Dr. Ali Ahmad

Director, Energy Policy and Security Program, American University of Beirut

Ali Ahmad is a faculty member at the American University of Beirut (AUB) where he leads the Energy Policy and Security in the Middle East Program at AUB’s Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs. Dr. Ahmad’s research and lectures cover nuclear security, energy policy, and economics. Prior to AUB, Dr. Ahmad spent two years as a Research Fellow at Princeton University’s Science and Global Security Program where he worked on informing nuclear diplomacy with Iran and studied the prospects of nuclear energy in the Middle East. During the fellowship, Dr. Ahmad worked with Princeton colleagues to develop solutions for the technical challenges in nuclear negotiations with Iran. Dr. Ahmad’s work on energy and the Middle East has so far resulted in several journal articles and book chapters, one book (forthcoming) and several op-eds and interviews with regional and international media. Dr. Ahmad holds a degree in physics from the Lebanese University and a PhD in Energy Engineering from Cambridge University. Outside of academics, Dr. Ahmad advises governments and investment firms on a variety of energy issues.

H.E. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber

Minister of State, United Arab Emirates & CEO, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company

H.E. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber is the minister of state for the United Arab Emirates. He also serves as the chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), a position he has held since February 2016. Dr. Al Jaber previously served as the chief executive officer for energy at Mubadala Development Company (now Mubadala Investment Company) and chief executive officer and managing director of Masdar until March 2014. He oversaw DB Masdar Clean Tech Fund LP., Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, and Masdar Venture Capital. He spearheaded the launch and establishment of Masdar in 2006. He was appointed United Arab Emirates special envoy for energy and climate change in 2010. Previously, he held various positions within ADNOC and Abu Dhabi Gas Company. He has been the chairman of the board at Masdar since March 2014. In 2013, Dr. Al Jaber was appointed United Arab Emirates minister of state and member of the federal cabinet. He is also a member of the executive committee of Masdar Clean Tech Fund, LP. He holds a PhD in business and economics from Coventry University and an MBA and BS in chemical engineering from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Ahmad Al Khowaiter

Chief Technology Officer, Saudi Aramco

Ahmad Al Khowaiter is Saudi Aramco’s chief technology officer. Mr. Al Khowaiter joined Saudi Aramco in 1983, where he held various technical roles in oil and gas production organizations, ranging from design, project management, commissioning, and operations, as well as a number of supervisory, managerial, and general management positions. In 2001 he led the commissioning and start-up of Hawiyah Gas Plant, followed by the start-up of Haradh Gas Plant in 2003, two of the largest natural gas processing plants in the world. At the end of 2006, Mr. Al Khowaiter led the Planning and Development of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Subsequently, he held the position of interim provost, KAUST in 2007 and interim vice president for Economic Development, KAUST from 2008 to 2009. He held the position of Saudi Aramco chief engineer from 2011 to 2014, and executive director of power systems in 2014 before assuming his present role. He served on the board of directors of Petron Corporation in the Philippines from 2005 to 2007 and the board of directors of Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. from 2011 until 2014. He was also a board member of Sadara from 2011 to 2013. He presently serves as director on the board of the Arabian Gulf Oil Company. Mr. Al Khowaiter holds a BS degree in chemical engineering from the King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, an MS degree in chemical engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and an MBA degree as a Sloan Fellow from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Bader Al Lamki

Executive Director, Masdar Clean Energy

Bader Al Lamki is responsible for Masdar’s Clean Energy division and its activities in investment, green field development and operations in utility-scale renewable energy projects and off-grid clean power projects in the MENA region and international markets. Al Lamki joined Masdar in February 2008 from ADMA-OPCO after successfully leading a strategic project to increase oil production to nearly one million barrels per day. Earlier in his career, Al Lamki also worked for French oil major Total, advising the company on oil and gas projects in Africa. Al Lamki is currently chairman of Shams 1 Company, a joint venture between Masdar and Total. He also sits on the board of Torresol Company, Dudgeon, and Tafila Company. Al Lamki holds a BS in chemical engineering from UAE University.

H.E. Suhail Al Mazrouei

Minister of Energy and Industry, United Arab Emirates

H.E. Suhail Al Mazrouei was appointed as United Arab Emirates (UAE) minister of energy on 12 March 2013. Minister Al Mazrouei has experience in corporate administration in different sectors including ship building, defense systems, oil and gas services sector, and real estate development. His career at the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company spanned ten years before he moved to Mubadala Development Company (now Mubadala Investment Company) in 2007. During his career at Mubadala, he expanded the company into Bahrain, Oman, and Kazakhstan. He was responsible for the development of new projects as well as investments in exploration and production in Middle Eastern countries and Africa. Minister Al Mazrouei graduated from the University of Tulsa in the United States with a BS in petroleum engineering.

Abdul Nasser Al Mughairbi

Senior Vice President, Digital, ADNOC Group

Abdul Nasser Al Mughairbi is the digital unit manager in Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), the state-owned oil company of the United Arab Emirates, where he leads manages the ADNOC Digital Transformation project.

Abdul Nasser started his career in 1990 as an operations engineer in Abu Dhabi ADNOC gas processing (AGP), a natural gas-producing company of Abu Dhabi, UAE. It is a subsidiary of the ADNOC. He held various positions in AGP processing plants and pipelines divisions and reached to the level of senior vice president in 2013. AGP is the largest gas processing facilities in the UAE. His responsibility in this role was to lead the development of AGP technical group strategies and provide high-quality technical support services for all AGP operations and projects while directing the development and updates of world-standard integrity Assurance systems and ensuring safe execution of technical projects in line with the highest health, safety and environment standards, policies and procedures. Furthermore, he has a great role in the energy and emission reduction efforts of the company. Before assuming this role, he was the senior vice president of Habshan Complex, made of 15 processing plants processing 7 billion cubic feet of gas per day.

Dr. Matar Al Neyadi

Undersecretary of Energy, United Arab Emirates' Ministry of Energy and Industry

Dr. Matar Al Neyadi is undersecretary of energy at United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Energy and Industry. In May 2014, Dr. Al Neyadi became chairman of the board of directors of the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority. He is also an executive member in the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, and a member of the executive office of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority, and the board of trustees of the minster of interior’s Award for Scientific Research. Dr. Al Neyadi has authored a number of legal books, which notably include Maritime Zones of the UAE, Rules of International Treaties in Public International Law, and Documents in Public International Law. He holds a PhD in international law from the University of Edinburgh.

H.E. Dr. Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy

Minister of Oil and Gas, Sultanate of Oman

H.E. Dr. Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy is the minister of oil and gas for the Sultanate of Oman, a position he has held since 1997. He is the chairman of the board of directors of Oman LNG, LLC, and the chairman of Petroleum Development Oman, LLC. Prior to his appointment as minister, Minister Al Rumhy held academic faculty positions in petroleum engineering and served as assistant dean of engineering at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. He has also served as the chairman of Oman Refineries and Petrochemicals Company LLC and the vice chairman of Oman Oil Company S.A.O.C. He earned both his BS and PhD degrees in petroleum engineering from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London. Additionally, Minister Al Rumhy holds an MS degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma.

Khalid Al-Falih

Minister of Energy, Industry, and Mineral Resources, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

H.E. Khalid Al-Falih is the minister of energy, industry and mineral resources for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and chairman of Saudi Aramco’s Board of Directors. Minister Al-Falih oversees the Kingdom’s energy and minerals sectors, activities related to industry and electricity, and the National Industrial Cluster Development Program. He concurrently chairs the boards of Saudi Aramco and the Saudi Arabian Mining Company, the King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology, the King Abdulaziz City of Atomic and Renewable Energy, the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, Saudi Fund for Industrial Development, Saudi Industrial Property Authority, Saudi Geological Survey, and the Saudi Exports Development Authority. Previously, Minister Al-Falih has previously served as the minister of health for the Kingdom. He serves on the boards of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (founding member), Prince Muhammad bin Fahd University, and American University in Sharjah. He chaired World Economic Forum’s Oil & Gas Community, the Asia Business Council, and the JP Morgan International Council. Minister Al-Falih earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University and a MBA from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. He holds an honorary doctorate from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. He has received the King Abdulaziz Medal (First Class), Saudi Arabia’s highest civilian honor, for service to the nation.

Musabbeh Al-Kaabi

CEO, Petroleum and Petrochemicals, Mubadala Investment Company

Mr. Musabbeh Al-Kaabi is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Petroleum and Petrochemicals at Mubadala Investment Company. Mr. Al-Kaabi was previously the CEO of Mubadala Petroleum, having joined the company in 2013 as chief growth officer, responsible for new business development, mergers and acquisitions, and exploration. Previously he enjoyed a sixteen-year career with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). He joined ADNOC in 1997 and rose to manager of the exploration division. His

achievements include leading ADNOC’s first ever offshore high pressure/high temperature deep gas reservoir mechanical fracturing project, initiating and leading efforts to assess the unconventional resources in Abu Dhabi, and leading recent negotiations with international oil companies to conclude a number of joint venture agreements in Abu Dhabi. He also undertook an overseas assignment with Shell, where he was part of a team specializing in reservoir surveillance. His areas of expertise include geophysics, petroleum geology, field development, unconventional resources evaluation, and petroleum economics. He has been an active participant in a number of professional bodies and event-related executive committees, served as an advisory board committee member for the National Drilling Company, and as an executive committee member of newly established Joint Ventures in Abu Dhabi. Mr. Al-Kaabi holds a BS in geophysical engineering from Colorado School of Mines and an MS in petroleum geoscience from Imperial College, London

Ali Al-Saffar

Program Manager, Middle East and North Africa, International Energy Agency

Ali Al-Saffar is the Middle East and North Africa programme manager at the International Energy Agency (IEA), leading the IEA’s engagement with the region and acting as a key advisor to executive management. Prior to this role, he was an energy analyst at the Directorate for Sustainability, Technology and Outlooks, where he co-authored seven editions of the IEA’s long-term forecast, the World Energy Outlook. He was the lead author of the recently-released Outlook for Producer Economies. Prior to joining the IEA in 2012, he was a Middle East economist and chief automotive analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit in London. He has degrees in economics and development studies.

Saleh Al-Trad

Vice Chairman and CEO, Arab Investment Company

Mr. Saleh Al-Trad is managing director at Beaumont Partners and has fifteen years of strategic advisory, investment banking, investment management, and private placement experience. He was the managing director and head of Kuwait and Qatar for Nomura where he built Nomura’s presence in Kuwait and Qatar, oversaw key client relationships, and led the partnership between investment banking and capital markets to formulate and execute a business plan that generated over $125 million in revenue.

Prior to Nomura, Mr. Al-Trad spent eight years at Lehman Brothers in clients coverage mostly in New York as well as in Kuwait and Doha where he set up Lehman Brothers’ offices. Mr. Al-Trad was responsible for attracting several billion dollars in new investments from clients in the Middle East, including advisory mandates for Qatar Petroleum, RasGas, Qatargas, Q-Chem, and Qatar Gas Transport Co. Mr. Al-Trad has a BS in engineering and attended master’s classes in finance at Boston University.

Dr. Kamal Araj

Vice Chairman and Commissioner, Jordan Atomic Energy Commission

Dr. Kamal Araj is the vice chairman and commissioner for nuclear power reactors at Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC). Before joining JAEC in March 2008 as the commissioner for international cooperation, Dr. Araj served as the government advisor for nuclear energy. Since 2006, Dr. Araj was the chief scientific advisor at the King Abdullah Development Bureau. Before returning to Jordan, Dr. Araj worked as a senior officer at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna for five years. Prior to that, Dr. Araj worked as consultant and advisor in nuclear energy and advanced technology in Washington, DC with the management consulting firm, RCG/Hagler, Bailly, Inc., XERAD, Inc., the BDM Corporation, Argonne National Laboratory, and the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Before that, Dr. Araj has held academic and research appointments at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and US National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Araj received both his BS in physics and BSE in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His doctorate at MIT focused on nuclear engineering with a minor in energy technology and policy. Dr. Araj has published widely and directed many national and international research study groups in nuclear physics, advanced nuclear power, laser technologies, renewable energy sources and global climate change.

Ayman Asfari

Group Chief Executive Officer, Petrofac

Mr. Ayman Asfari joined US-based Petrofac in 1991 to establish Petrofac International, with a capital base of $1 million. Mr. Asfari spent two decades growing the business, expanding its range of services and firmly establishing its core markets. Leading a corporate re-organization in 2002 he became group chief executive officer; in 2005 he led a successful initial public offering valuing the business at over $1 billion. Under Mr. Asfari’s leadership, Petrofac developed into a leading oilfield services company providing services across the oil and gas asset life-cycle, as stand-alone and on an integrated basis. Petrofac’s services include design and construction of oil and gas infrastructure, operations and maintenance, development and management of oil and gas assets, training of personnel. Today Petrofac has operations in twenty-four countries with almost thirteen thousand employees worldwide. Mr. Asfari is on the board of trustees for Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; a member of the board of trustees for the American University of Beirut; on the Chatham House Panel of Senior Advisors; a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering; he has served as a UK business ambassador for the past four years. Mr. Asfari graduated with an MSc in Civil & Urban Engineering from University of Pennsylvania in 1980.

H.E. Mohammad Barkindo

Secretary General, Organisation the Petroleum Exporting Countries

H.E. Mohammad Barkindo began his tenure as Secretary General of the Organisation the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on August 1, 2016. Over the years he also worked in several key roles at OPEC. In 1986, he was appointed to Nigeria’s delegation to OPEC, and from 1993 to 2008, served as Nigeria’s national representative on the organization’s economic commission board. In 2006, he was acting OPEC secretary general, and represented Nigeria on OPEC’s board of governors from 2009 to 2010. From 2009 to 2010, he was group managing director and chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. Before that, he served as deputy managing director of Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas. Earlier in his career, he was special assistant to former minister of petroleum resources and OPEC secretary general, H.E. Dr Rilwanu Lukman Kbe. Mr. Barkindo has also been leader of Nigeria’s technical delegation to the United Nations climate change negotiations since 1991. He served as chair of the Group of 77 and China at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and was elected to serve three terms as vice president of the Conference of the Parties – COP13 (Bali, Indonesia), COP14 (Poznan, Poland), and COP15 (Copenhagen, Denmark), where he chaired the opening session. Since his assumption of office as Secretary General, he remains a leading voice in the long-standing quest for more OPEC and non-OPEC cooperation for stable oil markets on a sustainable basis.

Randolph Bell

Director, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

Randolph Bell is the director of the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center (GEC), where he has oversight of the budget and revenue of the Global Energy Center, including GEC research and programs in Washington and elsewhere and its affiliated conferences, the Atlantic Council Istanbul Summit, and the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum. From 2014–2016, Randolph was director of business development and new ventures at the Atlantic Council, where he led the Council’s Global Energy Center launch campaign and oversaw the Council’s corporate and individual giving. From 2011–2014, Randolph was managing director at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)–US, where he had overall responsibility for the operations of the IISS’s Washington, DC office, including coordination of finance, administration, programming, and fundraising. From 2010–2011, Randolph was manager of national security at the Markle Foundation, where he worked on cyber security, intelligence community information sharing, and technology policy issues. He has published on African, South Asian, and cyber security issues. He has an MPP from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he was a Public Service and Belfer International and Global Affairs Fellow, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College.

Eric Besson

Advisor to the CEO, Sicpa

Eric Besson is the advisor to the chief executive officer of Sicpa. He has been mayor of Donzère in southern France since 1995, a French member of parliament for ten years and held several ministerial positions within the French government, including: minister for industry, energy and digital economy from November 2010 to May 2012, minister for immigration, integration, national identity and co-development from January 2009 to November 2010 and secretary of state for strategic planning, public policy evaluation and digital economy development from May 2007 to January 2009. Since May 2012, Eric Besson has created his own advisory company, Eric Besson Consulting.

Reed Blakemore

Associate Director, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

Reed Blakemore is an associate director at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center. Prior to joining the Atlantic Council, he held positions at the International Institute for Strategic Studies - US and the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He received a master's degree from the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs in security policy studies, with emphases in defense analysis and transnational security issues.

Bill Brown

Cofound and Chief Executive Officer, NET Power, LLC

Bill Brown is chief executive officer and cofounder of both 8 Rivers, LLC and NET Power, LLC, which he cofounded in 2008 and 2009, respectively. 8 Rivers Capital, LLC is a technology development and commercialization firm focused on energy, telecom, water, chemical production, transportation, and space launch. The expertise and experience 8 Rivers has gained over the years has allowed 8 Rivers to expand its model in to engineering, IP, and commercialization services. NET Power, LLC is commercializing a technology that will allow the world to meet its climate targets without having to pay more for electricity. The technology generates electricity from natural gas while inherently capturing all of its carbon dioxide, which can be used for enhanced oil recovery, sour gas clean up, and hydrogen transport.

Neil Brown

Director, KKR Global Institute

Mr. Neil R. Brown joined KKR in 2014 and is a director in the KKR Global Institute. Mr. Brown is also a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Brown served for over eight years as a senior staff member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he concurrently led energy security efforts for Senator Richard G. Lugar. He has also served as a senior advisor at Goldwyn Global Strategies, on the US Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative advisory committee for the US Secretary of Interior, and as a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Mr. Brown currently serves on the boards of the Lugar Center, Merton College Charitable Corporation, Association of American Rhodes Scholars, and Columbia University Energy Journalism Initiative. An Iowa native, Mr. Brown is an honors graduate of Harvard University and received graduate MSc and MPhil degrees from Oxford University, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar.

Dr. Yongsung Cho

President, Korea Energy Economics Institute

Dr. Yongsung Cho became president of Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI) on July 5, 2018. Dr. Cho serves as a professor of department of food & resource economics and director of institute of life science and natural resources in Korea University. He is also an adjunct professor at the Green School, a graduate school committed to the area of energy and environment by collaborating between Korea University and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. He has been a member of presidential committee on green growth since April 2017. In addition, he is a member of the National Environmental Policy Council under the Ministry of Environment of Republic of Korea and appointed a chairperson in the division of climate change and air quality as well. Previously, Dr. Cho was a vice president of the development and external affairs in Korea University and a research fellow at the Korea Energy Economics Institute.

His research interests are in the area of energy and climate policy in Korea in a comparative context with particular reference to East Asia, covering China and Japan. In particular, Dr. Cho has explored the emission trading scheme and policy measures to stimulate the development and deployment for cleaner and more efficient renewable energy technologies in his researches. He led a ten-year research project on climate change specialization with the support from the Ministry of Environment between 2006 and 2016.  Dr. Cho received Environment Minister’s Award twice, in 2007 and 2014. Dr. Cho received his PhD in applied economics from the University of Minnesota at St. Paul.

Phillip Cornell

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

Phillip Cornell is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center. Prior to joining the Atlantic Council, Cornell was a senior corporate planning advisor to the chairman and CEO of Saudi Aramco, where he provided market analysis and business development support to the executive management during the implementation of Saudi oil price strategy. In that capacity, he also provided advice to the Royal Court in the context of Saudi economic transition and foreign policy. From 2011 to 2014 he was special advisor to the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, responsible for strategic messaging and policy advice to the Executive Office of the IEA. Previously, he developed IEA simulations and war-gaming among ministries in preparation for major oil and gas emergencies. Before joining the IEA, Cornell served with NATO as the senior fellow and director of international programs at the NATO School (NSO) in Oberammergau, Germany, where his policy research focused on NATO and energy security. During that period, he also served on the secretary general's committee in Brussels to develop NATO policy in the area of energy infrastructure security. He holds Masters degrees with distinction in International Economics (energy focus) and European Studies (security focus) from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He received his BA cum laude in International Relations from Stanford University.

Linden Coppell

Head of Sustainability, Etihad Aviation Group

Ms. Linden Coppell is the head of sustainability at Etihad Aviation Group. She currently implements initiatives for emissions and waste management, supports the development of alternative sustainable fuels, manages the charity and humanitarian program, and works to develop a culture of environmental and social awareness throughout the business. Ms. Coppell has over twenty years of environmental and corporate social responsibility experience. She has developed carbon management strategies, prepared tailored environmental management systems, and prepared corporate social responsibility reports. Ms. Coppell joined Etihad Airways in 2009 with the responsibility of developing the airline’s overall sustainability strategy. Prior to joining Etihad Airways, Ms. Coppell served as the environmental manager of Cathay Pacific Airways from 2003 to 2008. Ms. Coppell represents Etihad Airways on the Environmental Committee of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Environmental Policy Group of the Arab Air Carriers Association. She is the chair of the IATA Environment Committee Wildlife Taskforce.

Dr. Helima Croft

Managing Director & Global Head of Commodity Strategy at RBC Capital Markets

Dr. Helima Croft is a managing director and global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets. She specializes in geopolitics and energy, leading a team of commodity strategists that cover energy, metals, and cross-commodity investor activity. Dr. Croft is a member of the National Petroleum Council, a select group of individuals who advise, inform, and make recommendations to the secretary of energy with respect to any matter relating to oil and natural gas. She also is a CNBC contributor, a member of the channel’s exclusive family of experts, and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Croft joined RBC Capital Markets from Barclays, where she was a managing director and head of North American commodities research. Prior to that, she worked in Lehman’s Business Intelligence group, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Central Intelligence Agency, where she focused on geopolitics and commodities. Dr. Croft has received many industry accolades throughout her career, including Breaking Energy’s Top Ten New York Women in Energy and received her PhD in economic history from Princeton in 2001.

Lisa Davis

CEO Energy and Member of the Managing Board, Siemens AG

Since October 2018, Lisa Davis has been the chief executive officer of the Siemens Operating Company Gas and Power where she will continue to drive digitalization in manufacturing across the energy business. Ms. Davis is also a member of the managing board of Siemens AG. Appointed to the Siemens board in August 2014, she is responsible for the company’s energy divisions (power and gas, power generation services) for oil and gas, and for the Americas region. Ms. Davis was named chair and CEO of Siemens Corporation, USA, in January 2017. She began her career in energy after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in chemical engineering. Her roles with Exxon Corporation and Texaco expanded across the manufacturing space, ranging from process engineering to operations management. Ms. Davis later joined Royal Dutch Shell, holding executive positions in manufacturing operations and maintenance, as well as strategy and portfolio. In 2008, she served as vice president, sales, marketing lubricants, and bulk fuels Americas before being appointed executive vice president, strategy, portfolio, and alternative energy at Royal Dutch Shell, UK, in 2012. Ms. Davis is currently based in Houston, Texas.

Claudio Descalzi

CEO, Eni

Mr. Claudio Descalzi has been the chief executive officer for Eni since May 2014. He is a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford. Prior to his appointment as chief executive officer at Eni, Mr. Descalzi served as chairman of Eni UK from 2010 to 2014. From 2008 to 2014, Mr. Descalzi was the chief operating officer for Eni’s Exploration and Production division, after serving as deputy chief operating officer of the division. During that time, he also served as president of Assomineraria. From 2002 to 2005, Mr. Descalzi was executive vice president for Italy, Africa, and the Middle East, and a member of the board of several Eni regional subsidiaries. From 2000 to 2001, he was executive vice president for Africa, the Middle East, and China. In 1998, Mr. Descalzi was appointed vice president and managing director of Naoc, a subsidiary of Eni in Nigeria, after serving for four years as managing director of Eni’s subsidiary in Congo. In 1990, Mr. Descalzi was appointed head of reservoir and operating activities for Italy. He joined Eni in 1981 as an oil and gas field petroleum engineer. In 2012, Mr. Descalzi received the Charles F. Rand Memorial Gold Medal award from the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the American Institute of Mining Engineers. In December of 2015, he became a member of the Global Board of Advisors of the Council on Foreign Relations. He was awarded an honorary degree in environmental and territorial engineering by the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Rome in December of 2016. Mr. Descalzi holds a degree in physics from the University of Milan.

Amb. Paula Dobriansky

Senior Fellow, Future of Diplomacy Project, Harvard University's JFK Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Ambassador Paula J. Dobriansky, PhD, is a senior fellow in the Future of Diplomacy project at Harvard University’s JFK Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and vice chair of the National Executive Committee of the US Water Partnership. Previously, she was senior vice president and global head of government and regulatory affairs at Thomson Reuters. She also held the distinguished national security chair at the US Naval Academy. From 2001 to 2009, Ambassador Dobriansky served as undersecretary of state for global affairs. In 2007, as the president's special envoy to Northern Ireland, she contributed to the historic devolution of power in Belfast. For her leadership, she received the secretary of state’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal. From 1997-2001, Ambassador Dobriansky served as senior vice president and director of the Washington Office of the Council on Foreign Relations.

She serves on various boards, including IDS International, the Energy Innovation Reform Project, the Middle East Institute and the Atlantic Council. She is also a trustee of the Trilateral Commission and on the Board of Visitors of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Previous boards include the Western NIS Enterprise Fund, National Endowment for Democracy (vice chair), Smith Richardson Foundation and George Mason University Board of Visitors. She was a former chair of the national Board of Directors of the World Affairs Councils of America. She received a BSFS summa cum laude in international politics from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and a MA and PhD in Soviet political/military affairs from Harvard University.

Tom Earl

Chief Commercial Officer, VG LNG Marketing

Tom Earl is the chief commercial officer of VG LNG Marketing, LLC. Tom previously served as vice president at the international oil company Total, focusing on the development of its global liquified natural gas (LNG) business.

After graduating from City University in London with a degree in engineering, Tom joined Total’s newly-formed gas marketing and trading team in 1998. After various responsibilities within the trading division of the newly combined Total, Elf and Petrofina operations, he managed the natural gas option desk and gas trading desk. Tom successfully led significant commercial negotiations on long-term gas and LNG contracts in countries such as Russia, Norway and Qatar.

In 2006, Tom was appointed head of electricity trading at Total where he led a significant expansion into newly opened power markets across Europe. In 2011, Tom moved to Houston, where he was appointed as head of Total’s North America commodity trading business, including its LNG, gas, power, coal, petcoke and liquified petroleum gas operations. Tom also represented Total in its US LNG liquefaction transactions from 2012 to 2015.

In 2015, Tom was appointed vice president of development for Total’s global LNG activities. Tom led Total’s most recent and highly regarded global expansion into new LNG markets. This work has included innovative new LNG terminal projects and new downstream asset transactions across the world.

Michael Eckhart

Managing Director and Global Head of Environmental Finance, Citigroup

Michael Eckhart is a managing director and global head of environmental finance in the corporate and investment banking division of Citigroup in New York City.  Previously, he was founding president of the American Council on Renewable Energy, a Washington DC-based nonprofit organization, where he emerged as a national and global leader in the renewable energy field.  Earlier, he developed financing for solar energy under the SolarBank Initiative in Europe, South Africa and India; was chairman & chief executive officer of United Power Systems, Inc.; vice president of Areté Ventures, Inc.; a strategic planner of General Electric Company’s power systems sector; and a principal with the energy practice of Booz, Allen & Hamilton. He has received numerous awards and recognitions, including Renewable Energy Man of the Year of India in 1998, the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2008, the Good Deal for All Award in 2009, the ISES Hermann Scheer Global Leadership Award in 2013, and Biofuels Financier of the Year in 2014.  He received a degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from Harvard Business School and served in the US Navy Submarine Service.

Dr. Brian Efird

Program Director, Policy and Decision Science, King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center

Dr. Brian Efird is the program director for policy and decision science at King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center. He manages a multidisciplinary, multi-national team of researchers who work on quantitative models of collective decision-making processes, geospatial information system applications to energy economics and energy policy, demography and energy, and energy policy studies of countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Dr. Efird is co-editor-in-chief of Energy Transitions, a new journal from Springer Scientific. He was previously a senior research fellow at the National Defense University in Washington DC; a consultant on defense and international security matters in Washington; and a consultant applying quantitative models to support corporate, investment banking, and legal negotiations in New York.

Dirk Elvermann

Chief Financial Officer, Wintershall

Dirk Elvermann, a lawyer by profession, has been a member of the board of executive directors of Wintershall in Kassel since December 2017. He is responsible for finances, sales, and commercial. He started his professional career as a lawyer in Cologne before joining the legal department of BASF in Ludwigshafen as a senior counsel. In 2010, Elvermann moved to Hong Kong as vice president of legal and tax for the Asia Pacific region. From 2012 until the middle of 2015 he was managing director of BASF Polska in Warsaw. The following two years he was responsible for merger and acquisition projects in Ludwigshafen as senior vice president, projects.

Robert Fee

Vice President, International Affairs and Commercial Development, Cheniere Energy, Inc.

Robert Fee is vice president, international affairs and commercial development at Cheniere Energy, Inc. Cheniere is a Houston-based energy company and the premier US liquefied natural gas (LNG) export company. At Cheniere, Fee previously served as chief of staff to the chief executive officer and acting senior vice president for external affairs, where he managed federal, state, and local government affairs. Before joining Cheniere, Fee was chief of staff and senior advisor in the Office of Fossil Energy at the US Department of Energy. In his various roles, Fee helped manage the oversight of the office’s research and development program and major policy and regulatory responsibilities, including over $3 billion carbon capture and storage demonstration projects, hydraulic fracturing, climate regulation, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, LNG exports and international engagements, including the US-China Oil and Gas Industry Forum. Fee also held positions at the White House Office of Public Engagement and the Department of Energy Office of the Secretary. Fee has a BA in history from Miami University in Ohio.

Anatol Feygin

Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer, Cheniere Partners

Anatol Feygin has served as executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Cheniere Energy since September 2016. Mr. Feygin joined Cheniere in March 2014 as senior vice president, strategy and corporate development. Mr. Feygin also currently serves as executive vice president and chief commercial officer of Cheniere Partners. Prior to joining Cheniere, Mr. Feygin worked with Loews Corporation from November 2007 to March 2014, most recently as its vice president, energy strategist and senior portfolio manager. Prior to joining Loews, Mr. Feygin spent three years at Bank of America, most recently as head of global commodity strategy. Mr. Feygin began his banking career at JP Morgan Securities Inc. as senior analyst, natural gas pipelines and distributors. Mr. Feygin earned a BS in electrical engineering from Rutgers University and an MBA in finance from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.

Hadley Gamble

Anchor, CNBC

Hadley Gamble is CNBC's anchor based in Abu Dhabi. Hadley anchors Capital Connection from CNBC's Middle East headquarters based within Abu Dhabi Global Markets. In addition, she also fronts CNBC's popular documentary franchise, Access: Middle East where she speaks to world leaders, international CEOs and philanthropists. Recent guests include Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir and HRH Princess Reema bin Bandar Al-Saud. Hadley has also profiled some of the biggest names in business including the man behind the world's tallest tower, Emaar chairman Mohammed Alabbar, bitcoin brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, and the only Western investor to hold a telecom license in North Korea, billionaire Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris. Hadley regularly reports for CNBC from the World Economic Forum in Davos, moderating panels on topics ranging from the geostrategic outlook for the Middle East to the future of education and infrastructure. Hadley is also a passionate advocate for women in the workplace and their advancement across the Arab world. She moderated the first ever women's business forum in Saudi Arabia and provided exclusive content to CNBC as the Kingdom lifted its decades-old driving ban. An experienced journalist, Hadley has also worked for ABC News and Fox News in Washington DC producing news programmes and covering national and international political events, including the 2008 Presidential Debates, Election Night 2008 and the Inauguration of US President Barack Obama.

Meg Gentle

President & CEO, Tellurian, Inc.

Ms. Meg Gentle is the president and chief executive officer of Tellurian, Inc., leading the company since August 2016. She previously served as executive vice president of Marketing at Cheniere Energy, Inc. While at Cheniere, she served as senior vice president of marketing, senior vice president and chief financial officer, senior vice president of Strategic Planning and Finance, vice president of Strategic Planning, and manager of Strategic Planning. Before Cheniere, Ms. Gentle spent eight years in energy market development, economic evaluation, and long-range planning. She conducted international business development and strategic planning for Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, and energy market analysis for Pace Global Energy Services. Ms. Gentle received a BA in economics and international affairs from James Madison University in 1996. She received an MBA from Rice University in 2004.

Todd Glass

Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Todd Glass is a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he leads a market-leading energy and infrastructure practice focused on the representation of energy companies, project developers, and investors in the energy sector in North America, Asia, and Europe. Todd has extensive experience with the development, purchase, and sale of renewable and thermal generation projects; structuring, negotiation, and implementation of energy transactions and financings; and state and federal regulation of the energy industry. He served various enterprises as lead project counsel in the commercialization, project development, regulatory approvals, and financing of alternative energy projects and technologies, including solar (solar photovoltaic (PV), concentrated solar, and solar thermal), wind, fuel cells/energy storage, biomass, hydroelectric, natural gas, and clean coal. In addition, Todd represents utility-scale solar and other renewable energy clients in their power sales and renewable energy credit (REC) transactions, and he advises energy technology companies on a variety of commercial matters, national and international joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and venture and other equity and debt financings. Todd previously served as chair of Heller Ehrman's energy practice group and co-chair of its energy and clean technologies practice. Earlier in his career, he worked on environmental and energy policy issues for the Bonneville Power Administration, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, an environmental consulting firm in contract with the US Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC, and the US House of Representatives' Committee on Science and Technology.

Jennifer Gnana

Energy Reporter, The National

Jennifer Gnana is a multi-lingual journalist specializing in business and economy in the Middle East and South Asia. After starting her career in broadcast, Ms. Gnana moved on to print and presently covers Middle East energy for the National, an Abu Dhabi-based newspaper.

David Goldwyn

President, Goldwyn Global Strategies, LLC & Chairman, Energy Advisory Group, Atlantic Council

Mr. David Goldwyn is president of Goldwyn Global Strategies, LLC, an international energy advisory consultancy, and chairman of the Atlantic Council Energy Advisory Group. He is the co-editor of Energy & Security: Strategies for a World in Transition. Mr. Goldwyn served as the US State Department’s special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs from 2009 to 2011, where he conceived and developed the Global Shale Gas Initiative and the Energy Governance and Capacity Initiative and led ministerial level energy dialogues with the developing world. Mr. Goldwyn previously served as assistant secretary of energy for international affairs (1999-2001) and as national security deputy to US Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson (1997-98). Mr. Goldwyn is a member of the US National Petroleum Council. Mr. Goldwyn has been published extensively on topics related to energy security and transparency. In 2015, Mr. Goldwyn was the co-director of an Atlantic Council task force chaired by Senators Lisa Murkowski and Mark Warner, which culminated in a report, “Empowering America: How Energy Abundance Can US Global Leadership” (Atlantic Council 2015). Mr. Goldwyn is the author of “Drilling Down: The Civil Society Guide to Extractive Industry Revenues and the EITI” (Revenue Watch Institute 2008).

Dr. Bharath Gopalaswamy

Director, South Asia Center, Atlantic Council

Dr. Bharath Gopalaswamy is the director of the South Asia Center. Prior to joining the Atlantic Council, Gopalaswamy managed the Program in Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he oversaw developing projects on South Asian security issues. He has held research appointments with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and with Cornell University's Judith Reppy Institute of Peace and Conflict studies. Dr. Gopalaswamy holds a PhD in mechanical engineering with a specialization in numerical acoustics from Trinity College, Dublin. In addition to his studies abroad, he has previously worked at the Indian Space Research Organization's High Altitude Test Facilities and the EADS Astrium GmbH division in Germany.

Dr. Jennifer Gordon

Deputy Director, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

Dr. Jennifer T. Gordon is the deputy director of the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center. Previously, Jennifer was the senior energy policy analyst at National Journal's Network Science Initiative. Jennifer holds a PhD in History and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University and a BA in Middle Eastern Studies from Wellesley College.

Seth Grae

President and Chief Executive Officer, Lightbridge

Seth Grae is the president and chief executive officer at Lightbridge, where he has led the strategic direction and financing efforts since its founding, including taking the company public. During his tenure, Lightbridge has evolved into a leader in developing advanced nuclear fuel technologies and in providing advisory services to developing and existing nuclear energy programs seeking to meet the highest international standards of safety, non-proliferation, and transparency. Prior to Lightbridge, he worked as a corporate attorney in New York. Seth gives guest lectures at universities and speaks at conferences on energy, nuclear power, and the environment. Seth is a member of the Civil Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee to the US Secretary of Commerce and is a member of the Nuclear Energy Institute’s board of directors and Suppliers Advisory Committee. He is member of the Nuclear Security Working Group. He is also a member of the dean’s advisory council at the Washington College of Law at American University. He has served as vice chair of the governing board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, as a member of the board of directors of the Lawyers Alliance for World Security, and as co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Arms Control & Disarmament. Seth earned a BA (cum laude) from Brandeis University; an MBA and an LLM in international law (with honors) from Georgetown University; and a JD from American University.

Michael Greenwald

Senior Vice President, Tiedemann Advisors & Senior Adviser, Atlantic Council

Michael Greenwald is the senior vice president at Tiedemann Advisors and senior adviser to the president and CEO of the Atlantic Council. Prior to joining Tiedemann in 2017, Michael worked in senior diplomatic roles within the US government, serving as a financial diplomat in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East spanning the tenures of US Treasury Secretaries Geithner, Lew and Mnuchin. Most recently, Michael served as the first United States Treasury Attaché appointed to Qatar and Kuwait and opened the Treasury Department’s office in Doha, Qatar in August 2015. Prior to that role, Michael served as the United States treasury policy advisor for Europe. In this role, he was appointed as the head of the United States Delegation to the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism before the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France. Michael has also served in a variety of roles in the US Intelligence Community and in the Office of General Counsel at the US Treasury working closely with the National Security Council at the White House working on issues related to countering ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Iran, Ukraine/Russia, Syria, and North Korea. Michael earned a Juris Doctor degree from Boston University School of Law, a Master of Arts from Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts in History from George Washington University. Originally from Brookline, Massachusetts, Michael resides in Washington, DC, and Palm Beach, Florida.

Dr. Craig A. Hart

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council Global Energy Center

Craig A. Hart is a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University’s Energy Policy & Climate program in Washington, DC and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center. He also teaches for the Temple University China Rule of Law Program in Beijing, China. Dr. Hart’s research concentrates on carbon management technologies and energy and environmental law and policy, particularly in the context of economic development and firm competitiveness. His research interests include energy efficiency, renewable energy technologies, forest carbon sequestration, and carbon capture and storage technologies. Dr. Hart is also an attorney practicing in the fields of project finance, carbon management, and capital markets. He has lived and worked in the United States, Middle East and Asia, representing project developers, banks and investors in energy and infrastructure project finance, carbon finance, and private and public offerings of debt and equity. Dr. Hart holds a BA and JD from the University of California at Berkeley, an MA from New York University, and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Neil Hirst

Senior Policy Fellow, Energy & Mitigation, Grantham Institute, Imperial College London

Neil Hirst is the senior policy fellow for energy and mitigation at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London. He is currently working with China’s Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission on a joint project on China and international energy governance. From 2005 to 2009, Neil was a director at the International Energy Agency (IEA). Initially, as director for technology, he pioneered the IEA’s flagship technology publication, Energy Technology Perspectives. Subsequently, as director for global dialogue, he forged closer relations and joint programs with IEA partner countries, especially China, India, and Russia. Before that Neil was a senior United Kingdom energy official with responsibilities for international energy policy and (at different times) most domestic energy sectors. In 1997 Neil was the chairman of the G8 Nuclear Safety Working Group and from 1985 to 1988 he was the energy counsellor at the British Embassy in Washington. He has worked on energy finance on secondment to Goldman Sachs. He holds a first class degree in politics philosophy and economics from Oxford University and an MBA from Cornell USA.

David Hitchcock

Consultant, The Mabus Group

David Hitchcock has an extensive background in both aviation and clean energy technologies. He began his professional career in the US Marine Corps as an F/A-18 Hornet fighter pilot. He amassed over 3,000 mishap-free flight hours in tactical jets, including service in Europe and East Asia, two combat tours to the Middle East, and command of the Marine Corps’ largest flying squadron. Since leaving the Marines, David has held leadership positions in three innovative cleantech companies, spanning the automotive, biofuel and biochemicals, and waste-to-energy industries. Currently a managing partner of Watershed Strategy, LLC and affiliated with The Mabus Group, he provides consulting services to clients in the energy, petrochemical, agribusiness, and government services sectors. David and his wife reside in rural Virginia and in his spare time, he teaches flying at a local airport. David holds a BSc from the US Naval Academy and an MA from the US Naval War College.

David Hobbs

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

David Hobbs was formerly KAPSARC’s Vice President of Research, having previously served as Chief Energy Strategist and Head of Research at what is now IHS Markit. Prior to joining IHS Markit, David spent nearly two decades in the oil and gas industry, predominantly in Europe, the Americas and Asia.

Amos Hochstein

Senior Vice President, Marketing, Tellurian

Amos Hochstein joined Tellurian in 2017 as senior vice president, marketing. Prior to joining the company, he served as the US Special Envoy for International Energy Affairs and led the US Department of State's Bureau of Energy Resources. As the US "energy diplomat," Hochstein oversaw global US energy foreign policy engagement and advised the secretary of state and the vice president of the US on global energy markets. As special envoy, Hochstein led the engagement to strengthen Europe's energy security through diversification of natural gas resources; authored the White House Caribbean Energy Security Initiative; chaired the President's US—Caribbean and US—Central America Energy Security Task Force; led US efforts to promote global fuel switching to natural gas and develop stronger natural gas markets throughout Asia and South Asia; and working closely with the Department of Defense, Hochstein led the US efforts to diminish ISIL and other terrorist groups' profits from energy assets. Prior to serving in the State Department, Hochstein served in a variety of senior level positions on Capitol Hill and advised energy companies entering and developing new markets.

Dr. Jennifer Holmgren

Chief Executive Officer, LanzaTech

Dr. Jennifer Holmgren is the chief executive officer of revolutionary carbon recycling company, LanzaTech. Prior to joining LanzaTech, Dr. Holmgren was vice president and general manager of the renewable energy and chemicals business unit at UOP LLC, a Honeywell Company. She was one of the key drivers of UOP’s leadership in aviation biofuels, and under her management, UOP technology became instrumental in producing nearly all the initial fuels used by commercial airlines and the military for testing and certification of alternative aviation fuel.

Dr. Holmgren is the author or co-author of fifty US patents and more than thirty scientific publications. In 2003, she was the first woman awarded the Malcolm E. Pruitt Award from the Council for Chemical Research. She has been a recipient of many awards after that including: the Leadership Award from the Civil Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative for her work in establishing the technical and commercial viability of sustainable aviation biofuels (2010); the 2015 US Environmental Protection Agency Presidential Green Chemistry Award (along with her team at LanzaTech); BIO Rosalind Franklin Award for Leadership in Industrial Biotechnology (2015); Outstanding Leader Award in Corporate Social Innovation from the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago (2015); AIChE Fuels and Petrochemicals Division Award (2018); and Biofuels Digest Global Bioenergy Leadership Award (2018). Furthermore, Dr. Holmgren was named as number one of the top one hundred most influential leaders in the bioeconomy, and LanzaTech was named the Hottest Company in the Bioeconomy by Biofuels Digest for 2016 and 2017. She currently serves on The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Biofuels Advisory Committee and is on the Governing Council for the Bio Energy Research Institute in India. The institute has been set up by the Department of Biotechnology, Indian Government) and IOC (Indian Oil Corporation).

Dr. Holmgren holds a BSc degree from Harvey Mudd College, a PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Dr. Holmgren is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Yongsoo Huh

Chief Executive Officer, GS Energy

Yongsoo Huh is currently the chief executive officer of GS Energy. Until the end of 2018, he was the chief executive officer of GS EPS, Korea’s largest independent power producer. As a family owner of GS Group, Yongsoo was responsible for Group strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and portfolio management until 2012. He was also responsible for GS Group’s new energy initiative which includes Gas, Powerplants, and Exploration and Production as an executive vice president of GS Energy until 2016. Yongsoo serves on the boards of GS Energy and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Onshore. He is also a board member of the Korea National Museum Society, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Korea National Contemporary Dance Company and American Ballet Theater; as chairman of the Korea National Ballet Society; APAC member of Tate Modern Museum; and, international council member of the Serpentine Galleries in London. He is also on the board of advisors for Georgetown University Mcdonough School of Business and on the International Advisory Board of the Atlantic Council. Yongsoo received a BS/BA from Georgetown University’s Mcdonough School of Business and an EMBA from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

Bina Hussein

Associate Director, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

Bina Hussein is an associate director with the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, having joined the Council in 2013. In this capacity, she focuses on oil and gas developments in the Persian Gulf and Middle East as well as economic diversification in the region, manages the agenda for the Council’s annual flagship initiative, the Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi, and runs the Women Leaders in Energy Fellowship. Previously, Hussein worked for the United Nations Development Programme as a junior consultant in the Private Sector Development Programme in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (2012). From 2009 to 2011, she worked as a social worker for documented refugees and as a paralegal for undocumented immigrants at the Dutch Refugee Organization in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She received an LLB from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences in 2011 and holds a master’s degree in international studies with a focus on human rights, energy security, and the Middle East from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver (2014). Hussein was a 2016-2017 Penn Kemble Democracy Forum Fellow with the National Endowment for Democracy.

Dr. Robert Ichord

Senior Fellow, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

Dr. Robert Ichord is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center where he focuses on energy transformation issues, particularly in developing countries. He had a distinguished career in the US government working on international energy policy and programs with the Department of Energy, US Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Department of State. From 2011 to early 2016 he was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Transformation in the Energy Resources Bureau of the State Department. Previously for USAID, he managed energy assistance programs in Asia, the Near East and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. This latter effort included programs on nuclear safety and the closure of the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine.

Majid Jafar

CEO, Crescent Petroleum

Mr. Majid Jafar is the chief executive officer of Crescent Petroleum, the Middle East’s oldest private oil and gas company, and vice chairman of the Crescent Group of companies which includes interests in port management, logistics, contracting, private equity, and real estate. He is also managing director of the board of Dana Gas, the leading publicly listed natural gas company in the Middle East, in which Crescent is the largest shareholder. His previous experience was with Shell International’s Exploration and Production and Gas and Power Divisions. In addition, Mr. Jafar is the founder and chairman of the Centre for Economic Growth in partnership with INSEAD Abu Dhabi, and serves on several boards, including Queen Rania Foundation, the Arab Forum for Environment and Development, and the Iraq Energy Institute. He sits on the Middle East Advisory Council for the World Economic Forum, the Carnegie Endowment, and Harvard Business School. He is a member of the GCC Board Directors Institute and the Young Presidents Organization, an accredited director of the Institute of Directors Mudara, and has been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. Mr. Jafar attended Eton College and graduated from Cambridge University (Churchill College) with a BA and an MA in engineering. He also holds an MA (with Distinction) in International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, and an MBA (with Distinction) from the Harvard Business School.

Robert Johnston

Managing Director, Global Energy and Natural Resources, Eurasia Group & Nonresident Senior Fellow, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

After five years as Eurasia Group CEO, RJ returned in November 2018 to a full-time role as Managing Director of the Global Energy and Natural Resources practice, a team he founded in 2006. RJ works closely with corporate and institutional investor clients involved in the commodity and energy sector. Services range from board presentations to strategic planning, drawing upon his experience and analytical expertise in energy geopolitics, including the North American unconventional energy revolution, resource nationalism, energy infrastructure, and industry-civil society relations. RJ also works closely with leading metals and mining firms and investors, assessing key trends involving country risk, supply and demand, and socioeconomic impact on the sector.

Prior to joining Eurasia Group, RJ served as managing director of equity research at Medley Global Advisors, where he was responsible for providing political and strategic insights to clients in the institutional investment community and served as the lead analyst for global energy equities. RJ, in addition, was a research director at UBS Warburg Energy, working directly in support of energy trading. And he previously directed internal research teams supporting oil, LNG, metals, and FX trading at Enron Global Markets. Earlier, at ArmorGroup, RJ directed political risk research for corporate clients in a variety of markets including China, Russia, Colombia, and Indonesia.

Recent notable achievements include published contributions to the World Economic Forum, the World Energy Council, the National Petroleum Council, the International Gas Union, and the Canadian Energy Research Institute, as well participation in the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers Oil Sands Dialogue, the Brookings Institution Task Forces on US Crude Oil and LNG Exports, and PwC Energy Visions, among numerous other endeavors. RJ holds a doctorate in international relations from American University, a master’s degree in political science from McMaster University, and a bachelor’s degree in political studies from Bishop’s university.

RJ is a Nonresident Senior Research Fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center and a board member for Junior Achievement of Greater Washington.

General James L. Jones Jr., USMC (Ret.)

Founder & President, Jones Group International & Chairman, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council

General James L. Jones Jr., USMC (Ret.) is the founder and president of Jones Group International and the interim chairman of the Atlantic Council. He also serves as chairman of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. As the former commander of US European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, he led all military operations for NATO and later, as national security adviser, he brought clear vision and steady leadership to America’s mission in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, and the country’s interests around the world. Gen. Jones graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and was commissioned into the Marine Corps in January 1967. He served in Vietnam as rifle platoon and company commander. On returning to the US he pursued a career in the Marines, attending the Amphibious Warfare School in 1973 and the National War College in 1985, and serving as Marine Corps liaison officer to the US Senate. He was also commanding officer of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit in Northern Iraq and Turkey on Operation Provide Comfort; chief of staff, Joint Task Force Provide Promise, for operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia; and commanding general, 2nd Marine Division, Marine Forces Atlantic. He also served as military assistant to the secretary of defense from 1997-99. He became the 32nd commandant of the United State Marine Corps in July 1999. During his NATO assignment, he advocated energy security and the defense of critical infrastructures as a core part of NATO’s future missions. Upon retirement in February 2007, the combat veteran became the president and chief executive officer of the US Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy and, in 2008, served as the State Department’s special envoy for Middle East regional security. From 2009 until 2010, he served as President Obama’s national security adviser at the White House.

Frederick Kempe

President & CEO, Atlantic Council

Mr. Frederick Kempe has held the position of president and chief executive officer of the Atlantic Council since December 1, 2006. He comes to the Council from a long and prominent career at the Wall Street Journal, where he won national and international recognition while serving in numerous senior editorial and reportorial capacities. His latest book, BERLIN 1961: Kennedy, Khrushchev and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth (foreword by Gen. Brent Scowcroft) was published by Putnam in 2012 and is a New York Times bestseller. Mr. Kempe was for seven years the longest serving editor and associate publisher ever of the Wall Street Journal Europe, simultaneously functioning as European editor for the Global Wall Street Journal from 2002 to 2005. In 2002, the European Voice, a leading publication following EU affairs, selected Mr. Kempe as one of the fifty most influential Europeans, although he is American, and one of the four leading journalists in Europe. Mr. Kempe is a graduate of the University of Utah and has a Master’s Degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he was a member of the International Fellows program in the School of International Affairs. Mr. Kempe speaks German and is the son of German immigrants who came to the United States before World War II.

Melanie A. Kenderdine

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council Global Energy Center

Ms. Melanie A. Kenderdine is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center and a principal of the Energy Futures Initiative. Previously, Ms. Kenderdine concurrently served at the US Department of Energy (DOE) as the energy counselor to the secretary and director of the Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis from May 2013 to January 2017. Prior to serving in those roles at DOE, Ms. Kenderdine worked for six years as the executive director and associate director of the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI). Before joining MITEI, Ms. Kenderdine served as the vice oresident of Washington Operations for the Gas Technology Institute from 2001 to 2007. From 1993 to 2001, Ms. Kenderdine served as a political appointee in President Bill Clinton’s administration. Ms. Kenderdine has also served on a Council on Foreign Relations Task Force to develop a national energy strategy, on the Consumers Energy Council of America Working Group on Distributed Energy, has published articles in the World Energy Forum magazine, co-authored a chapter in Energy Security in the 21st Century: A New Foreign Policy Strategy, and is a frequent lecturer on energy issues. In July 2014, Ms. Kenderdine was named one of the top five women in Washington shaping energy policy by the National Journal.

Anton Khlopkov

Director, Center for Energy and Security Studies, Moscow

Mr. Anton Khlopkov is director of the Center for Energy and Security Studies, member of the advisory board under the Russian Federation Security Council, and the chairman of the Moscow Nonproliferation Conference. He is also editor-in-chief of the Nuclear Club Journal. In 2000, he was a visiting fellow at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. From 2000 to 2009 he has worked for the Center for Policy Studies in Russia, including as executive director from 2007 to 2009. His research interests include safe and secure development of nuclear energy and the nuclear nonproliferation regime. He has authored numerous publications, including: ‘Nuclear Nonproliferation Encyclopedia’ as co-author and editor-in-chief; the monograph ‘Iran's Nuclear Program in Russian-American Relations’; co-authored and edited a report on ‘Prospects for Nuclear Power in the Middle East: Russia's Interests', which was released in Russian and in English in January 2016; and he co-edited and co-authored of the report ‘Pathways to Cooperation: A Menu of Potential U.S.-Russian Projects in the Nuclear Sphere’, published in February 2017. He graduated from the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI.

Dr. Keung Koo Kim

Vice President, SMART Development, Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute

Dr. Keung Koo Kim is currently vice president for SMART development at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. His specialties are system dynamic analysis and advanced control system design. Dr. Kim started his career in the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. Dr. Kim has worked for thirty-one years in the various nuclear research and development projects. Since 1997, Dr. Kim has developed SMART reactor which is an advanced integral small reactor. Dr. Kim received the Government Medal of Science and Technology in 2016. He received a bachelor's degree and master’s in nuclear engineering from Seoul National University (1981 and 1983) and PhD in nuclear engineering from the Michigan Institute of Technology (1992).

Manoj Kohli

Executive Chairman, SB Energy

Manoj Kohli is executive chairman of SB Energy. SoftBank, Bharti Enterprises and Foxconn have formed the joint venture, SB Energy, which will invest $20 billion over ten years on renewable energy. Before this, Manoj was managing director, Bharti Enterprises and responsible for the growth and operations of Bharti group of companies.

Manoj's key contribution has been building Airtel to the third largest telco in the world. He was managing director and CEO (International), Bharti Airtel, and was responsible for leading the Africa operations, which was acquired in 2010. Manoj joined Bharti Airtel in 2002 and led Bharti Airtel’s India operations for eight years during which the customer base grew from two to 150 million.

Manoj was adjudged “Telecom Man of the Year” in 2000 and “Telecom Person of the Year” in 2004 by Media TransAsia and Voice & Data respectively. He is on the board of HK University, a member of the Academic Council of the Faculty of Management Studies and has been awarded the “Best Alumni Award” by Shriram College of Commerce, Delhi University.

Manoj holds degrees in Commerce, Law and an MBA from Delhi University. Manoj also attended the “Executive Business Program” at the Michigan Business School and the “Advanced Management Program” at the Wharton Business School.

David Koranyi

Senior Fellow for Energy Diplomacy, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

David Koranyi is a senior fellow for energy diplomacy at the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center. Previously he served as director of the Council's Energy Diplomacy Initiative. He has been a nonresident fellow at the Johns Hopkins University SAIS Centre for Transatlantic Relations since 2010. Mr. Koranyi speaks and publishes on the geopolitics of energy, and Hungarian, European, and US foreign and energy policy. Mr. Koranyi served as undersecretary of state and chief foreign policy and national security advisor to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Hungary, Gordon Bajnai (2009-2010). He worked in the European Parliament as chief foreign policy adviser and head of cabinet of a Hungarian MEP (2004-2009). Previously he was a political adviser at the Hungarian National Assembly and a junior researcher at GKI Economic Research Institute, in Budapest, Hungary.Mr. Koranyi is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, the Pacific Council, the Hungarian Europe Society, and a Concordia Advisor. He was a recipient of the French Foreign Ministry's Personalities of the Future Fellowship (2012) and of the German Marshall Fund's Marshall Memorial Fellowship (2010), an Aspen Institute Socrates Fellow (2011), and a member of the Hungarian NATO Strategic Concept Special Advisory Group (2009). Mr. Koranyi obtained his master's degree in international relations and economics, with a major in foreign affairs from Budapest Corvinus University.

Dr. Ken Koyama

Chief Economist and Managing Director, Institute of Energy Economics, Japan

Dr. Ken Koyama is chief economist and managing director at the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan. He is also a visiting professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo, an adjunct professor at the Institute of Innovative Research at Tokyo Institute of Technology, and a council member of the International Association for Energy Economics. His specialized field of research is: energy security issues and geopolitics of energy; and analysis for global energy market and policy issues with emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region. He has served as a member of energy policy related advisory councils and committees of Japanese government in many occasions. He also plays a role as: a member of the International Advisory Board, Energy Academy Europe (The Netherlands), international advisor (chair in energy economics) at the Energy Commission of Tenaga Nasional University (Malaysia), and visiting senior fellow at the Institute for International Economic Studies. He was awarded the BrandLaureate’s “Brand Personality Award 2016”. He received a BA in economics in 1982 and an MA in economics in 1986, both from Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan; and a PhD in 2001 from the University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland.

Daniel Litvin

Founder and Managing Director, Critical Resource

Daniel Litvin is the founder and managing director of Critical Resource, an advisory firm helping companies to assess and manage political, stakeholder and sustainability challenges in the energy and mining sectors. Among these, Critical Resource has supported leading energy investors to develop their approaches on climate change, such as by conducting portfolio resilience testing and implementing other recommendations from the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. Prior to founding Critical Resource, Daniel worked at McKinsey & Company where he advised the firm’s leadership on “business in society” issues, and was policy advisor to Rio Tinto, where he worked with senior management on human rights and other sustainability topics. He has been a senior research fellow at Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London, and an award-winning resources and environment correspondent at The Economist. He is author of ‘Empires of Profit: Commerce, Conquest and Corporate Responsibility’. He has a BA from the University of Oxford and an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

David Livingston

Deputy Director, Climate and Advanced Energy, Atlantic Council Global Energy Center

David Livingston is deputy director, climate and advanced energy, of the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center. He is also a fellow of the Initiative for Sustainable Energy Policy at Johns Hopkins University and teaches a course on energy for the University of Southern California (USC) program in Washington, DC. Previously, Livingston served as a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and as the inaugural Robert S. Strauss fellow for geoeconomics at the Office of the US Trade Representative, where he concluded as acting assistant US trade representative for congressional affairs. He also has worked at the World Trade Organization in Geneva and at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Vienna. Livingston was selected as a Future Energy Leader by the World Energy Council, is an alumnus of the Atlantik Brücke Young Leaders Program, and serves on the advisory board of South by Southwest (SXSW) Cities and a number of social enterprise start-ups. He earned a BA from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and an MSc with distinction from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Noura Mansouri

Senior Research Associate, King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center

Dr. Noura Mansouri is currently a senior research associate at King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Centre, a visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and an observer at the World Energy Council. Previously, Dr. Mansouri has served as the manager of strategy and marketing at AREVA. She earned her BSc in management information systems from Dar Al Hekma University and her MBA and PhD in clean energy transition from Queen Mary, University of London. She published her first book based on her PhD entitled ‘Greening the Black Gold: Saudi Arabia’s Quest for Clean Energy’. Dr. Mansouri completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at MIT, and she is a recipient of the Ibn Khaldun Fellowship from the Center for Clean Water and Clean Energy. Dr. Mansouri was selected as a young scientist to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate 2017 Meeting in Economic Sciences, she was also selected as a member of the Review Committee in 2017 and the Selection Committee in 2018 for the Zayed Sustainability Prize, and received the 2015 Women Excellence Leadership Award under the category "Rising Stars", and she is also a board member at Women in Clean Energy under the Clean Energy Business Council for the Middle East and North Africa.

Thomas Marchetti

President, Energy Intelligence

Mr. Thomas Marchetti is the president of Energy Intelligence and has extensive energy experience in the financial services industry, including investments and research in equities, commodities and fixed income. Mr. Marchetti was formerly the global energy strategist and a managing director at Credit Suisse and Jefferies. For over twenty-five years, Mr. Marchetti has worked closely with research teams, institutional investors, and capitals markets at investment banks. He has provided analytical support for investments by assessing markets, valuations, and geopolitical risk. Mr. Marchetti was previously a portfolio manager with Lehman Brothers Equity Management. He managed equities and commodities at Jefferies in asset management. Mr. Marchetti has also served as chief financial officer of Raimund Commodities, and as financial analyst in the J. Aron Commodities division of Goldman Sachs. Additionally, while at KPMG Peat Marwick, he specialized in the finance industry. Mr. Marchetti holds a BS in business administration in accounting and finance from Bucknell University. He is a certified public accountant.

Dr. Najmedin Meshkati

Research Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School

Dr. Najmedin Meshkati is a fellow with the Project on Managing the Atom at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He is a professor of civil/environmental engineering; industrial and systems engineering; and international relations at the University of Southern California. He is a member of the Board on Human-Systems Integration of the National Academies (Sciences, Engineering and Medicine). Between 2009 and 2010, he was a Jefferson Science Fellow and a senior science and engineering adviser to the Office of the Science and technology adviser to the US Secretary of State. His current interests include nuclear safety, environmental sustainability, and developing cooperative regional approaches to nuclear fuel cycle management. For the past thirty years, Dr. Meshkati has been teaching and conducting research on human factors, safety culture, and risk reduction of complex, large-scale technological systems, including nuclear power, aviation, refining, and petrochemical industries. As an expert on systems engineering, human factors and safety culture, Dr. Meshkati was selected by the National Academies to be a member on two national panels investigating two recent catastrophic events at Fukushima and Deepwater Horizon. He has inspected many nuclear power plants around the world, including Chernobyl, Fukushima Daiichi, and Daini.

Chris Midgley

Head, Analytics Content, S&P Platts

Chris Midgley is head of analytics for S&P Global Platts, a division of S&P Global and the leading provider of information and benchmarks for the energy and commodities markets. Chris is a member of the Platts Executive Committee. Based in London, Chris leads and executes the strategy for analytics, which combines in-depth commodity and energy market knowledge, analysis and algorithms with fundamental data to support customers' strategic decisions. With Chris’ expertise, S&P Global Platts Analytics is building a unique integrated energy markets view by combining the organic businesses developed within Platts and combining it with the legacy acquisitions, including PIRA Energy, RigData, Eclipse Energy, cFlow and Bentek Energy. Chris brings over twenty-five years of oil industry experience, twenty years of which working with Shell, primarily in manufacturing, supply, trading, and strategy. Before joining Platts in September 2017, Chris headed up Shell's Oil Markets Analysis division for four years, where he developed long-term outlooks to support the Group's investment decisions and strategies and as Shell Trading's chief economist providing short-term market views to inform trading positions. Chris has also been a director of a number of shipping and oil-related companies. He began his career with Exxon as a process engineer at its Fawley Refinery in the south of England. Chris is a chartered engineer with a degree in chemical engineering from Loughborough University.

Secretary Ernest Moniz

President & CEO, Energy Futures Initiative

Ernest J. Moniz, president and CEO of the Energy Futures Initiative, served as the thirteenth United States Secretary of Energy from 2013 to January 2017. He previously served in government as DOE undersecretary from 1997 until January 2001 with science, energy, and nuclear security responsibilities and from 1995 to 1997 as associate director for science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy with responsibility for the physical, life, and social sciences. He was a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and of the Defense Threat Reduction Advisory Committee from 2009 to 2013. He also served on the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future that provided advice to the president and the secretary of energy, particularly on nuclear waste management.

In addition, Dr. Moniz served on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty from 1973 until becoming Secretary of Energy in 2013.  At MIT, Dr. Moniz was the founding director of the MIT Energy Initiative and director of the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment. Dr. Moniz was also Head of the MIT Department of Physics from 1991 to 1995 and in 1997 and Director of the Bates Linear Accelerator Center from 1983 to 1991. He is now the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems emeritus and special advisor to the MIT President.

Dr. Moniz received a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in physics from Boston College, a doctorate in theoretical physics from Stanford University, and nine honorary doctorates, including three from European universities.

Amb. Richard Morningstar (Ret.)

Founding Chairman, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

Richard L. Morningstar is the founding chairman of the Global Energy Center and a board director at the Atlantic Council. He served as the US ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan from July 2012 to August 2014. Prior to his appointment, since April 2009, he was the Secretary of State's special envoy for eurasian energy. Prior to that, Morningstar lectured at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and Stanford Law School. From June 1999 to September 2001, he served as United States ambassador to the European Union. Prior to this, Morningstar served as special adviser to the President and Secretary of State for Caspian Basin energy diplomacy, where he was responsible for assuring maximum coordination within the executive branch and with other governments and international organizations to promote United States policies on Caspian Basin energy development and transportation. From April 1995 to July 1998, he served as ambassador and special adviser to the President and Secretary of State on assistance for the new independent states of the former Soviet Union, where he oversaw all US bilateral assistance and trade investment activities in the NIS. From 1993 to 1995, he served as senior vice president of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

Eshe Nelson

Economics and Markets Reporter, Quartz

Eshe Nelson is an economics and markets reporter at Quartz in London, covering everything from company earnings to central banks. Before joining Quartz, she was a markets reporter at Bloomberg News, primarily covering bonds and currencies in the UK and Europe in the aftermath of the sovereign debt crisis, during the Scottish independence referendum, EU referendum and Greece's debt negotiations. She has a bachelor's degree in journalism from City University Londo

Bradley Page

Chief Executive Officer, Global CCS Institute

Brad Page joined the Global CCS Institute as chief executive officer in August 2011. Prior to this, Brad spent almost eight years as chief operating officer of the Energy Supply Association of Australia, During much of this time he chaired the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization’s Energy and Transport Sector Advisory Council.
Brad’s earlier career was in the Australian Government, working across a range of portfolios. At the senior executive level, he was involved with the development, implementation and subsequent review of Australia's national electricity and domestic natural gas markets.

Brad graduated with a BA (administration) from the University of Canberra and in 2009 studied the economics of climate change at Cambridge University. Brad is a member of the UK government’s carbon capture, usage, and storage council and is a member of the Special Advisory Group to the board of the Norwegian CCS Research Centre.

Dr. Axel Pierru

Interim Vice President, Research, KAPSARC

Axel Pierru was appointed interim vice president of research in November 2018. He is also the program director for the energy and macroeconomics program at the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC), with a special interest in applied research combining methodological innovation and practical relevance for policymaking. Axel joined KAPSARC in 2011, after spending fifteen years at IFP Energies Nouvelles in France where he led research, consulting and training projects. He holds a PhD in economics from Pantheon-Sorbonne University in Paris and has published around forty papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Daniel Poneman

President and CEO, Centrus Energy Corporation

Daniel B. Poneman is president and chief executive officer of Centrus Energy Corp. As deputy secretary of energy from 2009 to 2014, his responsibilities spanned the range of US energy policies – hydrocarbons, renewables, nuclear, and efficiency – including cybersecurity, resilience and emergency response, project management, national security, and international cooperation. From 1990 through 1996, he served at the National Security Council as director for defense policy and arms control and then as special assistant to the president and senior director for nonproliferation and export controls. He also advised corporate clients as a principal at the Scowcroft Group and spent eight years practicing law at Hogan & Hartson and Covington & Burling. Mr. Poneman is a senior fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, a distinguished fellow at the Paulson Institute, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Poneman was educated at Harvard and Oxford University.

H.E. Dr. Mohammad Qayoumi

Minister of Finance, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

H.E. Dr. Mohammad Qayoumi is the minister of finance of Afghanistan and chief adviser to the president in the areas of infrastructure, human capital, and technology. He also holds the title of president emeritus from San José State University. Prior to this, he served as the president of San José State University and professor of electrical engineering. Dr. Qayoumi has over thirty-eight years of engineering and leadership experience at several universities, including as president of California State University East Bay. He has served on several boards and as chair of cybersecurity for the US Department of Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council. A senior fellow with California Council on Science and Technology, he was inducted to Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame in 2015. Dr. Qayoumi holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the American University of Beirut and four graduate degrees from the University of Cincinnati: a doctorate in electrical engineering, a master’s in nuclear engineering, an MBA in finance, and a master’s in electrical and computer engineering. He has also published eight books and more than one hundred articles, as well as made numerous presentations at many key conferences in the US and Canada as well as a dozen other countries.

Akshat Rathi

Science, Energy, and Environment Reporter, Quartz

Akshat Rathi is a London-based reporter for Quartz, where he covers science, energy, and environment. He tells stories of the people and their ideas tackling the biggest problem facing humanity: climate change. Previously, he was The Conversation’s science editor and has worked at The Economist and the Royal Society of Chemistry. His writings have also been published in Nature, The Hindu, The Guardian, Ars Technica, and Chemistry World, among others. In 2018, he won Journalist of the Year at the Drum’s Online Media Awards ceremony, he was a finalist for the John B. Oakes award for distinguished environmental journalism, and he was shortlisted for British Science Writer of the Year by the Association of British Science Writers. Before that, he has won fellowships from Columbia University and City University of New York to enhance his reporting work. He currently serves on the advisory panel of the Cairncross Review on the sustainability of high quality journalism in the UK. He has a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Oxford, and a BTech in chemical engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai.

Philippe Richard

International Affairs Director, Financial Services Regulatory Authority, Abu Dhabi Global Market

Philippe Richard joined the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market in September 2015 as international affairs director. He was previously director of the international affairs department at the French Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution in charge of negotiations and matters related to prudential and accounting regulations in the banking and insurance sectors. Mr. Richard was secretary general of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) from 2001 to 2008. Prior to this, Mr. Richard was a deputy director at Banque de France, in charge of granting authorizations to banking and investment firms. From 1993 to 1997 he was personal assistant to Jacques de Larosière, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)’s president and then senior banker in the financial institutions department of the EBRD. He was the representative of Banque de France in New York between 1992 and 1993. He graduated from the EDHEC business school in Lille and Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris. He holds a Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies in International Economics from PARIS IX University (Dauphine).

Christof Rühl

Advisory Board Member, Crystol Energy

Christof Rühl is an internationally renowned economist, specializing in macroeconomics and energy economics. He has a global track record in the world of business, economic policy and academia, and is published and quoted widely in these fields. His most recent commercial expertise is in energy, specifically oil and gas, and asset allocation, focussing on global macro and geopolitical trends. He has more than 20 years of experience working in senior positions in first rate companies worldwide.

From 2014-18 Christof was the Global Head of Research at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. He built and managed ADIA’s first global research team to provide economic, geopolitical and energy insights to the fund. Earlier, he served as Group Chief Economist and Vice President at BP plc (2005-14), credited with a significant contribution to the global debate on energy, including climate change and the various links between energy and economic development. Christof joined BP from the world of global economic policy, having served at the World Bank (1998–2005) - including appointments as the Bank’s Chief Economist in Russia and in Brazil - and at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (1996-98). Christof started his career as an academic economist, first as research associate at the Universities of Bremen and Hohenheim in Germany, and from 1991-96 as a professor at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA).

Christof is as an Independent Director on the board of Halyk Bank in Kazakhstan (since 2007), serves on the advisory boards of companies in energy and private equity, and is a sought-after public speaker.

Dr. Urban Rusnák

Secretary General, Energy Charter Secretariat

Dr. Urban Rusnák became secretary general of the Energy Charter Secretariat in January 2012. As of January 1, 2017, he has been re-elected for the second five-year term.  He graduated from the Moscow Institute of Oil and Gas in 1990 with an MSc and received his PhD from the Ankara University Institute of Social Sciences in 1998.

Prior to his appointment with the Energy Charter Secretariat, Dr. Rusnák worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic as leader of the project for Slovakia's External Energy Security. Before that, he was extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of the Slovak Republic to Ukraine  from 2005 to 2009), head of the MFA Political Analysis Division from 2003 to 2005, and deputy head of mission at the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Turkey from 1994 to 1998.

Since becoming secretary general, Dr Rusnák has focused his efforts on the modernization and expansion of the International Energy Charter process.

Selim Sazak

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Century Foundation

Selim Sazak is a doctoral researcher at Brown University. His research focuses on strategy and security. His interests include the nexus of nuclear energy and nuclear proliferation, alliance politics, civil-military relations and security policy-making, particularly in the Middle East. Selim is also a non-resident fellow at the New York-based think tank, the Century Foundation. Previously, he was an adjunct fellow at Delma Institute, an Abu Dhabi-based think-tank, and held positions at the Pugwash Conferences for Science and World Affairs and NATO Center for Excellence on Defense Against Terrorism. He received an MIA in international security policy from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs on a Fulbright fellowship, and holds a BA in philosophy from Bilkent University in Turkey.

Jérôme Schmitt

Senior Vice President, Total

Mr. Jérôme Schmitt started his career in Asia before joining Totals’s finance division in 1992. He was first in charge of finance operations for exploration and production projects in Asia and North Africa and then in South America. He continued his career in the upstream gas sector. He was then in charge of gas projects business development for Middle East and Central Asia and thereafter in India, based in Mumbai. In 2000, he was appointed at the mergers and acquisition division, in charge of corporate mergers and acquisition. He became vice president investor relations in 2004. In 2009, he was appointed group treasurer and thereafter took the position of senior vice president corporate affairs for the marketing and services branch. In 2013, he was appointed senior vice president sustainable development and environment. As of September 1, 2016, Mr. Schmitt was appointed senior vice president innovation and energy efficiency and member of the management committee of the gas, renewable, and power division. Beyond his responsibilities for Total, Mr. Schmitt is chairman of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative executive committee.

Dr. Jean-François Seznec

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

Dr. Jean-Francois Seznec is a nonresident senior fellow with the Global Energy Center at the Atlantic Council. He is also an adjunct professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University and at Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies. He teaches classes on finance, energy, and politics in the Persian Gulf. He holds an MIA from Columbia University (1973), a MA and PhD from Yale University (1994). He has published and lectured extensively on chemical and energy-based industries in the Gulf, and their importance in world trade. He is interviewed regularly on national and international television, radio, and newspapers. Dr. Seznec has twenty-five years of experience in international banking and finance, of which ten years were spent in the Middle East. Dr. Seznec is managing partner of the Lafayette Group, a US-based consulting and investment company. His research centers on the influence of the Arab-Persian Gulf, as well as political and social variables on the financial and oil markets in the region.

Dr. Adnan Shihab-Eldin

Director General, Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences

Adnan Shihab-Eldin, formerly acting secretary general and director of research of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is currently the director general of Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences and was a member of its board of directors. He serves as advisor to and member of Kuwait National Nuclear Energy Committee; energy advisor to Schlumberger Business Consulting; a board member to Al-Dorra Oil Services Company, and a member of the board of trustees of the American University of Kuwait and the Gulf Research Center Foundation (Geneva). From 1999 to 2001, Dr. Shihab-Eldin was director of the Division for Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, Department of Technical Co-operation at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria. Prior to joining the IAEA, he served as director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Science and Technology (Cairo) and as the UNESCO representative in Egypt, Sudan, and Yemen. From 1976 to 1986 he was the director general of the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, serving concurrently until 1980 as vice rector for academic affairs at Kuwait University. Dr. Shihab-Eldin graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a bachelor of science in electrical engineering, a master of science, and a doctorate in nuclear engineering. Prior to his career with international organizations, Dr. Shihab-Eldin held various lecturing and research appointments in the physical and engineering sciences, energy economics, and technology at universities and research centers in Kuwait, the United States and Europe.

Amb. Ali Siddiqui

Advisor, JS Group

Until December 2018, Ali J. Siddiqui served as ambassador of Pakistan to the United States.  From 2017 to 2018 he served as a special assistant to the prime minister of Pakistan with the status of minister of state.  He previously served as a board member of the Privatization Commission of Pakistan which is responsible for divesting state-owned assets. In 2006, he founded JS Bank in Pakistan growing it over eleven years to approximately $4 billion in assets.  He has also founded a number of other successful businesses in Europe and the Middle East.  Until 2017, he served as chairman and chief investment officer of JS Private Equity, which he founded and led to become Pakistan’s largest private equity firm.  He began his career in Hong Kong at Crosby Capital, a venture capital and private equity firm.  Ambassador Siddiqui has a deep commitment to philanthropy and is involved in the governance of leading charitable institutions in Pakistan, Europe and the United States.  He received his BA in Economics from Cornell University and has completed programs at the University of Oxford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in nanotechnology, leadership and entrepreneurship.  In 2014, he was appointed as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Adam Sieminski

President, King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center

Adam Sieminski is president of the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center.  Before his appointment, he held the James R. Schlesinger Chair for Energy and Geopolitics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and prior to that, he was a non-resident senior adviser to its Energy and National Security Program. He also served as the administrator of the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) from 2012 to 2017 and, prior to that, he was the senior director for energy and environment at the US National Security Council. Earlier in his career, Mr. Sieminski was Deutsche Bank’s chief energy economist, as well as the senior energy analyst for NatWest Securities. In 2006, he was appointed to the National Petroleum Council (NPC), where he helped co-author NPC’s global oil and gas study. Mr. Sieminski is also a member of leading policy and research organizations, which includes his role as a senior fellow and former president of the US Association for Energy Economics, and president of the US National Association of Petroleum Investment Analysts. He also served as an advisory board member of the Global Energy and Environment Initiative at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, was chairman of the Supply-Demand Committee of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, and a member of the Strategic Energy Task Force of the Council on Foreign Relations. He holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and has received both an undergraduate degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in public administration from Cornell University.

Aida Sitdikova

Director, Energy and Natural Resources, Russia, Caucasus, & Central Asia, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Aida Sitdikova is director of energy and natural resources, Russia, Caucasus, and Central Asia at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) where she heads a team covering a diverse group of transition countries with a focus on power utilities and extractive sectors including oil & gas and mining. Ms. Sitdikova has over eighteen years’ experience in emerging market economies working with both the private and public sectors and leading complex financings involving debt, equity, syndications and policy dialogue with the Governments and reputable domestic and international investors.

EBRD is a major investor in the Central Asia and Caucasus power and natural resources sectors where Ms. Sitdikova has led projects with a specific focus on energy and resource efficiency, renewables and energy infrastructure, responsible mining, and upstream oil and gas all underpinned by the Bank’s mandate of supporting transition to lower carbon economies and promoting private sector development. Under Ms. Sitdikova’s leadership the team has grown into a major player in the energy and natural resources sectors of Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan with the annual volume of investments over 500 million euro and portfolio of 2.2 billion euro. Ms. Sitdikova is spearheading the policy engagement with the respective governments to assist with establishing the national regulation in the area of subsoil use, renewables, cost reflective tariffs and commercialization of regulated sectors, gender and inclusion. Prior to joining EBRD in 2001 Ms. Sitdikova worked in private equity in the energy sector of Kazakhstan and Russia. She holds an MBA degree in international finance from Thunderbird, the American Graduate School of International Management, a CFA designation, and a BA in linguistics from the Kazakh State University of Foreign Languages.

Jeffrey Skeer

Senior Programme Officer, Technology Cooperation, International Renewable Energy Agency

Mr. Jeffrey Skeer is the senior programme officer for technology cooperation at the International Renewable Energy Agency where he is working to assess sustainable bioenergy potential and technologies and strategies to realize that potential. Previously, at the US Department of Energy, he was actively engaged in the launch of the US-EU Energy Council, served as US delegate to the Energy Working Group of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and chaired the APEC Biofuels Task Force. At the Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre in Tokyo from 2002 to 2004, Mr. Skeer led studies on natural gas market reform and the regional benefits of electric power grids. From 1996 to 2002, he served as a US delegate to the Standing Group on Long-Term Cooperation of the International Energy Agency (IEA). From 1989 to 1996, he worked at the IEA in Paris, catalyzing multilateral agreements on electric demand side management, hybrid vehicles, hydropower and the environment, and photovoltaic power systems. He began his career at the US Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity Policy, from 1980 through 1989. He holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University (1978) and a master’s in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (1980).

Fady Sleiman

Chief Digital Officer, Petrofac Ltd.

Mr. Fady Sleiman has been chief digital officer of Petrofac Limited since August 2018. Mr. Sleiman served as head of information technology at Waha Capital PJSC since 2014 until November 28, 2017. Prior to that Mr. Sleiman was chief information officer (CIO) and head of Innovation Centre Strategy for General Electric (GE) MEA based in Dubai, having held a number of roles across GE's business portfolio in US, Europe, Middle East and South East Asia, since 2001. Mr. Sleiman was responsible for information technology at Waha Capital and spearheaded its operational transformation programme. He has over fifteen years of experience in the finance, oil and gas, healthcare and aviation sectors in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America. Prior to joining Waha Capital, he served as the CIO for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey at GE, having started his career with its Information Technology Leadership Program. Mr. Sleiman was a recipient of the Vodafone Innovation Thought Leader (MEA) award and was voted amongst the top twenty most influential CIOs in the Middle East and North Africa region from 2012 to 2018. Mr. Sleiman is based in Petrofac's Middle East office in Sharjah.

Dr. Xiansheng Sun

Secretary General, International Energy Forum

Dr. Xiansheng Sun took up post as International Energy Forum secretary general on August 1, 2016.

Prior to his election, Dr. Sun was the president of China National Petroleum Corporation’s (CNPC) Economics and Technology Research Institute (ETRI) where he led a team of over 370 staff members. Reporting to the Chinese leadership on energy policy decision making, including energy security strategies, “3E” (Energy, Environment, Economy) program development, low-carbon energy mix optimization, “three steps” of Chinese gas pricing reforms, and international energy cooperation, Dr. Sun was deeply involved in the Chinese energy five-year planning process and many other major policies. He also served as chief editor of ETRI’s Oil & Gas Industry Development Report and the first China Energy Data and Statistics reports.

With more than thirty years of experience in the oil and gas industry, Dr. Sun has accumulated practical industry experience in oil and gas production, trading and pipeline construction. In previous roles he has served as director of the legal & contract department of CNPC International Cooperation Bureau, vice president of China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corporation, chairman of JOC and president of Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company CNPC and also president of PetroDar company. He was also chairman of Saining Corporation CNPC and served as chairman of the CNPC subsidiary companies in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, and as chairman and chief negotiator of China Kazakhstan Oil Pipeline Co. Moreover, as a representative of the Chinese government, Dr. Sun participated in the dialogue with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and worked as chief coordinator in setting and revising production sharing contracts both for crude oil and unconventional gas for CNPC.

Dr. Sun holds an LLM and PhD from the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy, University of Dundee, UK.

Nobuo Tanaka

Chairman, Sasakawa Peace Foundation

Mr. Nobuo Tanaka is the chairman of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation. Prior to this, he served as the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA). Mr. Tanaka’s decades long career in energy and finance began in 1973 when he began working for the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) in Japan. He then joined the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1989 as deputy-director of the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry, and was promoted to director in 1992. In 1995, he returned to METI and served in several high-ranking positions, the most recent being director-general for the Multilateral Trade System Department. Mr. Tanaka then returned to the OECD from 2002 to 2004 where he was the director for science, technology, and industry and head of the internal OECD Steering Group for the Center of Entrepreneurship until his appointment to IEA executive director

Dr. Wang Tao

China Strategist, ClimateWorks Foundation

Dr. Wang Tao is the China strategist of the ClimateWorks Foundation based in the US, where he is responsible for the project coordination and strategy development. Prior to joining ClimateWorks in 2017, Dr. Wang was the assistant director of the China Business Network Research Institute (CBNRI), heading the institute’s energy research program and Beijing office. Dr. Wang and his team were dedicated to providing independent, objective, and insightful suggestions to China's historic transition in economy and energy what is unfolding now. Prior to joining CBNRI, Dr. Wang was a resident scholar from 2012 to 2015 at Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, where he led the research on China’s unconventional oil and gas policies and the environmental implications. Before that, from 2009 to 2011, he worked at the climate and energy program of WWF China and headed projects related to climate negotiation progress, emission and energy scenario analysis, as well as major business projects of low carbon innovation in start-ups. From 2006 to 2009, as a research fellow at both Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and Sussex Energy Group at University of Sussex in the United Kingdom, he worked with colleagues from six other university partners on scenario analysis of China’s future energy transition.

The Hon. Ellen Tauscher

Former Member of Congress, House of Representatives

The Honorable Ellen O. Tauscher is a former seven-term member of Congress and undersecretary of state for arms control and international security in the Obama administration. Tauscher represented California’s 10th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1997 until 2009. In the House, Tauscher chaired the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee, which oversees the country’s nuclear weapons stockpile, missile defense program and the national labs. She also served as special envoy for strategic stability and missile defense at the State Department until 2012. As undersecretary, Tauscher negotiated the New START treaty with the Russian Federation in 2010 to further reduce the threat of nuclear conflict, and she oversaw other critical nuclear nonproliferation priorities around the world. Prior to serving in Congress, Tauscher worked on Wall Street for fourteen years and was one of the first women to hold a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. She currently serves on the University of California Board of Regents and as chairperson of the Board of Governors for Los Alamos National Security and Lawrence Livermore National Security, a consortium led by the UC Regents. She serves as vice chair of the Atlantic Council's Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, and on the Nuclear Threat Initiative Board of Directors. Tauscher is currently a director of two public companies: eHealth, Inc. in Mountain View, CA, where she is independent board chair and Edison International, in Rosemead, CA. Additionally, Tauscher is a director of BAE Systems, Inc. in Arlington, VA and serves on the Board of Advisors of SpaceX in Hawthorne, CA. She also serves as a strategic advisor at the law firm of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC.

Branko Terzic

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Global Energy Center, Atlantic Council

Branko Terzic, managing director at BRG LLC in Washington, DC serves as a nonresident senior fellow of the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center and a distinguished fellow at the Council on Competitiveness. Former government positions held include commissioner on the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, commissioner on the State of Wisconsin Public Service Commission and chairman of the State of Wisconsin Racing Board. In business, prior to joining BRG, Terzic served as executive director of Deloitte; chairman, president and CEO of Yankee Energy System, Inc. (and Yankee Gas Services Inc.); managing director of Arthur Andersen Economic Consulting and others. He served on the National Petroleum Council and National Coal Council and is a former chairman of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Ad Hoc Group of Experts on Cleaner Electricity Production; current faculty member of the Washington Campus consortium of sixteen MBA schools; is a founder of the Society of Depreciation Professionals and member of the ASME, AEE, IAEE, Energy Bar Association and other organizations. Terzic has a BS in energy engineering and honorary doctor of sciences in engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is a member of the Energy Efficiency Hall of Fame.

Masakazu Toyoda

Chair & CEO, Institute of Energy Economics, Japan

Masakazu Toyoda is currently the chair and chief executive officer of the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ). Prior to starting at the IEEJ in 2010, Mr. Toyoda served as the secretary general at the Secretariat of Headquarters for Space Policy in Japan. During this time, he also served as a special adviser to the cabinet on the Asian economy and on climate change. In 2007, Mr. Toyoda was appointed vice minister for international affairs. One year prior, he became the director general of the Trade Policy Bureau. Before this, Mr. Toyoda served as director general for manufacturing industries policy from 2002 to 2006. During the period between 1987 and 2001, Mr. Toyoda served in a variety of roles within the International Trade Policy Bureau, including director of international trade policy planning, director of the tariff division of the Economic Affairs Department, director of the Americas division, director-general of the International Economic Affairs Department, and director-general of the Multilateral Trade System Department. Mr. Toyoda began his career in energy at the Energy and Resources Agency in Japan in 1975, first with the Petroleum Department and then with the Alternative Energy Department, before moving to the International Energy Agency in 1983. He earned a law degree from the University of Tokyo, and a master's degree in public affairs from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Sinan Ülgen

Chairman, Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies

Sinan Ülgen is the chairman of the Istanbul based think tank, Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies and a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In 1992, he was posted to the Turkish Permanent Delegation to the European Union (EU) in Brussels where he became part of the team that negotiated the Turkey-EU customs union. Ülgen graduated in 1987 from the University of Virginia with a double major in computer sciences and economics. He undertook graduate studies at the College of Europe in Brussels, Belgium where he received a master’s degree in European economic integration. He then joined the Turkish Foreign Service as a career diplomat and worked for two years at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ankara at the United Nations desk. His opinion pieces have been published by international newspapers such as Le Figaro, the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Project Syndicate.

John Watts

Senior Fellow, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council

Mr. John T. Watts is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. Watts leads the Emergent Futures Lab that seeks to use innovative approaches to understand and prepare for emergent security challenges. Watts has spent more than a dozen years working across military, government and industry, focused predominantly on the nature of future warfare and implications of complex emerging security risks. Watts has led a range of high profile wargames including on Middle East and Baltic security and future concepts for the US military. He has led research efforts on disinformation, Indo-pacific security and alternate futures resulting from technology adoption. Watts was previously a senior consultant providing new perspectives and tangible outcomes to a diverse range of federal, local and international organizations. Watts has also been a staff officer at the Australian Department of Defense working in a variety of strategic planning, implementation, evaluation, and management roles. Watts also spent more than a dozen years in the Australian Army Reserves, where he held command, training, officer development, and emergency management positions. Watts holds a master’s in international law from the Australian National University and a BA in international studies from the University of Adelaide.

Han Wenke

Senior Adviser and Research Fellow, the Energy Research Institute, National Development and Reform Commission

Han Wenke is currently a senior adviser and research fellow at the Energy Research Institute (ERI) at the National Development and Reform Commission, where his research covers energy policy in China’s national energy development strategy and plans, national energy security, sustainable energy policies, energy market reform, energy subsidies reform, and global energy governance. Prior to this role, Professor Han served as director general of the ERI. In addition, he is the director of the China Economic and Social

Mechthild Wörsdörfer

Director, Sustainability, Technology, and Outlooks Directorate, International Intelligence Agency

Ms. Mechthild Wörsdörfer is the director of the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Sustainability, Technology and Outlooks Directorate (STO).

As director of STO, Ms. Wörsdörfer plans and coordinates the IEA’s work on energy sustainability, encompassing energy technology policy and energy-related climate change policy, including carbon capture, utilization and storage. She oversees several major analytical reports including long-term scenarios and technology roadmaps.

Prior to joining the IEA, Ms. Wörsdörfer served as a director in the European Commission's (EC) Directorate General for Energy, in charge of renewables, research and innovation, and energy efficiency. She was an active participant in the governing board of the IEA representing the European Union. From 2014 to 2017, Ms Wörsdörfer was the director for energy policy of DG Energy in the EC, where she headed the adoption of the energy and climate policy 2030 framework, as agreed by EU heads of states and governments in 2014. Before this, she spent three years as head of unit in DG Energy working with energy policy and monitoring of electricity, gas, coal and oil markets. She also worked for four years in the cabinet of Commissioner Erkki Liikanen on competitiveness issues, digital economy and international relations.

Yukari Yamashita

Board Member and Director, Energy Data and Modelling Center, Institute of Energy Economics, Japan

As a board member for the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ) and the director of the Energy Data and Modelling Center, Ms. Yamashita is responsible for quantitative and qualitative analyses on energy and climate change policy issues. Her modeling team prepares the annual IEEJ Outlook, continues to develop a practical approach to climate change and performed analyses that contributed greatly to Japan’s debate on a national energy mix. She has been serving as a member of various government councils and committees in the fields of energy, science, and technology. She has been leading miscellaneous international and regional programs in energy cooperation through IEA, APEC, ERIA, and IPEEC. She also led bilateral joint research programs with Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, China, and India. Until 2017 she was a member of the Zayed Future Energy Prize Selection Committee (United Arab Emirates). She is currently an editorial board member of The Energy Journal and a clean energy, education, and empowerment ambassador of Japan, an initiative under Clean Energy Ministerial. She is a president-elect of the International Association for Energy Economics.

Wang Zhongying

Director, China National Renewable Energy Centre; Director General, Energy Research Institute, National Development and Reform Commission

Wang Zhongying is the director of the China National Renewable Energy Centre and director general of the Energy Research Institute at the National Development and Reform Commission. He serves as executive director of the China Rural Energy Industry Association, China Energy Society, and China Biogas Society. He also is the vice secretary-general of the Rural Energy Committee of China Renewable Energy Society, the China Renewable Energy Association and Renewable Energy Industry Committee, and the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association. Mr. Wang obtained a master’s degree in energy analysis from the Nuclear Research Center of Tsinghua University in 1989