Dr. Mandalika is Assistant Professor - Research at the Center for Energy Studies. His research interests include biomass and bioenergy, biofuels, waste reduction and valorization, emissions measurement, carbon dioxide removal, ethics, and environmental justice. He has studied the production of the platform chemicals furfural and furfuryl alcohol in high yield from a variety of biomass sources using novel, green chemistry principles, evaluated the application of membranes for separations in biomass processing and conversion, and studied the removal of arsenic from water using adsorbents prepared from waste biomass sources.  He holds a B.S. in biosystems engineering from Clemson with a minor in environmental engineering, and M.S. and Ph.D. in biological systems engineering with a minor in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

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Dr. Ashwith Chilvery is Director of Use-Inspired Research & Development at FUEL, where he leads industry- and community-focused energy innovation initiatives. He brings more than a decade of experience in academia and research administration, including serving as Assistant Vice President of Research and Sponsored Programs and Associate Professor of Physics at Xavier University of Louisiana. His work centers on advancing applied energy technologies through partnerships with industry, federal agencies, and SBIR/STTR programs. Dr. Chilvery has conducted research at leading federal laboratories, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, strengthening his expertise in energy systems and applied physics. He holds a PhD in Applied Physics from Alabama A&M University, along with an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and an MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of South Alabama.

J. Blake Canfield is Executive Counsel for the Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources. In this role Blake manages DENR’s Legal Division and is responsible for certain legislative matters involving DENR. He also advises DENR’s Secretary and staff on the department’s administrative and operational functions, as well as matters concerning DENR’s regulation of Louisiana’s natural resources. Before assuming his current role in 2013, Blake was Senior Attorney for the Louisiana Office of Conservation, where he represented the agency in litigation and administrative matters and provided legal counsel to the Commissioner of Conservation. Blake is a graduate of LSU’s Hebert Law Center and a member of the Louisiana Mineral Law Institute’s Advisory Council.

Brandon Frey serves as Executive Secretary of the Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC), where he leads the agency’s day-to-day operations and works closely with the five elected commissioners to support the regulation of public utilities and common carriers throughout Louisiana. He has served in this leadership role since 2018, after previously overseeing the Commission’s legal division as Executive Counsel. In his capacity as Executive Secretary, Frey provides administrative oversight, coordinates technical and legal support for regulatory proceedings, and acts on behalf of the Commission in providing information to stakeholders, the public, and media. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from Louisiana State University’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center.

David Mitchell is a staff writer and reporter for The Advocate with 25 years of experience in the newspaper industry as both a reporter and editor. He covers stories across Louisiana, including energy and industry, with a passion for digging into records, connecting with people, and telling meaningful stories. In addition to his reporting, Mitchell has experience leading media training, helping others understand and engage with the press effectively.

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Dr. Greg Upton is Executive Director and Associate Research Professor at LSU’s Center for Energy Studies. His research interests are related to the analysis of economic, environmental, and public policy issues in the energy industry. During his tenure at LSU, he has addressed topical energy issues of significance to Louisiana, including state mineral taxes, solar tax credits, and net metering policies, the impact of the oil price collapse on Louisiana’s budgetary challenges, and implications of the crude oil export ban’s lifting on the Louisiana economy, among others. He has presented research to more than 200 industry, governmental, and academic audiences, and has been quoted or cited over 250 times in local and national media, including the Wall Street Journal and NPR’s Marketplace. Dr. Upton holds a Ph.D. in economics from LSU, where he also received both an M.S. and B.S. in economics.

Dr. Ingmar Schoegl is the Chevron Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Louisiana State University, where he leads research and graduate education initiatives in advanced energy systems. He earned his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 2009, building on a Diplom-Ingenieur in Mechatronics from Johannes Kepler Universität in Linz, Austria. His expertise spans combustion theory and applications, optical diagnostics, computational modeling, and advanced instrumentation, positioning him at the forefront of energy and propulsion research. Prior to academia, he gained industry experience in combustion engine research and development at AVL, strengthening his applied engineering perspective. Dr. Schoegl also contributes to the global research community through his involvement in the open-source Cantera platform, a widely used tool suite for chemical kinetics and thermodynamics.

Jason Pettrey serves as Technical Division Manager at ExxonMobil’s Baton Rouge Integrated Complex, where he leads Process Engineering, Laboratories, Coordination, and Project Support while overseeing a multidisciplinary team of more than 200 employees since 2022. Over more than 25 years with ExxonMobil, Pettrey has held a range of operations, technical, and corporate roles supporting global industry analysis and commercial optimization. Pettrey is actively engaged in employee mentorship and university partnerships with Louisiana State University and Southern University, and he supports community organizations including the Capital Area United Way and the Baton Rouge Rotary Club. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2002 and began his career through cooperative education assignments with ExxonMobil.

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Jody Broussard is the Director of the Oilfield Site Restoration (OSR) Program within the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy. He oversees statewide efforts to manage and restore orphaned and abandoned oilfield sites. He also serves as a Strategic Advisor with Talking People Business, Managing Director of GO Marine Services USA, and has previously held senior leadership roles at Hub Enterprises, Inc., where he directed large-scale COVID-19 response and public health operations for the Louisiana Department of Health.

Joe Leimkuhler is a veteran oil and gas executive with over four decades of experience in offshore drilling, well engineering, and production operations. He is Vice President of External Affairs at Beacon Offshore Energy, where he previously served as COO overseeing offshore operations, engineering, and major deepwater projects. Earlier, he was VP of Drilling at LLOG Exploration and spent over 25 years at Shell International E&P in senior leadership roles across deepwater and offshore development. He chairs the HWCG Well Containment Company and the National Ocean Industries Association, and serves on the national board of the American Association of Drilling Engineers and the advisory board of the University of Wyoming College of Engineering. He holds an M.S. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Wyoming and a B.S. in Geology and Forestry from the University of Montana.

John Pendergast brings over 40 years of chemical engineering industry experience to the classroom, having spent his career at Dow Chemical designing processes for plastics, pharmaceuticals, synthetic rubber, and petrochemicals across facilities in Louisiana, Texas, and Europe. He holds 23 patents and has been elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers — the highest honor in the profession — and currently serves on the institute's fellows council. A recognized expert in distillation and chemical separations, Pendergast designed and oversaw the installation of a state-of-the-art distillation facility at LSU's Dow Unit Operations Laboratory, giving students hands-on experience with commercial-grade equipment. Since joining LSU Engineering as a Professional-in-Residence in 2018, he has developed and continues to teach a course on chemical separations, bringing real-world process design and plant engineering experience directly into the curriculum. John earned a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from Louisiana Tech University.

Nikkolas Monceaux is a research project director at the Center for Energy Studies, Louisiana State University. His responsibilities include managing, processing, and analyzing data related to energy infrastructure in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast using economic theory and econometric techniques. His current projects include developing an energy infrastructure database and modeling and forecasting production and employment trends.

Sam is a Senior Specialist with the Global Intelligence & Analytics Consulting team at S&P Global Market Intelligence. His consulting work includes demand analysis, market sizing, supply chain analysis, and economic impact assessments. He has worked on several energy infrastructure projects, including natural gas and nuclear power. He brings a strong foundation in applied econometrics, microeconomics, and behavioral and experimental economics to the evaluation of complex market, investment, and policy questions. Sam received his Ph.D. in Applied Economics from Texas A&M University. He also holds an M.A. in Economics from The University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. in History from the University of San Francisco. Before pursuing graduate study, he worked in the financial services sector. He currently serves as Vice President of Communications for the United States Association for Energy Economics.

Dr. Shruti Mishra is a Senior Member of Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories and an applied economist specializing in energy, environmental, and development economics. With more than 15 years of experience, including work as a Fulbright Scholar and contributions to U.S. agencies and the World Bank, her research focuses on integrated assessment, energy security, sustainability, and evidence-based policy analysis to support informed decision-making in the energy sector.

Steven Giambrone is Pipeline Division Director with the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy (C&E). He is a petroleum engineer with six years of experience in the Office of Conservation, Environmental Inspection & Enforcement and Underwater Obstruction Section and eight years of experience in the Office of Conservation, Pipeline Division. His responsibilities have included issuance of compliance orders for violation of regulations governing oil and gas facilities, review oilfield pit files for compliance, processing applications for administrative approval of oil/gas unit terminations, processing of site clearance applications to ensure the states water bottoms are cleared of debris, implementation of the underwater obstruction program to locate and remove debris from the states water bottoms, and more.