Dan Byers is Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for Europe, Eurasia, Africa, and the Middle East at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of International Affairs. He is responsible for building trusted relationships to strengthen energy diplomacy and advance American interests through strategic and commercial partnerships in these regions. In this role, he leads the development and execution of regional energy strategies that expand opportunities for American energy technologies and companies while advancing broader U.S. economic and national security objectives.
Prior to joining DOE, he was vice president for policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Energy Institute, leading business community engagement and coalition building related to domestic and international energy and environmental issues. Before joining the Chamber, Byers was staff director of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Byers’ work on the subcommittee focused on revitalizing oversight of EPA, including development and execution of strategies to reform and improve the agency’s regulatory science activities.
During the second term of the George W. Bush administration, Byers served as deputy to the associate director for technology at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), where he oversaw policy development and coordination associated with a broad suite of technology issues. From 2007 to 2009, he also worked for the White House National Economic Council, leading the development and coordination of telecommunications policy for the Bush administration.
Previously, Byers held a variety of positions in the House of Representatives, including staff director of the House Science Committee Subcommittee on Research and legislative assistant in the office of former Congressman Nick Smith. Byers holds an M.S. in soil science from North Carolina State University and a B.S. in crop and soil environmental sciences from Virginia Tech. He lives in Fairfax, Virginia, with his wife and two sons.