Organization Charts

Leadership [PDF]

Biomass Formation and Modification [PDF]

Biomass Deconstruction and Conversion [PDF]

Enabling Technologies [PDF]

Paul Gilna

Paul Gilna

Director

Dr. Paul Gilna was previously at the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology and the Center for Research in Biological Systems, both located at the University of California, San Diego. While there, he served as executive director for the Community Cyber Infrastructure for Advanced Marine Microbial Ecology Research and Analysis project. Previously, Dr. Gilna was director of the Joint Genome Institute at Los Alamos National Laboratory and has worked at the National Science Foundation. His research interests range from molecular biology to microbiology to computational biology.

Brian Davidson

Brian Davison

Science Coordinator

Dr. Brian Davison is chief scientist for Systems Biology and Biotechnology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and adjunct professor of chemical engineering at the University of Tennessee. He has managed individual and multi-institutional projects.

Cheri Foust

Cheri Foust

Project Manager

Cheri Foust is BESC's technical project manager. She has more than 20 years of project management experience. A considerable amount of that experience focused on developing project plans and managing project stakeholders, the project team, risk, schedules, milestones, budgets, and conflicts. In addition, Foust has a background and formal training in public health. She holds a masters in public health from the University of Tennessee and a bachelor of science degree in both business administration and health.

Debra Mohnen

Debra Mohnen

Biomass Formation and Modification Lead

Dr. Debra Mohnen is the BESC Biomass Formation and Modification lead and a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and at the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center at the University of Georgia. Her research program centers on the biosynthesis function and structure of plant cell wall polysaccharides. Her emphasis is on the biosynthesis of pectin, pectin function in plants, human health, and the improvement of plant cell wall structure to enhance conversion efficiency of plant wall biomass to biofuels.

Lee Lynd

Lee Lynd

Biomass Deconstruction and Conversion Lead

Dr. Lee Lynd is a professor of engineering and biological sciences at Dartmouth College. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation's Presidential Young Investigator Award, as well as a two-time recipient of the Charles A. Lindbergh Award for his efforts to promote balance between technological progress and preservation of the natural and human environments. He has received the Charles D. Scott Award for outstanding contributions to the field of biotechnology for fuels and chemicals and is the inaugural winner of the Lemelson-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sustainability Award.

Mark Davis

Mark Davis

Enabling Technologies Lead

Dr. Mark Davis, a researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, is focused on integrating multivariate statistical data analysis and spectroscopic methods such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and pyrolysis-molecular beam mass spectrometry (pyMBMS) to follow changes in plant cell wall chemistry due to transgenic modification. He has developed pyMBMS methods to rapidly analyze cell wall chemistry and teamed with plant geneticists to use the results of these analyses to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) in poplar and loblolly pine. He has also developed several NMR methods to characterize pyrolysis oil and liquid products from lignin.

Teddie Reagan

Teddie Reagan

Finance Manager

Teddie Reagan is BESC's finance manager and the business manager for the Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She holds bachelor's degrees in finance and accounting from the University of Tennessee. She has more than 25 years of experience working for government contractors in the Oak Ridge area.

Suzy Fowler

Suzy Fowler

Operations Manager

Suzy Fowler is the operations manager for both BESC and the Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She holds a master's degree in business administration and a bachelor's degree in biochemistry. She brings more than 20 years of diverse management experience in both the government contractor and commercial sectors.