Senior Research Fellows

Our senior research fellows advise on the strategic direction of science and technology research at NREL and ensure our work meets the highest standards for quality and objectivity.

Find all research staff by visiting our research program areas.

Photo of Robert Allen

Robert Allen

Senior Research Fellow

After 35 years as an industrial polymer chemist and research leader at IBM, Bob Allen joined NREL to focus on sustainable polymers and composites for the future circular economy.


Photo of Matthew Beard

Matthew Beard

Senior Research Fellow

Matt Beard serves as the director of the Center for Hybrid Organic Inorganic Semiconductors for Energy, an Energy Frontier Research Center.

Publications


Photo of Gregg Beckham

Gregg Beckham

Senior Research Fellow

Gregg Beckham's research at NREL focuses on conversion of biomass to fuels, chemicals, and materials, including the areas of metabolic engineering, fermentation, separations, chemical catalysis, biopolymer production, cellulase enzyme improvements, renewable carbon fiber production, theory and simulation to design biological and chemical catalysts, and lignin valorization.


Joseph Berry

Joseph Berry

Senior Research Fellow

Joe Berry is the perovskite and hybrid solar cells team lead and principal scientist on oxide semiconductor systems, with a focus on basic materials physics and device applications of these materials.

Publications


Photo of Paul Denholm

Paul Denholm

Senior Research Fellow

Paul Denholm is a member of the transmission group in the Grid Planning and Analysis Center and is a leading researcher in grid applications for energy storage and solar energy.

Publications


Photo of Vahan Gevorgian

Vahan Gevorgian

Senior Research Fellow

Vahan joined NREL in October 1994 and has served in many roles over the years. He is currently focused on renewable energy impacts on transmission and interconnection issues and dynamic modeling of variable generation systems.

Publications


Photo of David S. Ginley

David S. Ginley

Senior Research Fellow

David S. Ginley's current activities are in the general class of defective transition metal oxides, including high-temperature superconductors, LiTMO2 rechargeable Li battery materials, ferroelectric materials, transparent conducting oxides, and electrochromic materials.

Publications


Photo of NREL research fellow Dr. Michael Himmel

Michael Himmel

Senior Research Fellow

Michael Himmel is a biochemist whose work on cellulase greatly simplified and lowered the cost of converting biomass to fuel. Himmel manages the award-winning cellulase enzyme technology effort.

Publications


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Joey Luther

Senior Research Fellow

Joseph Luther is a senior scientist in the chemical materials and nanoscience team at NREL.

Publications


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Seth Marder

Senior Research Fellow

Seth Marder is the director of the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, which is a joint institute between the University of Colorado Boulder and NREL.


Maureen McCann

Maureen McCann

Senior Research Fellow

Maureen McCann's research serves as a foundation for mobilizing plants to meet bioenergy and agricultural goals.

Publications


Photo of Robert McCormick

Robert McCormick

Senior Research Fellow

Bob McCormick's research is focused on end-use issues and fuel-engine interactions with alternative fuels, primarily biofuels—including ethanol and biodiesel as well as next-generation and futuristic fuels.

Publications


Photo of Bryan Pivovar

Bryan Pivovar

Senior Research Fellow

Bryan Pivovar is the fuel cell group manager in the Chemistry and Nanosciences Center at NREL. He oversees NREL's electrolysis and fuel cell research and development activities.

Publications


Ingrid Repins

Ingrid Repins

Senior Research Fellow

Ingrid Repins is a principal scientist in the reliability group at NREL. She has worked for more than 20 years in state-of-the-art device and module characterization, process research, and manufacture.

Publications


Photo of Garry Rumbles

Garry Rumbles

Senior Research Fellow

Garry Rumbles is widely recognized for his research in photochemistry and photophysics of conjugated molecular systems, energy conversion in organic light-emitting diodes and organic photovoltaic (PV) devices, and nanoscale morphology.

Publications


Photo of Paul Veers

Paul Veers

Senior Research Fellow

Paul Veers is the chief engineer of the National Wind Technology Center at NREL's Flatirons Campus and manager of the wind energy science group.

Publications


Photo of Andy Walker

Andy Walker

Senior Research Fellow

Andy Walker develops new methods for engineering and economic analysis of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and has a patent on the Renewable Energy Optimization method of planning renewable energy projects across a portfolio of properties.

Publications


Research Fellows Emeriti

Photo of Richard Ahrenkiel

Richard Ahrenkiel

Senior Research Fellow Emeritus

Richard Ahrenkiel's area of specialization is the measurement and characterization of PV cells and materials. He is one of the world experts in the area of carrier recombination and carrier lifetime.

Publications


Photo of Mowafak Al-Jassim

Mowafak Al-Jassim

Senior Research Fellow Emeritus

Mowafak Al-Jassim worked at NREL for more than 30 years and has contributed greatly to world-record efficiencies in PV technologies.

Publications


Photo of Sarah Kurtz

Sarah Kurtz

Senior Research Fellow Emeritus

Sarah Kurtz is a world-renowned expert in the fields of multijunction PVs, concentrator PV, and PV reliability.

Publications


Photo of Arthur J. Nozik

Arthur J. Nozik

Senior Research Fellow Emeritus

Arthur Nozik's work focuses on photoelectrochemistry, solid state physics, semiconductor nanoscience, hot carrier effects, third-generation solar photon conversion, and related interdisciplinary science.

Publications


Photo of Michael Seibert

Michael Seibert

Senior Research Fellow Emeritus

Michael Seibert's research interests include primary processes of and water-oxidation in oxygenic photosynthesis, structure and function of [Fe]-hydrogenases, molecular engineering of hydrogenases, expression profiling in green algae, and photobiological hydrogen production.

Publications


Photo of Robert Thresher

Robert Thresher

Senior Research Fellow Emeritus

Robert Thresher has more than 40 years of research, development, engineering, and management experience in wind technology, plant engineering, and aerospace systems. He has been a strategist for the initiation of a national research program to develop offshore wind, wave, tidal, and current energy technology.

Publications


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