Adam Cohen
Deputy Under Secretary for Science and Energy | DOE
After nearly seven years as deputy director for operations at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Adam Cohen was named Deputy Under Secretary for Science and Energy in Washington D.C. in late 2015. Cohen’s wide-ranging position helps Under Secretary Lynn Orr oversee the seven Energy and Science organizations within DOE. These organizations, which include the Offices of Science, Nuclear Energy and Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, oversee 13 of the 17 national laboratories, including PPPL.
Cohen holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Columbia University, a doctorate in materials science from Northwestern University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.
Paul Bodnar
Former Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Energy and Climate Change | NSC
Paul Bodnar recently concluded his tenure at the White House as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Energy and Climate Change at the National Security Council. Paul was a key architect of the Obama Administration's international climate policies, including the historic U.S.-China presidential joint climate announcement of November 2014, the OECD agreement to strictly limit public financing for coal-fired power plants, and the doubling of clean energy research and development budgets by 20 major countries through the Mission Innovation initiative. He played a principal role in formulating U.S. strategy for the Paris Climate Conference. Paul previously served at the State Department as lead negotiator for climate finance and Counselor to the Special Envoy for Climate Change. At the State Department, Paul led the design and implementation of several pioneering finance initiatives including the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance; the U.S.-Africa Clean Energy Finance Initiative; and the world's first market-based approach to allocating concessional funding for climate mitigation (the World Bank's Pilot Auction Facility). Earlier in his career, Paul worked as Director for Carbon Finance at the $1.2 billion carbon fund managed by London-based Climate Change Capital. He was also co-founder and partner at Vertis Environmental Finance, now one of Europe’s leading environmental commodity brokerage firms. Paul holds a BA from Stanford University and an MA from Harvard University, both in Political Science.