SPEAKERS & PANELS
2025 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
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Alex Creely
COMMONWEALTH FUSION SYSTEMS
Chief Engineer, Arc Conceptual Design
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Quinn Woodard Jr.
FERVO ENERGY
Senior Director of Power Generation & Surface Facilities
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Dave Eaglesham
ELECTRIC HYDROGEN
Chief Technology Officer
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Brian Deese
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Institute Innovation Fellow
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Noël Bakhtian
BEZOS EARTH FUND
Director of Tech Acceleration
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Amy Luers
MICROSOFT
Sr. Global Director Sustainability — Science & Innovation -
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Vanessa Chan
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING & APPLIED SCIENCES
Vice Dean of Innovation & Entrepreneurship
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Robinson Meyer
HEATMAP NEWS
Founding Executive Editor
2025 PANEL PREVIEW
AI AND ELECTRICITY DEMAND GROWTH AS A CATALYST FOR CLEAN ENERGY DEPLOYMENT
Monday, March 3rd @ 11:00AM
The growing demand for electricity driven by artificial intelligence and the rapid electrification of our economy presents both challenges and opportunities for clean energy deployment. This panel brings together technology hyperscalers, policymakers, and utility decision-makers to discuss their ambitions and roadmaps for meeting the historic surge in electricity demand with 24/7 clean energy solutions.
Panelists
Lucia Tian
Head of Clean Energy & Decarbonization Technologies, Google
Jeffrey Olson
Vice President, Business
Development & Finance, Kairos Power
Michael Kramer
Vice President of Data Economy Strategy, Constellation
Moderator
Stephen Lacey
Co-founder and Executive Editor,
Latitude Media
BEHIND THE SCENES
Communicating Climate to Investors, Regulators, and Industry
Monday, March 3rd @ 11:00AM
This interactive panel will provide participants with a behind-the-scenes view of how to build relationships and tailor your message to different audiences. And who better to learn from than the most critical stakeholders—investors, regulators, consumers, and industry players—themselves? The first half of this session will feature a moderated discussion, followed by live pitches by selected climate startups who will receive live, unfiltered feedback from panelists.
Panelists
Emma Rodvien
Senior Manager - US Regulatory Affairs and Market Development, Kraken
Priyanka Bakaya
Technology-to-Market Advisor,
ARPA-E
David Miller
Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Clean Energy Ventures
Curtis Tongue
Co-Founder and Chief Strategist, Renew Home
Moderator
Tod Hynes
Founder,
Clymate Studios
FORM, FUND, AND PROTECT YOUR STARTUP’S IP
Tales from the Legal Trenches
Monday, March 3rd @ 12:00PM
Intellectual property (IP) is a critical asset for startups, yet navigating its complexities can be daunting. From securing patents and trademarks to avoiding common legal pitfalls and protecting your competitive edge, DLA Piper experts will provide actionable advice to help founders build a strong IP foundation and mitigate risks in an evolving business landscape.
Panelists
Larissa S. Bifano
Partner & US Chair of Patent Development & Strategy practice,
DLA Piper
Jonathan Axelrad
Partner,
DLA Piper
CRITICAL MINERALS
Innovations in sourcing and recycling
Monday, March 3rd @ 1:00PM
Wind turbines, solar photovoltaics, and electric vehicles (EVs) are key enablers in achieving a net-zero economy. However, these technologies all rely heavily on critical minerals. EVs need 6 times the mineral inputs of a conventional car, and wind farms need 13 times the mineral resources of a gas-fired plant. These minerals have limited supply chains that can involve extraction via environmentally and ethically questionable mining practices. In this panel, we explore innovative methods for sourcing and recycling these critical minerals and the social and environmental implications for the industry.
Panelists
Guillermo Urquiza
VP - Mechanical Engineering,
Redwood Materials
Nicole Smith
Associate Professor,
Colorado School of Mines
G. Ayo Sopitan
CEO,
Metalex
Tomás Villalon
Co-Founder and CTO,
Phoenix Tailings
Moderator
Scott Odell
Program Scientist, MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative
RESILIENCE IN ACTION
Transformative Solutions for Climate Adaptation
Monday, March 3rd @ 1:00PM
Our panel, "Resilience in Action - Transformative Solutions for Climate Adaptation," will cover the emerging field of climate adaptation across the value chain, from risk forecasting models to resilience and hardening solutions. We will try to understand the landscape of climate modeling, discuss how solutions may differ for stakeholders, and explore the role of regulation in bringing in adaptation into a larger policy framework. We will also explore examples of successful interventions in resilience in areas like distributed energy and built environment.
Panelists
Katie MacDonald
Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Tailwind
Christine Estes
Vice President - Floodplan Analysis and Engineering, AECOM
Mishal Thadani
CEO,
Rhizome
Moderator
David Cohen-Tanugi
Venture Builder - Clean Energy,
MIT
BRIDGING THE FINANCING GAP
Public Funds for Climate Solutions
Monday, March 3rd @ 2:00PM
The public sector and public sector-linked entities play a crucial role in funding the deployment of market-ready technologies to combat climate change. This funding is available at both the federal level—primarily through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds (GGRF)—and at the state and local levels, through mechanisms such as green bonds and green banks. This panel aims to explore how the public sector can serve as a catalytic financial force in the short- to medium-term, accelerating the deployment of climate solutions.
Panelists
Michael Grossman
Chief Investment Officer,
Climate United
Trisha Miller
CEO,
DC Green Bank
Eli Hopson
Chief Administration and Development Officer,
Coalition for Green Capital
Moderator
Advait Arun
Senior Associate for Energy Finance, Center for Public Enterprise
FROM LAB TO GRID
Scaling First-of-a-Kind Energy Technologies
Monday, March 3rd @ 2:00PM
Before large-scale adoption of energy concepts can occur, the progression to the first-of-a-kind is a techno-economic challenge in its own right. How can we bridge the "valley of death" to realize the benefit of revolutionary energy technologies? Hear perspectives from the hydrogen and thermal solar startups as well as an investor about how they plan to bring clean watts to the grid and beyond.
Panelists
Supratim Das
Senior Manager - Product Strategy, Electric Hydrogen
Melissa Zhang
Principal,
Azimuth Capital Management
Hannan Happi
CEO,
Exowatt
Moderator
William Dean
Portfolio Strategy, Portfolio Risk Management Director, DOE Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations
FROM SILOS TO SYNERGY
Public-private Pathways to a Decarbonized Built Environment
Tuesday, March 4th @ 11:00AM
Public-private partnerships can be a powerful catalyst to align the interests of a multitude of stakeholders (re)shaping the built environment. This session delves into how such collaborations can create winning scenarios for developers, owners, tenants, and the workforce, by fostering opportunities for capacity building, aligning financial incentives, and leveraging energy data for supply-demand optimization. Through a discussion on how successful partnerships within and beyond the US have addressed global and local challenges at scale, this session will draw out insights around effective ways of fostering collaboration, driving innovation, and achieving greenhouse gas reductions in cities worldwide.
Panelists
Tanya Barham
CEO,
Community Energy Labs
Sam Calisch
Founder & CEO,
Copper
Christina McPike
Vice President, Energy & Sustainability,
Winn Companies
Moderator
Zeyneb Magavi
Executive Director,
HEET
NO CLEAN ENERGY TRANSITION WITHOUT TRANSMISSION
Tuesday, March 4th @ 11:00AM
While clean energy deployment has surged following incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), without a massive expansion and upgrade of the high-voltage transmission grid, the U.S. cannot reach our climate goals or meet our country’s clean energy needs. The panels delve into policy levers to build more transmission lines and underscore the importance of investing in advanced transmission technologies.
Panelists
Maria Robinson
Former Director, US DOE Grid Deployment Office
Julia Selker
Executive Director,
Watt Coalition
Ari Peskoe
Director of the Electricity Law Initiative,
Harvard Law School
Moderator
Charles Hua
Founder and Executive Director, PowerLines
FINANCING THE FUTURE OF FUSION
Tuesday, March 4th @ 1:00PM
Fusion energy offers the potential to create a clean, sustainable, and manageable energy source that could potentially scale up with our growing energy demand. Achieving its commercialization stage requires fostering a robust ecosystem of public-private collaboration, alongside resilient and sustained partnerships between emerging companies and funding sources. This panel will explore strategies for financing and advancing fusion energy, featuring insights from experts in fusion-supporting companies, agencies, and professionals specializing in technical development and economic feasibility.
Panelists
Ahmed Diallo
Program Director,
ARPA-E
Charlie Baynes-Reid
CFO,
Type One Energy
Andrew Holland
CEO,
Fusion Industry Association
Moderator
Andrew Lo
Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor, MIT
HEAT, HEALTH, AND THE WORKPLACE
Adapting to a Warmer World
Tuesday, March 4th @ 1:00PM
Labour productivity losses due to heat cost the United States +$100B per year and are expected to double to +$200B by 2030. In this session, we will dive deep into the relationship between increased heat, human physiology, and worker productivity. We'll understand why heat is the silent killer and how countries, cities and workplaces are adapting to the new reality of a hotter world.
Panelists
Roozbeh Ghaffari
CEO and Co-founder,
Epicore Biosystems
Rachel Cleetus
Policy Director,
Union of Concerned Scientists
Jason Glaser
CEO,
La Isla Network
Moderator
Jorge Gastelumendi
Senior Director,
Atlantic Council
THE FUTURE OF CARBON CAPTURE
Driving Volume for High-Quality Solutions
Tuesday, March 4th @ 2:00PM
Our panel, " The Future of Carbon Capture: Driving Volume for High-Quality Solutions" will cover the dynamics of the global carbon market. We wish to discuss how to overcome the adverse selection challenges we see for certain nature-based solutions, what the role of responsible, reliable offtakers is, and how we can stimulate demand for high quality technology-based credits. We wish to hear technological/scientific perspectives, the regulatory perspective, and private sector perspectives.
Panelists
Cameron Halliday
CEO,
Mantel
Randy Spock
Carbon Credits and Removals Lead, Google
Peter Ellis
Global Director of Nature Climate Solutions, The Nature Conservancy
Moderator
Catherine Wolfram
William F. Pounds Professor of Energy Economics, MIT Sloan
CROSS BORDER INVESTMENTS
Unlocking Global Finance for the Climate Transition
Tuesday, March 4th @ 2:00PM
Emerging markets present vast potential for clean energy deployment, yet the capital required to fuel this transition often resides in advanced economies. Our panel, " Cross Border Investments: Unlocking Global Finance for the Climate Transition,” will explore how to bridge this gap by reducing information asymmetry, addressing country risk premiums, and creating investment pathways that support viable unit economics rather than relying on traditional models of public sector investment, philanthropy, or blended capital. Key areas of discussion include overcoming barriers for private sector investment, uncovering opportunities for reverse capital flows from emerging markets to mature markets, and assessing the geopolitical implications of such investments.
Panelists
Daniel Hullah
Managing Director,
Three Cairns Group
Lily Odarno
Director - Energy and Climate Innovation (Africa), Clean Air Task Force
Mahek Mehta
Director - Global Climate Infrastructure,
KKR
Moderator
Ely Sandler
Managing Partner,
Article Six Group