Washington, D.C. - The Department of Energy today announced the recent appointment of three key senior staff members to the Office of Fossil Energy - James F. Wood, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Clean Coal; Christopher A. Smith, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oil and Natural Gas; and Michelle Dallafior, Senior Policy Advisor to the Assistant Secretary.
"The Energy Department is fortunate to have attracted such qualified people with relevant industry and Capitol Hill experience," said Dr. James Markowsky, Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy. "Their familiarity with fossil energy issues makes them the right people in the right jobs, and I'm proud to have them as part of our Fossil Energy team."
James F. Wood has over 30 years of experience in the power industry, and has held numerous leadership positions. Most recently, he was President and CEO of Babcock Power Inc., a major U.S.-based designer/manufacturer of combustion equipment and after-market services supplier to the power industry. Wood holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson and an MBA with a focus on international economics from Kent State University.
Christopher A. Smith spent 11 years with two major international oil companies focused primarily on upstream business development and LNG trading, including three years negotiating production and transportation agreements in Bogotá, Colombia. Smith began his career as an officer in the U.S. Army and served tours in Korea and Hawaii. Smith holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Management from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an MBA from Cambridge University.
Michelle Dallafior has nearly twenty years of public policy experience. Most recently, Dallafior was a Policy Staff member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, Energy and Environment Subcommittee where she managed a broad portfolio of energy issues, including nuclear energy, carbon capture and sequestration, and the transition to a smarter electrical grid. Prior to that, Dallafior was Chief of Staff to Reps. Charles Wilson, D-Ohio, and Ted Strickland, D-Ohio. Dallafior holds a Master of Arts degree in Public Policy from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan.
The Office of Fossil Energy is responsible for research and development of technologies that enhance production of domestic oil and gas reserves and maintain utilization of the Nation's coal supplies in an environmentally sustainable manner; the Clean Coal Power Intiative; DOE's Carbon Sequestration program; the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve; and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
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