• Joseph Majkut

    Director, CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program

  • Jane Nakano

    Senior Fellow, CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program

  • Ben Cahill

    Senior Fellow, CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program

  • Matthew Funaiole

    Senior Fellow, CSIS China Power Project

  • Cy McGeady

    Associate Fellow, Energy Security and Climate Change Program

  • Kyle Danish

    Parter, Van Ness Feldman

  • Kevin Book

    Managing Director, Clear View Energy Partners

  • Taiya Smith

    Co-Founder & CEO, Phylleos, Inc.

  • Ben King

    Associate Director, Energy & Climate, Rhodium Group

  • Raad Alkadiri

    Managing Director, Energy, Climate & Resources, Eurasia Group

Biographies

 

Joseph Majkut

Joseph Majkut is director of the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). In this role, he leads the program's work understanding the geopolitics of energy and climate change and working to ensure a global energy transition that is responsive to the risks of climate change and the economic and strategic priorities of the United States and the world. Joseph is an expert in climate science, climate policy, and risk and uncertainty analysis for decisionmaking. He is frequently cited in trade and national media on the politics of climate change and has testified before Congress on climate change and science.

Before CSIS, Majkut worked as the director of climate policy at the Niskanen Center, where he led that group's efforts to research and promote carbon pricing, low-carbon innovation, regulatory reform, and other market reforms to speed decarbonization. From 2014 to 2015, he worked in the U.S. Senate as a congressional science fellow, supported by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Geosciences Institute. He holds a PhD from Princeton University in atmospheric and oceanic sciences, a master’s degree in applied mathematics from the Delft University of Technology, and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Harvey Mudd College.

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Jane Nakano

Jane Nakano is a senior fellow in the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Her research interests include U.S. energy policy; global market and policy developments concerning natural gas, nuclear energy, and critical minerals; and energy security and climate issues in the Asia-Pacific region. She frequently writes and speaks on these issues at domestic and international conferences and to media around the world. She has also testified before Congress on China's competitiveness in energy technology manufacturing and exports as well as U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports and before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission on U.S.-China nuclear energy cooperation. Prior to joining CSIS in 2010, Nakano worked in the Office of International Affairs in the U.S. Department of Energy, where she covered a host of energy, economic, and political issues in Asia. From 2001 to 2002, she served at the U.S. embassy in Tokyo as a special assistant to the energy attaché. Nakano graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and holds a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

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Ben Cahill

Ben Cahill is a senior fellow in the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He covers oil markets, geopolitics, and macro trends affecting the oil and gas industry. He also leads a research initiative on methane emissions and global gas and analyzes how national oil companies are responding to the energy transition. Ben was previously a director in Energy Intelligence's Research & Advisory group and led its country risk practice, advising oil and gas companies on politics, economics, and policy risks. He also wrote on corporate strategy and covered Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, and the Southeast Asian national oil companies. Ben formerly worked at PFC Energy (now part of IHS Markit) in Washington, D.C., and Kuala Lumpur, focusing on country risk and macro trends in the oil and gas industry. He has an MA in international affairs and economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a BA in international relations and English from Boston University.

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Matthew Funaiole

Matthew P. Funaiole is vice president of iDeas Lab, Andreas C. Dracopoulos Chair in Innovation and senior fellow of China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He specializes in using data-driven research to unpack complex policy issues, specifically those related to Chinese foreign and security policy, cross-Strait relations, and maritime trade. From late 2015 through mid-2020, he was the principal researcher for the ChinaPower website. Prior to joining CSIS, Dr. Funaiole taught international relations and foreign policy analysis at the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland, where he also completed his doctoral research. Dr. Funaiole is also engaged in several creative writing projects, and he is an avid photography enthusiast.

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Cy McGeady

Cy McGeady is an associate fellow in the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He covers power markets, the energy transition, climate finance, and the macro trends affecting investment in the energy sector. Cy has years of experience working in the power sector across a series of roles at Genscape and Wood Mackenzie. Cy has experience consulting on project development, managing assets in short-term markets, and originating long-term transactions with a wide range of parties in the power sector. Cy has also closely studied transmission systems, generation dispatch, and price formation in power markets. Cy has recently worked in a capital advisory role with private funds seeking to invest in  sustainability and climate solution projects. He is currently studying for a MA in Liberal Arts at St. John’s College and holds a BA in Economics from the University of Rochester.

Ben King

Ben King is an Associate Director with Rhodium Group's Energy & Climate practice. Ben leads research projects focused on the effects of policy and economic changes to the US energy system, particularly in the power and industrial sectors. Ben developed the Rhodium Group Industrial Carbon Abatement Platform (RHG-ICAP) to model facility-level opportunities for emissions reductions in industry.

Prior to joining Rhodium, Ben was an analyst in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), where he worked on demand-side efficiency analysis and electricity market policy. Ben also served as Deputy Chief of Staff in EERE and developed clean energy policy resources for cities and states at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Ben holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Music from Florida State University and a Master’s degree in Public Policy with an energy and environmental focus from Georgetown University.

Kevin Book

Kevin Book heads the research team and covers oil, gas, and coal policy at ClearView Energy Partners, LLC, an independent firm that examines macro energy issues for institutional investors and corporate strategists. The firm’s data-backed and transparent research process marries economic forecasting with policy analysis to look ahead at U.S. and global events and decisions that shape supply, demand, and price. Mr. Book is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also a member of the National Petroleum Council, a federally chartered and privately funded advisory committee to the Department of Energy. He appears frequently in print and broadcast media and actively contributes to public and private policy forums in Washington and around the world. He has testified before committees of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate and briefed the executive teams of oil, natural gas, power, mining, and industrial companies. Before cofounding ClearView, Mr. Book worked as senior vice president of energy policy, oil, and alternative energy research at FBR Capital Markets Corporation. His prior employment history also includes roles at the Motley Fool, Andersen Consulting, and the Advisory Board Company. He holds an M.A.L.D from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a B.A. in economics from Tufts University.

Taiya Smith

Taiya Smith leads the nonprofit Climate Leadership Council’s China Program where she works with governments and corporations to prepare for a world with a price on carbon. Smith has a proven track record of achieving concrete results in difficult geopolitical and geo-economic environments. As a Managing Partner at Garnet Strategies, LLC, an international strategic advisory firm, Smith advised clean technology companies and nonprofit institutions on opportunities for growth in China and the United States. In this capacity, she was the principal adviser to Secretary Hank Paulson on the U.S.-China relationship and a key force behind designing and managing the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue. She led the coordination efforts within the U.S. government and negotiated with the Chinese on behalf of more than eight U.S. agencies. Working with her team at the Treasury Department, she established the U.S.-China Ten Year Framework on Energy and the Environment and the EcoPartnership program, both of which served as the platform for U.S.-China cooperation on climate change. Following her government service, Ms. Smith was a senior associate for the China and Climate Change Programs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a senior adviser to the UN Foundation, leading its work on climate finance. She also served as a special assistant to Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick and was policy adviser for Africa, Europe, and political/military affairs, including U.S.-EU relations, energy security, and U.S.-Sudan policy. She started in government in 2003 as a Presidential Management Fellow in the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. Prior to joining the government, she served as a member of the facilitation team for the Burundi Peace Negotiations led by Nelson Mandela. Ms. Smith holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a M.P.P. from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the National Committee on United States–China Relations.

Kyle Danish

Kyle Danish is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Van Ness Feldman, LLP, where he advises clients on environmental and energy matters, with a special focus on regulation, enforcement, legislation, and permitting under the Clean Air Act, as well as on corporate climate strategy. His clients include energy companies, manufacturers, financials, and trade associations. Mr. Danish has been recognized by Chambers Global, the International Who's Who of Environmental Lawyers, and Best Lawyers in America. He has a law degree from Temple University, and a master’s in public affairs from Princeton University. Mr. Danish is on the adjunct faculty at both American University's Washington College of Law and the George Washington University Law School.

Raad Alkadiri

Raad Alkadiri is an international country risk specialist, with over 20 years of experience advising senior oil and gas industry executives and government leaders on the management of long-term investment strategies, above-ground risk mitigation, and stakeholder engagement in the energy sector. He is currently managing director for energy, climate, and sustainability at Eurasia Group, where he focuses on the nexus between politics, economics, climate, and the energy sector. He was previously senior director at the BCG Center for Energy Impact. Alkadiri has previously worked as managing director at IHS Energy and as partner and head of markets and country strategies at PFC Energy. From 2003 to 2004, he was policy adviser and assistant private secretary to the UK special representative to Iraq and later served as senior policy adviser to Her Majesty's ambassador in Baghdad from 2006 to 2007. Alkadiri holds a D.Phil. in international relations from St. Antony's College, Oxford University. A fluent Arabic speaker, he has spent extensive periods living and working in the Middle East.