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| | Award Advisors | Dan Durst | Principal |
Small Business
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Other
| | Award Advisors is a specialized consulting firm dedicated to helping organizations navigate the complexities of federal grant processes, particularly those offered by the Department of Energy (DOE). As a trusted partner, we bring a wealth of expertise in Federal project budget development and post-award compliance, ensuring that our clients are well-prepared to secure and successfully manage DOE grants.
Expert Budget Development:
Our team excels in the intricacies of federal budget formulation, including the completion of SF 424 and the DOE Budget Justification Worksheet. We work closely with organizations to develop detailed, accurate budgets that align with DOE requirements and maximize funding opportunities. Our deep understanding of cost principles and budgeting regulations ensures that your proposal is not only compliant but also competitive.
Indirect Rate Calculation and Negotiation:
Award Advisors specializes in the calculation and negotiation of indirect cost rates, a critical component for organizations seeking to optimize their funding. We guide our clients through the complex process of determining appropriate rates, negotiating with federal agencies, and applying those rates effectively within their budgets. This service is essential for organizations aiming to recover the full spectrum of allowable costs, thereby enhancing the sustainability and impact of their projects.
Post-Award Compliance Preparation:
Navigating the post-award phase requires a thorough understanding of 2 CFR 200, the "Uniform Guidance" that governs federal awards. Our services extend beyond the pre-award stage to ensure that organizations are fully prepared to meet compliance requirements after securing funding. We provide training, policy development, and ongoing support to help organizations establish robust compliance frameworks, mitigating the risk of audit findings and ensuring project success.
Partnering with Award Advisors means gaining a dedicated ally committed to your success in the DOE grant landscape. Let us help you turn your innovative ideas into funded, compliant, and impactful projects. |
| DC |
| | EELI Technology | Mert Akin | CEO |
Small Business
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Resource Sustainability
| Critical Minerals | Mert Akin, founder and CEO of EELI, a mining technology company, holds a Ph.D. from the University of Miami with a focus on electrochemical energy storage. Formerly a Scientist at a leading battery company, Akin led advancements in battery chemistries and recycling processes. Coming from the battery industry, Akin is on a mission to fortify the domestic battery supply chain by developing sustainable and efficient critical mineral extraction technologies leveraging electrochemistry and materials science. At EELI, we develop chemical-free lithium extraction and purification solutions with zero carbon emissions from low-grade domestic sources, particularly oilfield brines. |
| CA |
| | ONB Engineering Research and Technical Services LLC | Omar Basha | Principal Engineer |
Individual
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Carbon Management
| | ONB Engineering offers extensive expertise in advanced computational and data-driven modeling and scale-up of technologies in manufacturing,
chemical and energy sectors. Our team, composed of industry experts and certified professionals, leverages advanced and custom tools to deliver the best-in-class assessments.
We specialize in:
- Technical feasibility assessment for scale-up potential and risk identification.
- Reactor and process level modeling to assess system performance at various scales.
- R&D assessment for evaluating unique phenomena (e.g., mixing, PSD changes).
- Comprehensive techno-economic and LCA assessments.
- Engineering package planning (FEL 1-3) including PFD development, plant layout, and equipment data sheets.
Our approach ensures precise, data-driven decision-making, delivering high-quality, reliable solutions that meet industry standards and support
successful commercialization. With a proven record of successful projects and deep industry knowledge, we offer support to clients to effectively bring technologies to market. Our commitment to excellence and client satisfaction drives our approach. |
| DE |
| | SCS Engineers | Jon Yang | Geochemist |
Large Business
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Resource Sustainability
| | SCS Engineers has broad experience and expertise in engineering and geologic consulting services, specializing in mining, extraction, waste containment and hydrogeologic evaluation, geotechnical engineering, remediation, and stormwater management. SCS experience includes assessing waste stream utilization and development, regional infrastructure postures and needs, and technology and strategic partnership for Phase I of the CORE-CM program. Other relevant project experience includes consultations on mine feasibility, identifying critical minerals in mine tailings, and geothermal brine disposal in deep well injections. SCS also has a deep portfolio in working with electric utilities and is particularly well-positioned to help clients navigate the changing regulations around coal combustion residual (CCR) disposal, which has direct bearing to the goals of the CORE-CM program. SCS is also a national leader in deep well injection for wastewater disposal, and the geologic sequestration of CO2. Due to increasing awareness and permitting requirements, environmental justice concerns have become an integral part of many projects. SCS has dedicated resources to provide comprehensive assessments and reports, public outreach recommendations, and to support community outreach efforts. |
| KS |
| | University of Alaska Anchorage | Jordan Jenckes | Postdoctoral Researcher |
Academic
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University Training and Research
| | My research focuses on integrating large datasets across scientific disciplines to further our understanding of the geochemical cycles of Earth's surface. Prior to entering academia I worked as a software engineer at a company specializing in data science and scientific data management. In that role I built and maintained backend services that powered web mapping applications. Additionally, I built many full stack applications requiring me to design databases, create services to serve the data, and build the user interface.
Currently my research projects are concentrated on the intersection of climate, geology, landscape change and aqueous geochemistry. This work aims to create geochemical models to evaluate the drivers of water quality and quantity in the coming century. Our lab's goal is to provide the results of our work through integrated web based applications allowing users to interact not only with the results but also with the data that drive the modelling. Through these applications we connect our databases with AI allowing users to query the dataset using natural language, providing a pathway for rapid data discovery. |
| AK |
| | UAF-GI Advanced Instrumentation Laboratory | Nathan Graham | Analytical Facility Manager |
Academic
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University Training and Research
| Critical Minerals | Currently I manage a multi-instrument analytical facility called the Advanced Instrumentation Laboratory (AIL), which is a part of the Geophysical Institute (GI) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). AIL specializes in surface and elemental analysis as well as electron microscopy.
Our list of currently operational instrumentation is as follows:
JEOL JXA-8530 Field Emission Electron Microprobe equipped with 5 WDS spectrometers housing large area crystals for both heavy and light element analyses. The electron microprobe is also equipped with EDS capable of rapid point analysis, line transect and area elemental mapping, and rapid principle component analysis to determine bulk mineralogy and detect minerals of interest. The electron microprobe also houses a cathodoluminescence (CL) detector which can accommodate a variety of filters for specific wavelength detection.
FEI Quanta 200 Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) which can be operated in regular high-vacuum, low-vacuum and full environmental ESEM modes for imaging a variety of samples. Low-vacuum mode allows samples to be imaged and analyzed uncoated. The ESEM is equipped with iXRF software/hardware and a SSD EDS detector.
PanAlytical Axios wavelength dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (XRF) used for quantitative analysis of bulk samples (approximately 10 grams) to the PPM level.
PanAlytical X'Pert MRD Material Research X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD) used for conventional and high resolution/quantitative powder x-ray diffraction, surface and thin film diffraction, and texture analysis. Particularly powerful for mineral identification and abundance determination, including clay minerals in soils.
Our lab also houses a multitude of sample preparation equipment including thin section saws and polishers, powder mills, microscopes, coaters, sieves, a micro-mill, critical point drying, and much more. We contract out sample preparation of all kinds.
My current appointment is joint between the GI where I am responsible for managing the AIL facility, and the Department of Geosciences (College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics) where I teach courses in electron/x-ray theory and analytical instrumentation training.
I have a PhD in Geoscience (Volcanology, Petrology, and Geochemistry) from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (2024). I stayed on at UAF as a Postdoctoral Fellow to manage the AIL facility and teach courses in analytical instrumentation theory and use. |
| AK |
| | Decision Tree LLC | Lee Drake | CEO |
Small Business
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Other
| | I work with Veracio and help design scalable XRF solutions in hard rock mining. The TruScan system (https://www.veracio.com/technologies/truscan) is capable of detecting low levels of REEs in a quick and non-destructive manner, most of Veracio's clients are capable of scanning many meters of core a day for rapid on-site decision making. I can help facilitate integrating this system into any applications you have ongoing, though I know this may be late.
For those unfamiliar, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) can excite characteristic emission lines of elements ranging from sodium (Na, 11) to uranium (U, 92). The TruScan system automates this process on-site, rapidly scanning core boxes to estimate major and trace elements, including REEs. Feel free to contact regarding costs of scanning non-destructively on site at core repositories. |
| CO |
| | Brown University Watson Institute Climate Solutions Lab | Kathryn Chelminski | Postdoctoral Research Associate |
Academic
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Other
| Community Engagement | As a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Brown University Climate Solutions Lab, my research focuses on the politics and governance of just transitions. I received my PhD in Political Science/International Relations from the Graduate Institute, Geneva. I previously held Pre-doctoral Research Fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School in the Energy Technology Innovation Program and the University of Cambridge Judge Business School Energy Policy Research Group, where I researched geothermal development and energy transitions in Southeast Asia. My research has been funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
My current research examines the role of political institutions and indigenous contestation around lithium extraction and geothermal development on Ancestral Land in bringing forth just and equitable outcomes. My expertise supports the Stakeholder Outreach, Community and Tribal Engagement aspects of the project. |
| RI |
| | Syracuse University | Tripti Bhattacharya | Dr. |
Academic
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Other
| Paleoclimate | Dr. Bhattacharya is a paleoclimate scientist interested in the role of past hydroclimate shifts in the genesis and formation of critical mineral deposits in regions like the western US. She is an organic geochemist and maintains laboratory facilities for the quantification of ancient biomarkers, as well as for analysis of hydrogen and carbon isotopes in specific compounds like algal and plant biomarkers (compound specific isotopic analysis). She integrates these data with climate model simulations to understand the causes of past climate shifts.
She runs the Paleoclimate Dynamics Lab at Syracuse University, which features suite of instrumentation and facilities for computation, organic geochemical analyses, and general paleoclimatic proxy work. These include two five foot fume hoods, an Accelerated Solvent Extraction system (ASE 350), a Trace 1310 gas chromatograph with flame ionization detector (GC-FID), as well as a agas-chromatograph isotope-ratio mass spectrometer (GC-IRMS) for the quantification of H, C, N isotope ratios in organic compounds ranging from leaf waxes to amino acids. |
| NY |
| | Community System Navigators | Misty Burris | BIOCHAR to Graphene |
Non-Profit
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Resource Sustainability
| carbon capture biochar to graphene | Grant writing team with large AI database of solutions based on measurable evidence based data. Affiliation with Neutralizing Environmental Trash Inc for biochar production to gigaton scale from various feedstock including hemp/cannabis biomass which is scaling highest conductivity capacity. Partnership and affiliation with CO2 Trust.earth which is a public voluntary carbon marketplace. |
| OR |
| | Colorado School of Mines | Elizabeth Holley | ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, MINING ENGINEERING |
Academic
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Other
| | The entire Mines Team has a large area of expertise including Elizabeth Holley's research. Please get in touch with Elizabeth Holley to ask for the scope of expertise from the Mines team:
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Mineral exploration vectors and genetic models: Carlin-type, porphyry and epithermal deposits
Sulfide and sulfate mineral behavior in the heap leach and mine waste environments
Geological controls on production, processing and reclamation
Public policy and public participation in the mining industry
Pedagogical innovation in STEM education
CURRENT RESEARCH
Geochemical characterization of artisanal gold mine sites, Colombia and Peru. Funded by National Science Foundation, Co-PI, Funded PhD Positions Available with Dr. Holley – CLICK HERE
Dating mineralization in a Carlin-type gold deposit: A test of the Fe-oxide (U-Th)/He chronometer. Funded by National Science Foundation, PI.
Ore characterization at the Wharf Mine, South Dakota. Funded by Coeur Mining, PI.
New exploration models for sediment-hosted gold, Nevada. Funded by Newmont Mining, PI.
Agglomeration methods for sulfide sequestration, Cripple Creek. Funded by CC&V, Co-PI.
Capacity Building for Ground Control. Funded by NIOSH, Co-PI.
Exploratory research on rock damage from geologic and induced thermal loading. Funded by National Science Foundation, Co-PI.
Corporate social responsibility and social license in mining projects. Funded by Gates Foundation, PI. |
| CO |
| | Last Loop Metals | Catherine Ember | CEO |
Small Business
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Resource Sustainability
| | Last Loop Metals is developing a technology to extract rare earth elements from coal fly ash. We are looking for partners to work with on extracting critical minerals from industrial waste streams, with a specific focus on rare earths. As a private company, we are well positioned to support commercialization efforts. |
| CA |
| | DAI Global | LOUISE FLYNN | Technical Director |
Large Business
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Other
| Community Benefits Planning, Economics, Supply Chain Analysis, Workforce Planning, Innovation Centers | Community Benefit Planning (CBP) constitutes a vital and required element of projects proposed for the Regional Scale Collaboration to Facilitate a Domestic Critical Minerals Future (DE-FOA-0003076). For awarded projects, successful implementation of CBP plans is fundamental to securing each progressive stage of funding. DAI has a successful record working with both private industry and federal agencies to develop Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic & Timely (SMART) CBP plans that add value to the project and its overall stakeholder communities to ensure overall project success. We welcome inquiries from submitting organizations about fulfilling CBP requirements of the proposal and the ultimate project.
In addition, DAI conducts supply chain analyses in conjunction with regional and national economic analyses for large infrastructure projects and evaluates the workforce needs and local workforce availabilty for these projects in order to design workforce training plans. We have developed enterprise development centers throughout the world to build the capacity of local businesses to respond to change in the market place. |
| MD |
| | Katz Water Technologies | Gary Katz | CEO & Founder |
Small Business
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Resource Sustainability
| | Katz Water Technologies seeks to develop its microbial biosorption process to enable the recovery of Li and other critical material from wastewaters including oil and gas-produced waters, geological formation waters including geothermal brines, and mine tailings. We can combine this with our patented thermal distillation technology that can purify water and concentrated brine to over 300,000 TDS. We are currently collaborating with Texas Southern University a local HBCU and are getting encouraging results in the lab. We are open to creating a team or joining a team to apply for this grant. |
| TX |
| | Cornell University | Maha Haji | Assistant Professor |
Academic
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Resource Sustainability
| | My background includes the passive harvesting of critical minerals from seawater. Some preliminary sampling done by my group in collaboration with the Gulf Offshore Research Institute suggests that concentrations of minerals key to battery technology (such as lithium) may be 4x higher in the Gulf of Mexico than reported by literature. This would be a substantial resource for securing our battery materials supply chain. As such, I am interested in an effort to assess the resources of the Gulf of Mexico, both onshore and offshore. I am looking to join a larger team and provide support for the analysis of seawater samples in the Gulf. |
| NY |
| | Duke University | Heileen Hsu-Kim | Professor |
Academic
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Resource Sustainability
| Coal combustion residuals | My team published one of the early datasets of rare earth element (REE) contents in U.S. coal fly ashes (Taggart et al., 2016, ES&T). This work demonstrated that the REE contents and extractability from fly ash are strongly linked to the regional origins of the coal feedstock that produced the combustion ash. We are now using these findings to establish a historical 'resource reserve' dataset of combustion ashes produced by major U.S. coal fired power stations based on coal purchase records of the last 45 years. This dataset could be extended to evaluate the REE reserve potential at legacy coal ash disposal impoundments across the U.S. |
| NC |
| | Michigan Technological University | Snehamoy Chatterjee | Associate Professor of |
Academic
|
Resource Sustainability
| Mineral exploration using remote sensing | I have expertise in remote sensing and AI for mineral exploration. We are also doing some research on REE exploration from coal and coal byproducts using spatial statistics and machine learning. |
| MI |
| | University of Alaska, Fairbanks Geophysical Institute | Jessica Larsen | Professor, Volcanology and Petrology |
Academic
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University Training and Research
| Critical Minerals | I have two areas of expertise relevant to this FOA: 1) Electron Microprobe, Spectroscopy (X-ray and FTIR/RAMAN), and other advanced analytical methods. 2) Experimental petrology expertise which can be applied to REE, lithium, and other critical element partitioning systematics. I am the chair of the steering committee for the UAF Geophysical Institute Advanced Instrumentation Lab (AIL) which oversees and maintains a JEOL 8530F Field Emission Electron Probe Microanalyzer; PanAlytical Axios X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer; FEI Quanta Scanning Electron microscope; and X'Pert MRD Materials Research X-ray Diffractometer: https://www.uaf.edu/ail/instrumentation.php This lab has served multiple research, state, federal, and industry clients in economic geology and critical minerals related geological materials research for decades. As Steering Committee Chair for AIL, I help facilitate analytical work in geological materials analysis for the lab and its management personnel. As the lead for the UAF GI Experimental Petrology Lab, I oversee and facilitate high pressure and temperature experimental geological materials research focused on volcanology (magma storage), and new interests in mineral-melt REE, Li, and other critical element partitioning and fluid inclusion research, as well as developments in carbon capture and storage rock-CO2 reaction studies.
My current appointment is joint between the Department of Geosciences (College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics) and the Geophysical Institute, where I also serve as Associate Director on the Leadership team.
I have a PhD in Geophysics (Mineral Physics) from the University of California, Santa Cruz (1996), and since have been a NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at CalTech and UAF (1996-1999), Research Faculty in the Volcanology Group at the UAF Geophysical Institute, and am currently a tenured full professor with a joint GI-CNSM appointment.
While my research focus has largely been on active volcanoes in Alaska, I also have participated in research relevant to geothermal energy, and other areas of petrology and geochemistry. |
| AK |
| | Electroflow Technologies | Eric McShane | CEO |
Small Business
|
Resource Sustainability
| | As a PhD student at UC Berkeley, I studied degradation modes of lithium-ion batteries under fast charging conditions. I then completed my postdoc at Stanford University where I studied electrochemical ammonia synthesis, after which I co-founded Electroflow Technologies in late 2023. At Electroflow, we're building electrochemical hardware to convert low grade (<200 ppm Li) brines to battery grade lithium chemicals. We aim to implement our technology on naturally occurring brine resources and on unconventional resources, such as oil-produced waters. Please reach out to me at eric@eflowtech.com if you'd be interested in collaborating with us. |
| CA |
| | Waste Analytics LLC | Jonathan Blake Scott | President |
Small Business
|
Resource Sustainability
| Oil and Gas Drill Cuttings | For over 25 years, I owned an oilfield service company that disposed and recycled drilling waste in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wyoming. The drilling wastes we managed were freshwater drilling waste, saltwater drilling waste, and oil-based drilling waste. Management of this waste stream included sampling and testing for pre and post treatment environmental contaminants, pre and post treatment sampling and testing for geotechnical properties, state permitting for the waste's final disposition, and performing the chosen management method.
I also own a data company that has collected and derived drilling waste generated onshore by all publicly traded oil and gas companies for wells drilled onshore from 2017-2022 broken down by quarter. This dataset includes the states in which the waste was generated, the volumes of the waste by type, and the disposal method used for each waste type generated. Finally, I have SOPs on how to collect this data for each operator in each state. |
| TX |
| | Atalco Gramercy LLC | Steven Wicks | Head of Risk |
Large Business
|
Other
| | Atlantic Alumina ("Atalco") is the last alumina refinery operating in the United States. It has the ability to produce Gallium from its liquor circuit and rare earth minerals from its tailings from over 65 years of operation. We would consider potential research projects from interested parties regarding quantification and extraction of these critical minerals. |
| LA |
| | University of Alaska | Lee Ann Munk | Professor of Geochemistry |
Academic
|
Resource Sustainability
| Lithium in brines and volcanic sedimentary deposits, REEs | 25+ years experience in environmental and exploration geochemistry, global lithium expert and emerging critial minerals focus. I have extensive industry partnerships across the lithium space but also offer Alaskan connections and research expertise. |
| AK |
| | The University of Texas at Dallas | Kristina L Butler | Assistant Professor |
Academic
|
University Training and Research
| lithium resources, sedimentary mineralogy and geochemistry, aqueous geochemistry | I research sediment- and brine-hosted lithium deposits globally. My expertise is in sedimentary geology including sediment mineralogy and geochemistry with growing expertise in aqueous and isotope geochemistry. I have active projects on several lithium deposits including: closed-basin lithium brine at Clayton Valley (Nevada), Salar de Atacama (Chile) and Pastos Grandes (Argentina); lithium oil field brines in Alberta (Canada), and volcano sedimentary deposits of the Barstow Formation (California). My lab is currently focused on understanding lithium sequestration & release in clay minerals. We are set up to characterize the clay-sized fraction of sedimentary lithium resources by XRD, XRF, and SEM.
I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Dallas. I received my PhD in sedimentology/tectonics from the University of Texas at Austin (Jackson School of Geosciences) and my undergraduate degree at the University of Alaska Anchorage. My postdoctoral positions at Brown University and the University of Washington were supported by the National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship Program with a focus on sedimentary geochemistry and isotope methods. |
| TX |
| | Brown University | Daniel Ibarra | Assistant Professor |
Academic
|
University Training and Research
| Lithium Resources from Sedimentary Basins | Biogeochemist working on low and high temperature lithium resources. Focus on clay and brine deposits. Research group has geochemical and isotopic capabilities, including Li, Sr and U isotopes, plus light stable isotopes. ICP-MS and MC-ICP-MS facility for analyses available through my group as well as XRD and other clay mineral characterization methods (e.g., microprobe). Current research in multiple basins in Nevada and southern California funded by NSF and industry collaborations. |
| RI |
| | Ohio University | Jason Trembly | Russ Professor |
Academic
|
Resource Sustainability
| Carbon-based products | Ohio University has an extensive background in the research and development of carbon-based products, using both coal and reclaimed coal from impoundment wastes. Our expertise covers a range of areas including the development of carbon composites for building products, additive manufacturing for tooling and building applications, and the production of graphite and graphene for ultra-conductors and energy storage devices. We also conduct techno-economic and lifecycle analyses for these manufacturing processes. Additionally, we engage in community benefits and workforce development programs related to carbon-based product manufacturing in the Appalachian region. |
| OH |