When?
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 from 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM (ET)
Where?
Hodges Room, Centergy Building, Tech Square
75 5th Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30308
Speakers:
Valerie Thomas is the Anderson Interface Associate Professor of Natural Systems in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, with a joint appointment in the School of Public Policy. Valerie works on the energy, environmental and economic implications of biomass and other energy systems. Her current work includes assessment of alternative aviation fuels for the U.S. Air Force, assessment of algal biofuels, and assessment of bioenergy resources in Georgia, and assessment of the costs of new electricity generation in the southeast.
Valerie received a B. A. in physics from Swarthmore College and a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Cornell University. She has served on research staffs of Carnegie Mellon and Princeton and was a Lecturer in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. In addition, Valerie was an American Physical Society Congressional Science Fellow. She is a member of the U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
Marie Walsh is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Tennessee, Head of M&E Biomass (a private consulting firm), and serves as shared faculty with the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). She holds a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from Illinois College, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota.
Marie was formerly a Research Staff Economist and Leader of the Integrated Systems Analysis Task in the U.S. Department of Energy Biomass Feedstock Development Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Major projects included the development of a county level database of biomass feedstock supply (agricultural residues, energy crops, forest residues, mill residues, urban wood wastes); analysis of the potential for, and impacts of, producing energy crops; economic impacts of using corn stover to produce ethanol in the Midwest; and economic impacts of using biomass for co-firing in the Southeast.
Marie was selected as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Congressional Science Fellow, and worked at the U.S. Congress–Office of Technology Assessment where she conducted analysis of policy issues related to agricultural biotechnology. She participated in several studies and was project director for the study Industrial Uses of Agricultural Commodities.
Nathan McClure currently leads the Georgia Forestry Commission’s Forest Utilization, Marketing, and Development program. He also serves as the Director of Forest Energy and Development for the agency. Nathan has worked in a variety of positions over the past 25 years with the Commission. He is a Georgia Registered Forester and a Society of American Foresters Certified Forester. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science in Forest Resources Management.
Nathan serves as a member of the Society of American Foresters Climate Change and Carbon Sequestration Task Force and the Southern Agriculture and Forestry Energy Resource Alliance steering committee. He also received the SAF National Field Forester Award in 2005.
Michael (“Mike”) H. Burnside is president and chief executive officer of Catchlight Energy LLC, a biofuels joint venture between Chevron and Weyerhaeuser. He has held this position since the venture was formed in February 2008.
Prior to Catchlight Energy, Mike worked 33 years for Chevron and held a variety of assignments in manufacturing, planning and analysis, and finance functions, most recently as project manager to establish the biofuels joint venture, and prior to that role, as Americas regional manager for Chevron Oronite Company with responsibility for additive manufacturing and supply operations in the U.S., Brazil and Mexico.
A native of Baltimore, Md., Burnside received a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in business administration from California State University.
Presentations and Webcast:
Southeast Biomass: Highest and Best Use – Mike Burnside
Forest Bioenergy: Opportunities for Georgia and the South – Nathan McClure
Biomass Resources: A Macroeconomic Perspective – Marie Walsh
