October 4-5, 2023
Colorado State University's Lory Student Center
Fort Collins, Colorado
Speakers
Amanda Harmon
Senior Manager
GTI Energy
Amanda Harmon, Senior Manager-Programs at GTI Energy’s Zero Emissions System overseas the research, development, and deployment of solutions for environmental matters including emissions and renewable energy. As a microbiologist, Ms. Harmon also has a decade’s worth of experience researching pipeline integrity. Current research programs Amanda manages are the Risk, Integrity, and Environmental working group for Operations Technology Development, renewable fuels for the Low Carbon Resource Initiative, and will direct Veritas post 2022.
Dr. Chris Moore
Program Manager, Zero Emissions Systems
GTI Energy
Dr. Chris Moore is currently a Program Manager in the Zero Emissions Systems group at GTI Energy. In his current role he leads efforts to evaluate new technologies and study methane emissions from natural gas transmission, storage and distribution, and serves as the Principal Investigator for the GTI Energy Center for Methane Research, the technical segment lead for the Transmission and Storage segment in GTI Energy’s Veritas Differentiated Gas Initiative, and the Environmental Aspects and Safety Technical Subcommittee in GTI’s Low Carbon Resources Initiative. Chris’s research has been published in a wide variety of scientific journals including Nature and the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science. Dr. Moore holds a BS in Chemistry from WVU Tech, an MS in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia, and a PhD in Environmental Science from the University of Maryland.
Ron Snedic
Senior Vice President
Corporate Development
GTI Energy
As the Senior VP of Corporate Development at GTI Energy, Ron leads the effort to expand GTI Energy’s customer base and increase revenues from technology-based product and service offerings. Snedic is responsible for GTI Energy’s M&A activities and serves as President of GTI International, a holding company for GTI Energy’s for-profit entities including Frontier Energy and SunGas Renewables. Snedic also oversees GTI Energy’s marketing communications team, the human resources department, and a wide range of education and training programs. He is the President of Operations Technology Development, NFP and Utilization Technology Development, NFP. Both companies focus on the development of new technology for the natural gas industry. Snedic joined GTI Energy as the Regional Manager of Customer Relations for the Southern Gas Association in April 1997. Prior to GTI Energy Ron held various positions at Nicor Gas Distribution and UtiliCorp United. Snedic earned a B.S. in marketing and an M.B.A. from Northern Illinois University, and has completed the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
Dr. Bryan Willson
Executive Director
Energy Institute
Colorado State University
Dr. Bryan Willson is Executive Director of the Energy Institute at Colorado State University, where he also occupies the Bryan Willson Presidential Chair in Energy Innovation and serves as a Professor of Mechanical Engineering. CSU’s Energy Institute comprises over 200 faculty members working in energy and works closely with the Colorado energy startup community to help grow clean energy companies. The Energy Institute is headquartered at CSU’s Powerhouse Energy Campus, a 100,000 sq ft research facility that also houses over 15 early stage energy companies; it’s work on cleantech commercialization has been honored by the Economist, Scientific American, the Smithsonian Institution, university technology transfer associations, and the governments of Denmark, Spain, and China. Dr. Willson served as a Program Director at ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy, from 2012-2016 and continued as a consultant / advisor to the agency until early 2019. He has worked for over 30 years to develop and deploy large-scale technology solutions related to energy, air quality, and human health. As an entrepreneur, Dr. Willson is co-founder of Envirofit International, Solix BioSystems, Factor(e) Ventures and Xpower. His research laboratory, the Engines & Energy Conversion Laboratory, has made important contributions in many areas, including: internal combustion engines, advanced vehicles, oil & gas production technology, advanced electrical grids, advanced biofuels, energy access for the developing world, and advanced building technologies. Dr. Willson is a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers and has worked in over 40 countries.
Joe von Fischer
Professor
Department of Biology
Colorado State University
Joe von Fischer is a professor in the Department of Biology who studies how the function of ecosystems is structured by the interactions among humans, plants, the soil and soil microbes, with particular focus on how these factors influence the emissions of greenhouse gases like methane. Joe’s research seeks to characterize the physical and biological diversity of systems that give rise to micro-sites with exceptional influence on overall system function. Joe’s lab maintains two primary research areas. One is the study of how biological diversity among the bacteria that consume methane within soils leads to spatial and temporal patterns in soil methane fluxes. The other is in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund to use Google Streetview Cars to measure the leakage rate of natural gas from urban distribution systems around the country.