Research Staff
Learn more about the expertise and technical skills of the bioenergy and bioeconomy team and staff at NLR.
Associate Lab Director
Adam Bratis manages NLR's research and development efforts in support of the U.S. Department of Energy's mission in the bioeconomy space. This includes technical and managerial oversight in the areas of biosciences; conversion of biomass to chemicals, materials, and fuels; algal biofuels; techno-economic and process analyses; and process piloting and scale-up.
Center Director
Maureen McCann leads a team of creative researchers in the pursuit of understanding, predicting, and controlling biochemical, biophysical, and semisynthetic pathways and processes in living organisms and biohybrid systems. The center's fundamental focus is to reengineer matter and energy flows, from molecular to cellular and system scales, for both technology innovation and disruption—enabling innovative, cost-effective, and performance-enhanced biotechnologies.
Center Director
Jay Fitzgerald leads a team of scientists and engineers specializing in biocatalysis, bioprocessing, synthetic biology, catalysis, reactor engineering, polymer science, separations, computational modeling, and analytical sciences. His center is an analysis-guided, interdisciplinary, integrated, fast, and industry-responsive technology development engine that solves biomanufacturing challenges for production of performance-enhanced chemicals, materials, and fuels.
Center Director
Thomas Foust leads a group of researchers, technicians, and support staff in developing innovative catalytic approaches for performance-enhanced bioproducts, biochemicals, and biofuels. His center partners with industry to scale up promising biochemical and thermochemical biomass and waste carbon conversion technologies, advancing them from integrated pilot-scale demonstrations toward commercial readiness. The center's efforts are guided by rigorous technoeconomic and impact analysis of the conversion technologies being developed.
Laboratory Program Manager
Zia Abdullah manages NLR's biomass program with the U.S. Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office. He also works with the Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office and senior lab management to set the strategic agenda for NLR's biomass portfolio and with research staff to execute the research strategy. Abdullah joined NLR after a 20-year career with industry and research institutions, and his passion lies at the intersection of technology development and commercialization. He is a mechanical engineer with experience in biomass conversion to chemicals, materials, and fuels.
Laboratory Program Manager
Josh Schaidle serves as NLR's program manager for the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Mining and Mineral Production Technologies Office within the Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation Office, and the Offices of Coal and Oil and Gas within the Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office. Research within these programs covers the full supply chain from extraction to production of critical minerals, metals, materials, and hydrocarbons. Schaidle believes in "creating together," and he seeks to build and empower talented, multidisciplinary teams to accelerate technology development.
Bioenergy Research Staff
See a complete list of our researchers on the NLR Research Hub.
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Last Updated Sept. 21, 2026