Dr. Sally M. Benson

Dr. Sally M. Benson, a staff scientist in the Earth Sciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has spent the last seven years developing the scientific foundations for storage of carbon dioxide in deep geological formations. Dr. Benson, as coordinating lead author, recently completed Chapter 5 of the IPCC’s Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage. She is also the Project Director for the GEO-SEQ Project, Principal Investigator for the Zero Emissions Technology Research Center at LBNL, and geological pilot test leader for the WestCarb Regional Sequestration Partnership. Prior to this she has performed research on a wide range of topics related to environmental remediation and geothermal energy production. From 1993 to 2005, Dr. Benson held a number of senior management positions at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, including Deputy Director for Operations, Associate Laboratory Director for Energy Sciences and the Earth Sciences Division Director. Dr. Benson received her BA from Barnard College and her MS and PhD from UC Berkeley.