Women's History Month Profile: Jan Steckel

A federal employee since 2008, Jan Steckel is advancing research to unlock key technology components to address the climate crisis and make carbon capture both effective and affordable for energy producers and other industries to implement.

Increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) and the disastrous effects of climate change have made the need for carbon capture technology more urgent than ever. Jan is advancing multiple cutting-edge technologies to separate and capture CO₂, the Earth’s most dominant form of greenhouse gas, so it can be safely and permanently sequestered in the subsurface, used as a feedstock for value-added chemicals and products, and in other innovative technologies to mitigate the climate crisis.

Jan’s areas of specialization include the use of computational predictions to develop materials to separate CO₂ from the exhaust generated by combusting fossil fuels to produce energy and by other industrial processes. The materials investigated for these separations include membranes, solvents and solids. To advance low-cost technologies for carbon capture, NETL created a new research portfolio (Carbon Dioxide Removal) and has appointed Jan as its technical project lead.

Jan serves as a strong mentor for students pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). She has served as a research advisor for master’s and doctorate students at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh as well as an advisor for young researchers participating in the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education or Mickey Leland Energy Fellow programs at NETL.

Why is it important that women are equally represented in STEM fields?

Women have historically been underrepresented in STEM fields. Young women considering STEM career choices do not always find women in senior positions and that can lead to feelings of not belonging. Women have much to offer. At a time when technological solutions to pressing problems are desperately needed, women should be given encouragement to contribute their talents.
 
What is one highlight of your career at NETL that you would like to share?

In 2019, our team completed a computational screening study in which we evaluated more than a million mixed matrix membrane materials for their potential to separate CO₂ from nitrogen in flue gas. We computationally evaluated the sorption and diffusion of those gases in metal organic framework materials, which can be combined with polymers to make a low-cost, highly permeable and highly selective CO₂ separation material. In our study, we created a cost-of-carbon-capture metric and identified promising materials for use in this technology.

This work was accepted for publication in the prestigious journal Energy and Environmental Science, and we were invited to contribute cover art. My daughter Anastasia created the beautiful cover art by sketching actual metal organic framework material structures into each of the petals on a flower. I feel lucky to have worked with such a talented team and blessed to have my wonderful daughter contribute her artwork.
 

Jan Steckel