Executive Committee Members

Damian is President and Chief Development Officer at 8 Rivers, whose technologies, projects, and business model innovations have raised over $2B in capital and created >$4B in market-based value. Throughout his career, he has developed expertise in CCUS-related projects and technology development. Damian was also a member of the Board of Directors for both NET Power for 3 years prior to its going public on the NYSE (NPWR). In 2020, he was a co-author of the US National Petroleum Council’s comprehensive CCUS report “Meeting the Dual Challenge A Roadmap to At-Scale Deployment of CCUS,” which was commissioned by then-US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. He has won several awards and holds pending patents in chemistry, chemical engineering, and other fields. 

Prior to joining 8 Rivers, Damian founded two companies for which he has been featured in Forbes (Forbes 30Under30) and Fortune magazines, while also having received several entrepreneurial awards along the way. Additionally, his work in the field of chemistry related to solar energy conversion and storage into hydrogen and electrochemical potential (batteries) has been published and featured in Nature Chemistry, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Angewandte Chemie, and C&E News. Damian holds a master’s in chemistry from The Ohio State University during which time he received the SciFinder Future Leader in Chemistry Award from a division of the American Chemical Society and won the US DOE Clean Energy Business Plan Prize. His bachelor’s degree in chemistry was earned magna cum laude from Kent State University while a National Science Foundation scholar. In 2016 he received the Outstanding New Professional Award from his alma mater.