Speakers

Steve is Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1997, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics “for development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light.” Since 2004, he has directed the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory. Steve has made it his mission to challenge scientists to fi nd environmentally friendly energy alternatives to fossil fuels.

Shai Agassi was born in 1968, and he graduated with honors from Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, where he received a Bachelor’s degree in computer science. In October 2007 he founded Project Better Place, where he is the CEO. The company is focusing on a green transportation infrastructure based on electric cars as an alternative to the current (rapidly depleting) fossil fuel technology. As outlined in the company’s vision: “We see an oil-free future and a healthier, safer planet”.

At present, Eli Aamot is responsible for StatiolHydros R&D addressing CO2 management and alternative energy sources and carriers e.g. offshore wind and biofuels. Aamot has been with Statoil, now StatoilHydro for 15 years holding different management positions in both Reserach and Operations, e.g. responsible for R&D regarding new field developments - arctic and deep water developments, Vice President Environment Corporate Staff, Manager Health, Safety and Environment for the Åsgard field.

Professor Beth Burnside is Vice Chancellor for Research and Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. As Vice Chancellor for Research Beth is responsible for university/industry relations, research compliance, research communications and research support for the Berkeley campus. Professor Burnside's research interest is the cell biology of retinal photoreceptors.

Rudolph Blum holds an MSc. in Chemical Engineering and Metallurgy from Danish Technical University, 1972. Today, Blum is General Manager, Research & Development, DONG Energy Power. Before that he was General Manager, Chemical Engineering & Optimisation, DONG Energy Power. For more than 35 years, Blum has been involved in power plant materials research and power plant concepts development projects, national as well as international. He is Head of Materials Committee of the Danish power plants and member of management committees, COST, ECCC, Vice Chairman VGB Expert Group on Conventional Power Plant Materials. Furthermore, Blum is a member of the Advisory Council (AC) of ETP-ZEP.

Ditlev Engel has been a member of the Executive Management of Vestas since May 2005. Former positions include Vice President of Hempel Hong Kong Ltd. and Hempel Hai Hong Ltd. (Hong Kong), President of Hempel Norge AS (Norway) and of Hempel Hai Hong Ltd. (China). Honorary Offices include memberships of The General Council of the Confederation of Danish Industries, The Industrial Policy Committee of the Confederation of Danish Industries and The Committee of Representatives Topdanmark. Ditlev Engel has a background in Business Economics (Copenhagen Business School) and General Management (INSEAD, France).

Tim is an internationally acclaimed scientist, explorer, conservationist and author, and one of Australia’s leading thinkers and writers. Tim’s books include the definitive ecological histories of Australia and North America. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and is the recipient of many rewards. His voice is familiar worldwide through radio, and he is also well known to Documentary Channel viewers as a writer/presenter of numerous groundbreaking series over the past 10 years. Tim was recently honoured as Australian Humanist of the Year as well as Australian of the Year in 2007. Formerly director of the South Australian Museum, Tim is chairman of the South Australian Premier’s Science Council and Sustainability Roundtable; a director of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, and the National Geographic Society’s representative in Australasia. With the 2006 book The Weather Makers: The History & Future Impact of Climate Change, Tim made an important contribution by explaining the science behind the anthropogenic climate changes.

Mr. Murat K. Gursoy is a programme Advisor at the United Nations Development Programme's Country Office in Turkey. Murat started his career at the Undersecretariat for Foreign Trade as a junior expert in 1996. At his last year of civil service, he was the advisor to the undersecretary. He has been with UNDP since 2002. He was recently the Chief Technical Advisor of a large-scale EC-funded enterprise development project, for which he initiated development of a 'competitiveness agenda' for Southeast Anatolia Region. He serves at the management cadres of various developmental projects in the fields of governance, enterprise development and competitiveness. Murat Gursoy holds a BA degree in International Relations from Ankara University and an MBA degree from Georgetown University, USA.

Dr. Hanemann is the Chancellor's Professor and Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, where he has been on faculty since 1968. Prior to coming to Berkeley, he earned a B.A. from Oxford University in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, a M.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. in Ecnomics from Harvard University.

Michael's research in economics has focused largely on aspects of modeling individual choice behaviour, with applications to demand forecasting, including conservation, environmental regulation and economic valuation. He is a leading authority on the methodology of non-market valuation using techniques of both revealed and stated preference.

Koji Hirao is Professor of Economics and Chairman of The Urban Policy Research Center at the Senshu University. He serves as a Statutory Audit Director of Sumitomo Trust Bank and as the trustee of Showa Women’s College. Currently, he is the visiting professor of Ritumeikan Asia Pacific University (Entrepreneurship). He is a trustee of The Association of Corporate Executives of Japan.

Katherine Richardson is Professor in Biological Oceanography from University of Aarhus since 1998. The overall focus of her research is the identification of factors influencing the flow of energy and material in pelagic ecosystems. Most of her research has been on marine plancton. Next to her position as Vice Dean at the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, Katrine Richardson today functions as Chair of the Scientific Steering Committee for the IARU Congress on Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions on 10-12 March 2009.

Steen Riisgaard has held the position as president and CEO since Novozymes was demerged from Novo Nordisk in 2000. Mr. Riisgaard joined Novo in 1979 as a microbiologist in Enzymes R&D. In 1982 he started up an Enzymes R&D unit in Novo's subsidiary, Novo Industri Japan Ltd. Prior to joining Novo Nordisk, Mr Riisgaard was a research fellow at the Serum Institute of Denmark (1976-77) and a research microbiologist at Foss Electric, Denmark. Riisgaard received his MSc in Biology from the University of Copenhagen. Mr Riisgaard serves on the boards of WWF (World Wildlife Fund) Denmark and Egmont International Holding A/S and he is the Chairman for EuropaBio.

Rogers is chairman of the Institute for Electric Effi ciency and the Edison Foundation, and serves as co-chair of the National Action Plan for Energy Effi ciency and the Alliance to Save Energy. He is a director of Fifth Third Bancorp and Cigna Corp. and serves on the boards and Executive Committees of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the Edison Electric Institute. He is also a board member of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations and the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.

Laura D. Tyson is Professor of Business Administration and Economics at the Haas Business School, and formerly Dean of the London Business School and Dean of the Haas School of Business, at the University of California at Berkeley. Laura served in the Clinton administration and was the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers between 1993 and 1995, and the President's National Economic Adviser between 1995 and 1996. Laura has published books and articles on industrial competitiveness and trade and on the economics of Central Europe and their transition to market systems. Laura is a member of the Boards of the Brookings Institution, the Peter B. Peterson Institute of International Economics, Bruegel, Eastman Kodag Company, Morgan Stanley Company, AT&T Inc. and 24/7 Customer.

John Zysman is Co-director of BRIE (Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy) and professor of political science at University of California Berkeley. His writing has focused on corporate strategy and public policy in Europe, Asia, and the United States. His most recent book is How Revolutionary Was the Digital Revolution: National Responses, Market Transformations, and Global Technology (Stanford University Press 2006). Zysman has served on a variety of public and private boards and served as a consultant to governments and companies in Europe, Asia, and the United States. Prof. Zysman received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1973 and his BA from Harvard College in 1967.