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Geophysicist Takes Helm of National Energy Technology Lab

FEB 26, 2024
Marianne Walck will oversee the lab’s growing portfolio of carbon capture and storage research.
Mitch Ambrose headshot
Director of Science Policy News American Institute of Physics
Marianne_Walck_official_portrait_at_Sandia_National_Laboratories.jpg

Marianne Walck

(Sandia National Labs)

This month, the Department of Energy named Marianne Walck as director of the National Energy Technology Lab, which focuses on fossil energy R&D. Walck previously was chief research officer at Idaho National Lab and she holds a doctorate in geophysics from Caltech.

Brad Crabtree, the head of DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, stated that Walck’s expertise will help the lab with “building out geologic carbon dioxide storage capacity, developing domestic critical mineral supply chains from unconventional resources, increasing methane mitigation efforts, and scaling up carbon dioxide removal.”

The lab has more than 1,400 employees and an annual budget exceeding $1 billion, with sites in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Texas, and Alaska.

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