Daniel Nocera: Global Energy Challenge: Solutions from Science to Technology Transition

Patterson Rockwood Professor of Energy, Harvard University Dr. Daniel Nocera is a chemist and leading researcher in renewable energy. His research group has pioneered studies of the basic mechanisms of energy conversion in biology and chemistry, with a particular focus on understanding multi-electron transformations and the coupling of protons to electron transfer. He accomplished a solar fuels process that captures the elements of photosynthesis and translated this science to produce the artificial leaf, which was named by Time magazine as Innovation of the Year for 2011. He has since elaborated this invention to create the bionic leaf, which performs artificial photosynthesis that is ten times more efficient than natural photosynthesis. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Rutgers University and his Ph.D. at California Institute of Technology. Nocera has received numerous awards, including the Leigh Ann Conn Prize for Renewable Energy, Eni Prize, IAPS Award, Burghausen Prize, Elizabeth Wood Award, the United Nations Science and Technology Award, and a number of awards from the American Chemical Society. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the Indian Academy of Sciences. He founded the energy company Sun Catalytix; its technology is now being commercialized by Lockheed Martin.