sectors. He brings over a decade of energy and climate public policy experience to BGA and is an expert in regional energy markets, supply chains, and geopolitics. Prior to joining BGA, Brad served at the U.S. Depts. of State and Energy. As the Director in the DOE's Office of International Market Development, he was responsible for integrating international commercial and energy policymaking agendas. He led the development and execution of the department’s international energy supply chain strategy and oversaw the department’s trade policy function. Brad previously served as the Indo-Pacific team chief in the Bureau of Energy Resources at the U.S. Department of State. He holds master's and bachelor’s degrees in international affairs from George Washington University and Emory University.
Session: Global Trade & Climate
Moderator: Trevor Sutton
Senior Research Associate, Center on Global Energy Policy
Trevor Sutton focuses on the intersection of trade, climate, and industrial policy and leads the center’s Program on Trade and the Clean Energy Transition.Trevor previously served as Research Director of the Remaking Global Trade for a Sustainable Future Project and was a co-author of a seminar report on trade system reform, the Villars Framework for a Sustainable Trade System. He has also served in various roles at the Center for American Progress, most recently as a Senior Fellow for Energy and Environment, and the United Nations. Prior to these positions, Trevor served as a judicial clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Trevor has a B.A. from Stanford University, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and an M.P.hil. from Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar.
Panelist: Dr. Gautam Jain
Senior Research Scholar, Center on Global Energy Policy
Dr. Gautam Jain is a Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He focuses on the role of financial markets and instruments—including thematic bonds, blended finance structures, and carbon markets—in the energy transition, with an emphasis on emerging economies. He has worked at asset management firms and an investment bank, including The Rohatyn Group, Barclays Capital, and Millennium Partners and has helped manage emerging market local debt and hard-currency bond portfolios, encompassing currencies, interest rate instruments, and sovereign credits. He specialized in portfolio construction and asset allocation incorporating macroeconomic, policy, and political developments in emerging markets. He holds a Ph.D. in operations research from Columbia University, an M.S. in industrial engineering from Iowa State University, and a B.Tech. in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.
Session: Carbon Capture and Storage -- Property, Contracts, & Economics
Moderator: Keith Hall
Director, LSU Energy Law Center
Keith B. Hall is the Nesser Family Chair in Energy Law at Louisiana State University, where he serves as Director of the Mineral Law Institute and as Director of the John P. Laborde Energy Law Center. He teaches oil and gas law courses, other energy law courses, and property law. Professor Hall is the co-author of three books on oil and gas law and an editor of “The Regulation of Decommissioning, Abandonment and Reuse Initiatives in the Oil and Gas Industry,” a book on decommissioning regulations around the world. Before joining the LSU faculty in 2012, Professor Hall practiced law in New Orleans for 16 years, and before that he worked for eight years as a chemical engineer. He has published several articles on legal issues relating to carbon capture and storage.
Panelist: Caitlin Cain
Community Engagement Lead, Heirloom
Caitlin Cain is Community Engagement Lead for Heirloom, a Direct Air Capture (DAC) facility of carbon emissions. Throughout her career, she has been a champion of community investment and works to strengthen social, economic and environmental opportunities in communities. She has deployed her expertise in urban planning, policy and economic development to create community investment strategies across multiple sectors. Caitlin has worked in finance, as VP of LISC and Director of Rural LISC, a national CDFI, and non-profit advocacy as CEO of the World Trade Center. Her government experience includes a federal appointment as a regional advocate at the SBA and as Director of Economic Development at the Regional Planning Commission of New Orleans. As a Fulbright Scholar, she traveled to Perth, Australia, to create a governance model for ports and Special Economic Zones. Caitlin’s diverse experience supports a fully integrated approach to complex project planning and advocacy.
Panelist: Colleen C. Jarrott
Partner, Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP
Colleen C. Jarrott represents businesses across a diverse cross-section of industries, including energy, transportation, and hospitality. A litigator with more than 18 years of experience, she provides guidance to companies throughout Louisiana on a variety of commercial disputes, contractual issues, and regulatory matters. She also provides guidance in the emerging area of carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS). She advises clients on statutory and regulatory requirements surrounding CCUS in Louisiana, as well as expropriation issues relating to lands, wells and deep geological formations. Ms. Jarrott also provides guidance on the developing legislative initiatives related to the Louisiana Geologic Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide Act (La. R.S. 30:1101 et seq.) and actively participates on the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources' Ad Hoc Committee on Carbon Capture as well as the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association's (LMOGA) Carbon Committee.
Panelist: Tara Righetti, JD, CPL
Occidental Chair of Energy and Environmental Policies & co-director of the Nuclear Energy Research Center at the University of Wyoming
As the Occidental Chair of Energy and Environmental Policies and co-director of the Nuclear Energy Research Center at the University of Wyoming, Dr. Righetti's research focuses on property, administrative law, and justice issues associated with energy development and decarbonization. She currently serves as the chair of the Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration (CCUS) Permitting Task Force for Federal Lands and Outer Continental Shelf and as a member of the United States’ Technical Advisory Group to ISO TC 265.
Session: The Value of Hubs to Industrial Decarbonization
Moderator: Kurt Kargou
Manager, RMI Climate Aligned Industries
Kurt provides cross functional leadership for RMI’s U.S. Gulf Coast Clean Industrial
Hub projects. During his tenure at RMI he has worked to decarbonize the industrial
sectors in the U.S. Gulf Coast, provided thought leadership, and helped develop programs
to provide faster and less expensive path to bankability projects through a program
tailored to the specific needs of each participating company. Before RMI, Kurt led
diligence and portfolio management at an impact investing fund. He received his MBA
from Chicago Booth where he was a Neubauer Civic Scholar recipient.
Dr. Jack Koban
Director of Growth – North America
Worley Consulting
Dr. Jack Koban is the Director of Growth for Worley Consulting’s North American operations for Conventional Energy, LNG, Chemicals & Fuels. A professional engineer and professional geologist with more than 20 years of professional experience, his work in the Gulf Coast has largely been focused on coastal restoration, flood protection, infrastructure, and energy. He serves as a board member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association, and the Coast Builders Coalition. He regularly interacts with policymakers, project developers, and other stakeholders of some of the Gulf Coast’s biggest energy and infrastructure projects while serving as an advocate for sustainable industry and the engineering profession. He received a B.S. in geological engineering from the University of Mississippi, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in earth science from the University of Memphis.
Panelist: Dr. Michael Mazzola
Executive Director, Future Use of Energy in Louisiana (FUEL)
In July 2024, Dr. Mazzola was named Executive Director for Future Use of Energy in Louisiana (FUEL), a statewide effort led by LSU, with more than 50 public and private partners. He previously served as project director of Clean Carolinas, a regional effort to advance clean energy, including offshore wind, solar, clean hydrogen, marine energy and the electric-energy delivery and storage systems that support clean energy sources’ integration into the power grid. Dr. Mazzola was also executive director of the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center at the UNC Charlotte and the Duke Energy Distinguished Chair of Power Engineering Systems. Earlier, he served as associate director for advanced vehicle systems at the Mississippi State University Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems. He led research in high-voltage engineering, power systems modeling and simulation, the application of silicon carbide semiconductor devices in power electronics and the control of hybrid electric vehicle power trains.
Panelist: Toyin Longe
Director of Development, Elimini
Toyin is a Development Director for BECCS (biomass energy with carbon capture and sequestrations) with Elimini, based in Houston. In her role at Elimini, she has focused on business development opportunities in the carbon removal space and bringing carbon removal projects from concept through to final investment decision. Prior to joining Elimini in 2023, Toyin worked in the oil and gas upstream industry for about 20 years. Her upstream experience included roles at Chevron, ExxonMobil and Boston Consulting Group, covering asset acquisitions and divestments, strategic partnerships, leading deal execution and field asset operations. Toyin has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, and a MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
Panelist: Vick Natrajan
Manager of Capital Projects, Chevron
Vick Natrajan is Manager of Capital Projects for Chevron’s chemical business. Mr. Natrajan graduated from Rice University with an MBA. He joined Chevron in 2011 and has more than 20 years of experience in the oil and gas industry.
Session: The Interplay between Coastal Louisiana and the Energy Sector
Moderator: Dr. Clint Willson
Dean, LSU College of the Coast & Environment
Dr. Clint Willson is the Dean of the LSU College of the Coast & Environment and Director of the LSU Center for River Studies. He holds the Mike N. Dooley Professorship in the LSU Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and is a professional engineer. Dr. Willson previously served as the Director of Engineering Design and Innovation at the Water Institute of the Gulf, as well as the Chair of the Changing Course Technical Team. His expertise is in environmental and water resources engineering, with primary research interest in the physical and numerical modeling of Mississippi River hydrodynamics and sediment transport. Dr. Willson holds a B.S. in aerospace engineering from Penn State, and an M.S. in environmental health engineering and Ph.D. in civil engineering, both from UT-Austin. His primary research interests include high-res 3D imaging of porous media systems, groundwater modeling, and small-scale physical modeling of flow and sediment in the Mississippi River Delta.
Panelist: Chett C. Chiasson
Executive Director of the Greater Lafourche Port Commission
Chett Chiasson is the Executive Director of the Greater Lafourche Port Commission, which runs Port Fourchon and the South Lafourche Leonard Miller, Jr. Airport. Chett’s experience at the Port Commission over the past 18 years includes the marketing and leasing of port and airport properties as well as grant writing, management, and disaster recovery. His battle-tested leadership saw Port Fourchon through the aftermath of a direct hit from 2021’s Hurricane Ida, highlighting the port’s resilience and strength by opening for business within nine days of landfall. Since being named director in January 2010, Chett has played a leadership role in working to protect Port Fourchon and Louisiana’s surrounding coast from devastating land loss while also stressing the importance of the energy industry for our local, state, and national economies and U.S. energy security.
Panelist: Glenn Ledet
Executive Director of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority
An accomplished leader with more than 17 years of expertise, Glenn P. Ledet, Jr., PE has extensive experience in both the public and private sectors navigating coastal issues in Louisiana. Before being appointed Executive Director of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), Glenn spent more than 13 years in the coastal engineering industry, including the last four years with a nationally renowned multi-discipline engineering, planning and construction management firm, where he led the strategic growth, business development, and operations for all of the company's coastal and water resources initiatives. Glenn also spent more than three years at CPRA serving as an Engineering Supervisor and then as the Assistant Administrator of CPRA's Operations Division.
Panelist: Dr. Joe Orgeron
Louisiana State Representative, District 54
Dr. Orgeron is currently serving his second term as Louisiana State Representative for District 54, which includes communities along Bayou Lafourche, from U.S. Hwy. 90 to Port Fourchon and Grand Isle. He serves as Vice-Chair of the House Natural Resources committee and serves on the Ways & Means & Judiciary committees. As executive director of Restore or Retreat, a non-profit coastal advocacy group, he promotes large-scale restoration and resiliency projects within the Barataria and Terrebonne estuaries. He and his older brother Lee are partners in 2nd Wind Marine, LLC., with the intent of building a pair of “SuperFeeder” vessels to assist in solving issues with wind farm installation logistics related to the unique U.S. Jones-Act compliant market space. Dr. Orgeron has a B.S. in physics from Nicholls State University and a doctorate in Applied Experimental Physics from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Session: The Outlook for Hydrogen Development for the U.S. Gulf Coast
Moderator: Dr. Mark E. Zappi
Executive Director, Energy Institute of Louisiana
University of Louisiana - Lafayette
Dr. Mark E. Zappi, PE, has more than 25 years' experience working with energy production and management technologies ranging from basic research to full-scale commercialization. Dr. Zappi serves as the Executive Director of the Energy Institute of Louisiana at UL and the Director of UL’s Louisiana Energy Extension Service. He holds a B.S. in civil engineering from UL and an M.S. and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Mississippi State University. He has more than 250 technical publications, given over 300 technical presentations, holds six patents, and his works have been cited over 5,500 times (H-Index of 39). A global expert on energy systems commercialization and addressing technological challenges to their usage in commercial settings, he has secured over $150M in R&D funding and has managed numerous multi-million, multi-partner projects.
Panelist: Wayne Creel
Director of Operations for North American Hydrogen, Worley
Mr. Creel is the Director of Operations for North American Hydrogen at Worley. He has 35 years of experience in technical and operational roles, and he is responsible for the delivery of major engineering, procurement and construction projects utilizing international teams across the globe. He manages the Worley North American Hydrogen Center of Excellence which is tasked with driving technical expertise in production of low carbon hydrogen and the derivatives such as methanol and ammonia. Mr. Creel has a B.S. in civil engineering from Louisiana State University and is a licensed professional engineer in 28 states.
Panelist: Emmanuel Henriet
Senior Advisor Energy, Expertise France
Mr. Henriet is Sr. Advisor Energy for Expertise France, a division of groupe AFD,
the French International Development Agency, a joint entity between the
French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the French Ministry of Economics
and Finance. He began covering the U.S. Gulf Coast region following the cooperation
agreement signed with the State of Louisiana in December 2022 during President Emmanuel
Macron's visit to the U.S. He is Senior Research Fellow with the Energy Institute
at the University of Texas in Austin. Mr. Henriet focuses on energy infrastructure,
energy transformation and transition, hydrocarbons, and renewable energy. He has experience
directing and managing international businesses, for a former French company, in advanced
and electrical materials.
Panelist: Lindsay Cooper Phillips
Senior Gulf Coast Regional Manager, Clean Air Task Force
Lindsay Cooper Phillips joined the Clean Air Task Force in 2023 as Senior Gulf Coast Regional Manager. Lindsay works across the Gulf South to develop and advocate for fact-based, nonpartisan, and practical clean energy policy for the industrial and power sectors. She partners closely with government officials, local communities, industries, and other stakeholders to facilitate meaningful collaboration and innovative policy design. Lindsay comes from the Office of Governor John Bel Edwards, where she managed Governor Edwards’ Climate Initiative. She was responsible for development and implementation of Louisiana’s first Climate Action Plan. Lindsay led the most comprehensive state-level plan for decarbonization of the industrial sector, and she created an interagency partnership on power grid securitization. She has held prior roles in coastal restoration. Lindsay is a Louisiana native and a graduate of Tulane University.
Session: Opportunities to Reduce Carbon Intensity in the Oil and Gas Value Chain
Moderator: Brad Ives
Executive Director, Institute for Energy Innovation at LSU
Mr. Ives is the Executive Director of the LSU Institute for Energy Innovation. Previously, he led Catawba College to become the first certified carbon-neutral college in the Southeast as Executive Director of its Center for the Environment. He also served as Chief Sustainability Officer and Associate Vice Chancellor at UNC Chapel Hill and as North Carolina’s Asst. Secretary for Natural Resources, where he drove policy resulting in the state’s first wind farm. Earlier in his career, he developed an award-winning landfill gas project to supply renewable energy to ExxonMobil’s Baton Rouge Polyolefins Plant, led a biomass energy technology company, and worked in energy storage and solar power. He holds the Sustainability and Climate Risk Certificate from the Global Association of Risk Professionals, is a GRI Certified Sustainability Professional, and is the recipient of the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association’s Individual Energy Leader Award. He received his B.A. and law degrees from the University of North Carolina.
Panelist: Alex Dewar
Managing Director & Partner, Boston Consulting Group
Alex Dewar leads Boston Consulting Group's work in carbon capture, utilization & storage and engineered carbon removals. A core member of the firm's climate & sustainability practice, he works with a wide range of energy, industrial, and financial sector clients to assess the risks and opportunities presented by climate change and the energy transition. He has more than 15 years experience working on decarbonization and energy markets, including the evaluation of low carbon technologies, use of climate scenarios, climate target-setting, and decarbonization roadmap development. He also has extensive experience working across the natural gas value chain, while supporting clients on methane emissions abatement and brings deep expertise on climate and energy policy formulation. Alex is a former senior director at the Center for Energy Impact, BCG's think tank on energy and climate. He serves on the U.S. Natural Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee at the Dept. of Transportation and is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
Panelist: Dr. Dean Foreman
Chief Economist, Texas Oil & Gas Association
As chief economist for the Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA), Dr. Foreman brings over two decades of experience in the oil and gas industry, including global and domestic policy analysis, finance and risk management, business planning, forecasting, and market analysis, all grounded by his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Florida. His career also includes progressive roles at the American Petroleum Institute, ExxonMobil, Talisman Energy, and Saudi Aramco, where he spearheaded initiatives crucial to industry planning, regulatory influence, and supporting multibillion-dollar investments. His work has driven analyses that guide strategic industry decisions and played a significant role in the development of legislation and regulatory frameworks. He is the president-elect of the U.S. Association for Energy Economics (USAEE), serves as an advisory board member and faculty fellow at TCU’s Ralph Lowe Energy Institute, and is recognized as a Top Voice on LinkedIn.
Dr. Erin Tullos
Research Fellow, McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Erin Tullos is a Senior Research Fellow in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and previous Senior Advisor and Uncertainty and Reconciliation expert to the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP 2.0) at the United Nations Environment Programme. With 16 years of experience in environmental research, regulatory advocacy, and compliance, she made significant contributions to leading organizations like ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66, and ExxonMobil. During her time at ExxonMobil, Dr. Tullos led research on cost-effective methane detection and mitigation. She spearheaded large-scale testing of methane detection technologies across ExxonMobil, created interdisciplinary collaborations such as Project Astra and Project Falcon, and developed the first-ever application to use emerging methane detection technology for EPA approval.
Panelist: Dr. Adam Pacsi
Methane Policy Advisor, Chevron
Adam Pacsi is a Methane Policy Advisor for Chevron, based in San Ramon, California. Adam has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and has contributed to multiple peer-reviewed methane emission studies. Over his 10 years with Chevron, Adam has focused on methane emission estimation techniques and control technologies, national and international policy, and corporate emission reduction strategies. He is currently leading a task group on GHG emissions and reduction pathways for the U.S. natural gas supply chain for a study by the National Petroleum Council.