Sally Merrick Benson
CURRICULUM VITAE
Dr. Sally M. Benson, a world-recognized expert on low-carbon energy systems, is currently on-leave from
Stanford University, leading the Energy Division at the White House Office of Science and Technology
Policy (OSTP). As OSTP’s Chief Strategist for the Energy Transition, she is responsible for developing awhole-of-government innovation strategy for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. At
Stanford, she is the Precourt Family Professor in the Energy Resources Engineering Department in theSchool of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences. From 2014-2020 she served as the Co-Director of
the Stanford’s Precourt Institute for Energy, and served concurrently (2009-2019) as the Director of theGlobal Climate and Energy Project – a $225 M research program focused on developing game-changing
solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while providing energy to meet the world’s growing
population. Prior to joining Stanford University, she worked in positions of increasing responsibility at
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, including Earth Sciences Division Director, Associate Laboratory
Director for Energy Sciences, and finally, as the Deputy Director for Operations. A widely recognizedleader in the science of carbon capture and storage, carbon removal, and energy systems analysis, herresearch is focused on low-carbon energy solutions for both developed and emerging economies. She hasserved as a coordinating lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Global
Energy Assessment, and on several studies by National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
She has received the IEA Greenhouse Gas Control Program’s Greenman Award (2012), an honorary degreefrom Smith College (2015), the SPE International Award for Health, Safety, and the Environment (2019),
as well as several lectureships in Canada, Australia, and the U.S. She has also served on the Board ofDirectors of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, as well as, on the scientific advisory boards formany of the Department of Energy National Laboratories, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and international
efforts in Japan, Australia, Norway, Canada, and Pakistan.
Education: B.A. (1977), Geology, Barnard College, Columbia University; M.S. (1984) and Ph.D. (1988),
Material Science and Mineral Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
Academic and Research Positions
2021 –Chief Strategist for the Energy Transition and Deputy Director for Energy, WhiteHouse Office of Science and Technology Policy

2020 –Precourt Family Professor, Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford
University

2013 – 2020

Professor, Department of Energy Resource Engineering, Stanford University

2013 – 2020

Co-Director, Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford University

2009 – 2019

Director, Global Climate and Energy Project, Stanford University

2007 – 2013

Professor (Research), Department of Energy Resource Engineering, Stanford
University

1977 – 2007

Positions of growing responsibility at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: Staff
Scientist, Earth Sciences Division Director, Associate Laboratory Director for Energy
Sciences, and Laboratory Deputy Director for Operations

Publications
Dr. Benson has published widely on CO2 storage in deep underground formations and energy systems
analysis (Citations: 15,000 + and H Index:62).