Webinar Panel: Pathways to Net-Zero and Negative Carbon Emissions
Webinar Panel
Pathways to Net-Zero and Negative Carbon Emissions
Nov 17, 2020 | 5:00 PM (PT) | Zoom Registration Required
Andre Argenton is the Vice President of Core R&D of Dow. He oversees a broad portfolio of research programs, world leading innovation capabilities and universities partnerships that enable technology development across all Dow businesses and multiple key market segments.
Previously, Andre was the global R&D director of Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure. His responsibilities included managing the innovation pipeline across multiple chemistry envelopes including Polyurethanes and Industrial Solutions.
Argenton earned a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Sao Paulo and joined Dow Brazil in 1999.
Mary Nichols is the Chair of The California Air Resources Board, where she occupies the attorney seat. She has served on the Board under Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. (1975-82 and 2010-18), Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (2007-2010) and Governor Gavin Newsom (2019—present.) She also served as California's Secretary for Natural Resources (1999-2003), appointed by Gov. Gray Davis.
When not working for the State of California, Mary was a senior staff attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council; Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Regulation, in the administration of President William Jefferson Clinton; and headed the Institute of Environment and Sustainability at UCLA.
Over a career as an environmental lawyer spanning over 45 years, Mary Nichols has played a key role in California and the nation's progress toward healthy air. She has also led the Board in crafting California's internationally recognized climate action plan
David Danielson is a Managing Director at Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a $1B+ climate-tech investment fund backed by Bill Gates and more than 20 other successful business leaders from around the world. David leads BEV's partnerships with Form Energy (long duration storage), Fervo Energy (precision geothermal), Lilac Solutions (direct lithium extraction), Redwood Materials (lithium-ion battery recycling), QuantumScape (solid-state battery), and works with a number of other companies in BEV's portfolio.
Previously, David served as Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) at the U.S. Department of Energy, where he led the largest government clean-energy innovation funding agency in the world. At EERE, he directed the U.S. government's innovation strategy in the areas of sustainable transportation, renewable power, energy efficiency and clean-energy manufacturing, investing about $10 billion during his tenure into American clean-energy innovation
Prior to serving as Assistant Secretary of EERE, David was a co-founder and employee #1 at the DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), a highly successful funding agency that focuses on the development of high-risk, high-reward clean-energy technologies. Prior to his government service, he starting his career as a venture capital investor in clean technologies at General Catalyst Partners and was also the founder and president of the MIT Energy Club. David is also an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University, where he teaches Stanford Climate Ventures, a climate-tech startups course that has resulted in the creation of 25 new companies. David received a PhD in Materials Science from MIT and BS in Materials Science from U.C. Berkeley.
Panel Moderator
Harry A. Atwater
Howard Hughes Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science; Director, Liquid Sunlight Alliance, Editor in Chief, ACS Photonics
Professor Harry Atwater is the Howard Hughes Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science at the California Institute of Technology, and from 2009-2014 he served as the founding Director of the Resnick Sustainability Institute. Currently he is the Director for the Liquid Sunlight Alliance (LiSA), a Department of Energy Hub program for solar fuels. Atwater's scientific effort focuses on nanophotonic light-matter interactions and solar energy conversion. His current research in solar energy centers on high efficiency photovoltaics and photoelectrochemical processes for generation of solar fuels, and his research has resulted in world records for solar photovoltaic conversion and photoelectrochemical water splitting.
Atwater is a Member of US National Academy of Engineering, and a Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher. He is also founder of 5 early-stage companies, including Alta Devices, which set world records for photovoltaic cell and module efficiency. He is also a Fellow of the SPIE as well as APS, MRS, and the National Academy of Inventors. He is also the founding Editor in Chief of the journal ACS Photonics, and Chair of the LightSail Committee for the Breakthrough Starshot program.