Meet the Leaders Driving the Conversations

Axel Pierru was appointed Vice President of Knowledge and Analysis by the Board of Trustees of

KAPSARC in December 2023. In this role, he oversees and provides thought leadership to KAPSARC’s research activities.

He joined KAPSARC in 2011, after spending 15 years at IFP Energies Nouvelles in France where he led research and consulting projects and taught energy economics and finance to postgraduate students. He has served in various leadership roles at KAPSARC, from 2014 to 2023 he was a director, leading the Energy Systems & Modeling, Energy & Macroeconomics, and Energy Macro & Micro-Economics research programs.

Dr. Pierru earned his Ph.D. in economics from University Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne (France). He also holds an HDR degree, which is a French accreditation to supervise research. In 2007, Dr. Pierru was awarded Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Acade miques (knighthood award in the academic field) by the French Ministry for National Education. He is an editor of The Energy Journal, as well as the co-recipient of the 2023 OPEC Award for the Best Energy Research Paper, a first-time honor from OPEC. 

He leads the Knowledge & Analysis team in designing applied research that blends methodological innovation with practical significance for policymaking. His expertise covers energy economics, policy and finance, the oil market, energy transitions, and commodity-exporting economies.

Dr. Pierru has a proven track record of methodological innovations with over 50 journal papers to his

name. He has been a key contributor to developing new research avenues, such as the role of OPEC in stabilizing the oil market, the economic modeling of price controls, or the evaluation of investment projects by international oil companies facing various tax systems.

Lauren Read is the Senior Vice President of dCarbon Ventures at BKV Corp, where she leads the company’s Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) initiatives in support of BKV’s Net Zero goals. With more than 16 years of technical E&P and CCUS engineering leadership, she brings a strong track record of delivering complex, multidisciplinary energy projects across natural gas, electricity, ethanol, ammonia and related industries. Lauren is known for her creative, data‑driven approach to project design, commercialization and execution, consistently achieving operational excellence with zero lost‑time safety incidents. Prior to joining BKV, she spent a decade at ExxonMobil directing reservoir appraisal, development and operations across multiple U.S. basins. She holds a chemical engineering degree from the University of Utah, graduating cum laude, and was recognized in 2025 as a Hart Influential Women in Energy Honoree

Danny Rice, 43, is CEO for NET Power (NYSE: NPWR), an energy technology company focused on decarbonizing natural gas power generation. Since 2018, he has served as founding partner for Rice Investment Group. Previously, Danny co-founded Rice Energy and served as CEO for Rice Energy and Rice Midstream Partners through their $10 billion merger with EQT in 2017. Prior to Rice Energy, he served in various roles with TPH, Transocean Ltd and Tyco International. Danny is a director for EQT and previously served as a director for public companies Whiting Petroleum, Rice Energy, Rice Midstream Partners and Archaea Energy. He serves on the board of trustees for his Alma mater, Bryant University, from which he graduated with a degree in finance and economics. Danny is originally from Boston and has lived in Dallas since 2020.

Ray A. Rothrock is an American venture capitalist and philanthropist focused on securing energy solutions for the 21st century.  Based in the Silicon Valley, his personal venture activities are focused on seed investments in energy, nuclear, and cyber. 

Rothrock had a 25-year career at venture capital firm Venrock (1988-2013) resulting in 9 IPOs and twice listed on the Forbes Midas List. At Venrock, he established and led the energy investment team resulting in eleven energy investments. Rothrock was elected the Chair of the National Venture Capital Association and served on its board for six years. In addition to being an energy investor expert, Ray is frequently sought out about energy finance and related regulatory matters. He presently serves on the boards of Centrus Energy (LEU), Check Point Software (CHKP), Roku (ROKU) and the Aerospace Corporation. He is a member of the MIT Corporation and its Executive Committee. He has served on scores of private boards as well as NGOs such as The Breakthrough Institute, the Nuclear Threat Institute, and the Carnegie Science Institute. 

Formed by his time as a nuclear engineer, Ray has advocated for more nuclear power for decades. His recent work, in addition to speaking, advocating, writing, and working with several administrations in Washington, was in conjunction with the Abundance Institute craft and deliver YouTube videos regarding the issues and opportunity in nuclear power. 

Ray is a Distinguished Alumnus of Texas A&M University and a Distinguished Alumnus of the MIT Nuclear Science and Engineering department. He is the author of Digital Resilience (American Management Association in 2018) and produced numerous documentary films including the Emmy nominated Chasing the Moon and in 2026, Starman.

He received his BA in Nuclear Engineering from Texas A&M in 1977 and his MS in Nuclear Engineering from MIT in 1978. He earned an MBA with distinction from the Harvard Business School in 1988. 

Mark is Managing Partner at Sagefield and Portfolio Manager for the relative value strategies. Prior to founding Sagefield Capital in 2019, he spent seven years as a Portfolio Manager at Citadel, a $30 billion multi-strategy hedge fund, managing over $2 billion in GMV and leading a six-person investment team. At Citadel, Mark managed a low-net, relative value strategy in natural resources, industrials and utilities equities. Prior to Citadel, Mark covered energy, utilities, transports and materials for 6 years at Walker Smith Capital, a long/short equity hedge fund with over $1 billion in assets. Mark holds an MBA and BA with high honors in Plan II and Economics from the University of Texas at Austin. He serves on the board of SMU’s Maguire Energy Institute and is an executive board member of Capital for Kids.

Bryan Sheffield graduated from SMU in 2001 with a B.B.A. in Finance. He is the founder and managing partner of Formentera Partners, an energy‑focused investment firm based in Austin, Texas, where he actively oversees sourcing, execution, fundraising, and all aspects of asset operations.

Before Formentera, Sheffield founded Parsley Energy, an independent oil and gas company, where he served in various roles including CEO, chairman of the board, and executive chairman. Parsley Energy was acquired by Pioneer Natural Resources in 2021.

Early in his career, Sheffield worked as an investment banker in Sydney, Australia. He then went on to work as a commodities trader in Chicago with First Continental Trading. Credited with leading the second‑most successful exploration and production IPO in history, Sheffield was recognized in Forbes 40 Under 40 and as Austin Business Journal’s CEO of the Year.

Mr. Sheffield is a co‑owner of Austin’s professional soccer team, Austin FC, and founder of Austin’s first professional tennis tournament series, Drop Shot Series.

With more than 40 years of energy experience, Scott Sheffield is widely recognized as an industry thought leader and an expert on oil and natural gas exploration and production. Mr. Sheffield served as the President and CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources Company, the second-largest crude oil producer in Texas, and director of The Williams Companies, a provider of natural gas infrastructure. Mr. Sheffield has played significant roles in the American shale revolution and in lifting the U.S. crude oil export ban.   

Earlier in his career, Mr. Sheffield served as CEO of Parker & Parsley Petroleum Co. in Midland, Texas. Under Mr. Sheffield's leadership, Parker & Parsley merged with MESA, Inc. to form Pioneer Natural Resources in 1997. 

To view Scott's LinkedIn profile, please click here. 

John E. Stevenson served as the Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Board of Managers of Terra Energy Partners, LLC, a private equity-backed exploration and production company operating in the Piceance Basin in Western Colorado, from its inception in 2016 until its sale in 2025.  He currently serves as an Advisor to Terra Energy Partners II. He previously served as the CFO of several other private energy companies and as an investment banker at Credit Suisse First Boston and its predecessors. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Union Bankshares, Inc., a community bank holding company operating in Arkansas, and on the Advisory Board of the Maguire Energy Institute at SMU. Mr. Stevenson graduated from SMU with Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees, and from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a Master of Business Administration degree.

Nathan Strik is Director, Mergers & Acquisitions for Chevron Corporation, a role he has held since 2024, continuing his work with the M&A team that began in 2022. He previously spent over 18 years at Fidelity Investments, including serving as Energy Sector Leader for over a decade. While at Fidelity he also held roles as a Portfolio Manager for several energy mandates, and as a Research Analyst for various industries, including Global Integrated Oils. Prior to Fidelity, Mr. Strik worked for the Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Strik graduated from Northwestern University with his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and M.S. in Industrial Engineering. He also received his M.B.A from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Ray Washburne is Chairman of the Board of Sunoco, LLC, as well as Vice Chairman of Gillon Capital and Gillon Property Group. He has served on many other boards and commissions.

From 2017–2019 he served the U.S. government as President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, member of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board and the advisory board of US Military Southern Command. From 2012-2015 he was the National Finance Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

A 1984 graduate of SMU, he has created numerous businesses in the Dallas area that have employed thousands of people. He has been very involved since he graduated SMU, where he is on the Executive Board of the Cox School of Business and the Board for the Maguire Energy Institute. In 2022, the new SMU the new Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium was dedicated. In 2023, He was inducted into the North Texas Real Estate Hall of Fame and honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award at SMU.

Mr. Wicklund is a Managing Director for PPHB, a Houston-based Energy investment bank active in Middle Market for all of Energy. Prior to joining PPHB, he was a Managing Director and Senior Banker in the Energy Group at Stephens Inc. He spent 15 years in the oil & gas industry, working in geophysics, reservoir engineering and operations around the world, living in Australia, Singapore, Milan, London a few times and of course Houston many times, with Western Geophysical, now part of SLB (Schlumberger), Sun Oil Company, McCord-Lewis, and Exploration Consultants Ltd (ECL). 

He spent several years as an equity research analyst and Head of Energy Research at Rauscher Pierce, Banc of America and Credit Suisse as well as working as the energy portfolio manager at Carlson Capital, a multi-billion dollar hedge fund. He has been ranked #1 in Institutional Investors, WSJ Best on the Street, Greenwich #1 in Industry Knowledge and several other recognitions and awards. He is a member and past symposium chair of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), on the boards of the National Offshore Industry Association (NOIA), the Energy Workforce and Technology Council, the Energy ESG Council, Merit Advisors, Preng & Associates and the Maguire Energy Institute Advisory Board, at SMU his alma mater.