Tom Darrah
Chief Technical Officer at Koloma, US-based natural hydrogen exploration company

In this role, Dr Darrah oversees exploration efforts, as well as the development of intellectual property and technology.

Before joining Koloma, Dr Darrah was a Full Professor of Earth Sciences at Ohio State University. An internationally recognized scholar, he has significantly contributed to his field through research funded by the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Defense, the US Department of Energy, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NASA, and others.

Dr Darrah has held several leadership positions, including Vice President and President of the Geologic Society of America's Division for Geology and Health, and Executive Director of the Global Water Institute.

He holds a Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Rochester and has 20 years’ of experience specializing in gas geochemistry and subsurface geoscience.

Lionel Esteban
Principal Petrophysicist at CSIRO (Australia)

With more than 15 years' experience in energy storage, including hydrogen and carbon storage, Lionel Esteban is a distinguished leader in the field.

As the head of the rock properties team at CSIRO, he supervises the petrophysical laboratories and X-ray image facility.

His expertise in fluid dynamics and geomechanics integration is vital for advancing our understanding of rock-fluid interactions, injectivity, fluid mobility, and the integrity of reservoirs and caprocks, especially in the context of natural hydrogen generation and storage.

Lionel's insights will be invaluable for anyone interested in the future of natural hydrogen and CO2 storage.

Emaleena Baker
Strategy Advisor at the Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG)

With a decade of experience in the energy industry, Emaleena Baker is a strategic force at AGIG, one of Australia’s largest gas infrastructure businesses.

She plays a pivotal role in shaping AGIG's vision for renewable gases, including natural hydrogen and biomethane.

Emaleena's extensive background in business development, government and industry engagement, and large-scale renewable electricity connections in South Australia makes her a key influencer in the transition to renewable energy.

As the Chairperson of the Young Energy Professionals Committee and a Committee Member of the Australian Institute of Energy's South Australian branch, her perspectives will inspire and guide the next generation of energy professionals.

Dr. Mengli Zhang
Co-Director of the Center for Gravity, Electrical, and Magnetic Studies at the Colorado School of Mines

Dr. Mengli Zhang is the Co-Director of the Center for Gravity, Electrical, and Magnetic Studies at the Colorado School of Mines. With a decade of exploration experience in the oil and gas industry, Dr. Zhang now focuses her research on geologic hydrogen and critical minerals for clean energy. She co-founded the world's first industry-supported geologic hydrogen consortium with colleagues from CSM and USGS. Currently, she serves as the Principal Investigator of a major ARPA-E grant on geophysical monitoring of geologic hydrogen.

Recognized for her expertise, Dr. Zhang was an invited speaker on geologic hydrogen at the 2024 AAAS Annual Meeting, where geologic hydrogen was highlighted as one of the 10 science breakthroughs of 2023 by Science Magazine.

IAN MUNRO
CEO of Helios Aragon, a Singapore-based explorer for natural hydrogen

Ian is the CEO of Helios Aragon, a Singapore-based explorer for natural hydrogen with affiliates in Spain and Poland, where he has been leading the company since early 2022. Under his leadership, Helios Aragon is set to drill Europe’s first natural hydrogen well in Aragon, appraising the Monzon Field discovered in the 1960s.

Ian's career began with Mobil as a geologist in the late 1980s, and over the next 35 years, he held various technical and commercial roles at ExxonMobil, Woodside, and Oil Search across the UK, Norway, Australia, and PNG, collaborating with diverse stakeholders to monetize large-scale projects in multiple jurisdictions. At Woodside, he led the commercial team to the final investment decision for the Pluto LNG Project in 2007 and later served as Vice President Commercial & Environment for the Browse LNG Project. Ian joined Oil Search in 2013 as Executive Vice President Portfolio Management, Gas, and Marketing, overseeing business development, commercial activities, and LNG marketing.

Frank Glass
Chief Exploration Advisor at Gold Hydrogen

Frank has worked in the petroleum and energy resources sector for nearly 35 years, exploring for major international and Australian operators in various locations around the world. He has been part of the growing industry exploring for natural hydrogen in Australia and in August 2023 he joined Gold Hydrogen as their Chief Exploration Advisor, to drill the first natural hydrogen exploration wells in Australia.

Frank played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Natural Hydrogen Association of Australia (NH2A), a cornerstone organization dedicated to supporting and advocating for natural hydrogen.

Max Brouwers
Chief Business Development Officer at Getech

As a senior executive driving the energy transition, Max leads the growth for all of the company’s low carbon sectors: geothermal, natural hydrogen, critical minerals, CCS and energy storage.

Max started his career at Shell in 1996 and his last role there was Vice President Exploration for Europe, Russia and Caspian. He is also the chair of the AAPG Energy Transition Forum, member of the UK Subsurface Taskforce and has an MBA plus an MSc in Geology.

Dr Andrew Feitz
Director of Low Carbon Geoscience and Advice at Geoscience Australia

Director of Low Carbon Geoscience and Advice at Geoscience Australia, he is an environmental engineer with more than 10 years’ of research experience in geological storage of CO2. He has been a senior researcher in environmental treatment technologies at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany.

Andrew leads Geoscience Australia’s research programs and technical advice on hydrogen and geological storage of CO2. Dr Feitz led hydrogen research under the Australian Government’s Exploring for the Future program.

Dr Chris Cubitt
Head of BASIN PROSPECTIVITY, SA Department for Energy and Mining

He has more than two decades’ of industry experience in reservoir and regional geology working basins worldwide. In 2021 he joined Geoscience Australia’s offshore Otway team as a Senior Basin Analyst and most recently started with South Australia’s Department for Energy and Mining (DEM) as a Team Leader of the Basin Prospectivity team.

Chris is an author of more than 20 publications and is a member PESA, IAS and the EAGE.