The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) has named Marianne Walck, Ph.D., as the new director of NETL.

“We are at a pivotal time in implementing historic legislation to achieve the Biden-Harris administration’s net-zero greenhouse gas goals and we are so fortunate to welcome Dr. Walck to lead NETL at this critical juncture,” said Brad Crabtree, assistant secretary for FECM. “Dr. Walck’s deep expertise in earth sciences and lab leadership, will help us achieve our mission such as building out geologic carbon dioxide storage capacity, developing domestic critical mineral supply chains from unconventional resources, increasing methane mitigation efforts, and scaling up carbon dioxide removal.”  

Walck joins NETL from the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), where she served as deputy laboratory director for science and technology and chief research officer. In this role, she was responsible for executive leadership of research and development activities; the annual laboratory plan development and overall strategic planning; the laboratory directed research and development program; DOE Office of Science programs at INL; university relationships; research integrity; research equipment; and the research culture at the laboratory.

Prior to her position at INL, Walck served in several positions at Sandia National Laboratories, including vice president, California Energy Division and Energy Climate Programs; director for the Geoscience, Climate, and Consequence Effects Center; and director, Nuclear Energy and Global Security Technology Center.

Walck earned doctorate and master’s degrees in geophysics from the California Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s in geology/physics from Hope College in Holland, Michigan.

NETL is the only government-owned, government-operated national laboratory, driving innovation and delivering technological solutions for an environmentally sustainable and prosperous energy future. By leveraging its world-class talent and research facilities, NETL is ensuring affordable, abundant, and reliable clean energy that drives a robust economy and national security, while developing technologies to manage greenhouse gas emissions across the full life cycle, enabling environmental sustainability for all Americans.