BLACKGREEN'S
PEOPLE
BlackGreen was formed by a group of people who are resolute in their belief that sequestration offers humanity optimism in the face of climate uncertainty.
Professor Niall MacDowell
Niall is a Professor in Energy Systems Engineering at Imperial College London. He is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of both the IChemE and the Royal Society of Chemistry. His research is focused on understanding the transition to a low carbon economy. Since 2010, he has published more than 150 peer-reviewed scientific papers at the molecular, unit operation, integrated process, and system scales in this context. A full list of publications can be found here and he currently serves on the Advisory Board of Joule.
Niall has more than a decade’s experience as a consultant to the public and private sectors. He has worked with a range of private sector energy companies, and has provided evidence to members of the Select Committee on Energy and Climate Change and has given advice to DECC/BEIS, the IEA, the IEAGHG the ETI and the JRC. Niall is a member of Total’s Scientific Advisory Board, was also a member of the US National Petroleum Council (NPC) CCUS Roadmap Team. Niall has been a member of the technical working group of the Zero Emissions Platform (ZEP), the Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA) and from 2015 – 2019 served as the Secretary of the IChemE's Energy Centre
Finally, Niall was awarded the Qatar Petroleum Prize for his work on Clean Fossil Fuels in 2010 and the IChemE’s Nicklin and Junior Moulton medals for his work on low carbon energy in 2015 and 2021, respectively.
Professor Myles Allen
Myles Allen is Professor of Geosystem Science in the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford and Head of the Climate Dynamics Group in the University's Department of Physics. His research focuses on how human and natural influences on climate contribute to observed climate change and risks of extreme weather and in quantifying their implications for long-range climate forecasts.
Myles has served on the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as Lead Author on 'Detection of Climate Change and Attribution of Causes' for the 3rd Assessment in 2001, as Review Editor on 'Global Climate Projections' for the 4th Assessment in 2007, and as Lead Author on 'Detection and Attribution of Climate Change: from Global to Regional' for the 5th Assessment in 2013.
He proposed the use of Probabilistic Event Attribution to quantify the contribution of human and other external influences on climate to specific individual weather events and leads the climateprediction.net project, using distributed computing to run the world’s largest ensemble climate modelling experiments.
Professor Gaurav Sant
Gaurav is an Associate Professor and Henry Samueli Fellow in the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering at UCLA. Gaurav is an expert in construction materials and coordinated the research effort that developed CO₂Concrete, as PI of the Laboratory for the Chemistry of Construction Materials (LC2). Gaurav is a prolific author who has published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications. His whose work has been supported by federal and state agencies, foundations, and Fortune500 corporations, and recognized by awards from the National Science Foundation, American Concrete Institute, American Institute for Chemical Engineering, and International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures.
At UCLA, Gaurav is also the Director of the Institute of Carbon Management, which is developing pioneering market-focused technology solutions to reduce the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Gaurav received a PhD (2009), MS (2007), and BS (2006) in Civil Engineering from Purdue University.
Stephen Gibbons
Stephen is one of the founders of BlackGreen and its parent charity Horseferry Foundation. He is deeply interested in environmental change and health and is an investor and director of several companies related to these themes. Power & Water is a UK company which cleans and purifies polluted water using a novel technology, and Immunitrack is a Danish immunology company specialising in the analysis of peptide bonding for vaccines, medicines and antigens in general. From 1988 to 2010 he worked in the oil trading business eventually as a director of a large energy trading company which traded Carbon Credits. Dissatisfaction with that process lead him into a deeper review of the ways to solve environmental problems. He focuses on carbon capture and sequestration because he believes that engineers working for the companies causing the pollution are amongst the best placed to solve the same problems of pollution. He has great hopes for novel solutions but believes we cannot wait and must act now.
Nadine Moustafa
Nadine is currently researching as a final-year doctoral student within the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. Nadine joined Imperial College as a PhD student in October 2018 after completing MEng in Chemical Engineering with Business Management as a minor at the University of Birmingham.
Nadine’s PhD is supervised by Prof. Martin Trusler and Dr. Kyra Campbell and aims to facilitate the selection of improved solvent blends for most cost-effective and environmentally benign carbon-capture processes. Her project focuses on the performance of aqueous-amine solvents for carbon capture from flue gases and similar streams. In detail, the project involves a fundamental study of the kinetics of carbon dioxide absorption and the interplay of chemical-reaction and mass-transfer rates in controlling the overall capture rate which, in turn, is a key driver for the process economics. She is also involved in collaborations relating to the implementation of CCS in industry and is interested in sustainability in fast fashion.
She sits on the PhD committee within the department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College of London as the Chair & is a member of the Equality, Diversity and Culture Committee. She joined the L&SE Young Members Forum in 2020 as University Representative Coordinator.In addition, she was the communications manager in the National Young Members Committee in the IChemE, and is also involved in roles that are actively supporting STEM and outreach.
Justine Markovitz
Justine is Global Chairperson of Withers LLP. Withers is a global law firm with 18 offices and staff of over 1,100. Justine started in the London office of Withers in 1999, moving to Switzerland in 2005 to open and then head the Geneva office. Prior to working at Withers, Justine worked at other London law firms as a Private Client and Tax lawyer, having read History at Manchester University followed by law in London. In her role as Chairperson, Justine leads on the Firm's strategy and works with the CEO and the senior management team on the implementation of that strategy. Justine chairs the Firm's Partnership Board which meets quarterly to discuss and decide on the strategic direction of the Firm and which oversees the activities of the senior management team. As a partner in the Private Client and Tax Group, Justine advises families on governance and succession planning and on their philanthropic giving. She works closely with her clients on their strategic goals both for their family and business interests.
