The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has appointed new deputy director and chief operating officer, chief human resources officer, and chief counsel.
“Whenever I have the opportunity to add a member to our leadership team, my goal is to not only bring on an individual with unique skills and expertise, but someone who will embrace our mission and guide our operations as we grow the NREL family ,” said NREL director Martin Keller .
Julie Baker is now deputy laboratory director and chief operating officer for the lab. She succeeds Bobi Garrett, who retired at the end of 2019. Baker was already employed at NREL as associate laboratory director for Facilities and Operations, overseeing the Site Operations; Environment, Safety, Health, and Quality (ESH&Q); Security and Emergency Management; and Information Technology directorates. She joined NREL in May 2016 after 27 years at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), where she most recently served as director of business at INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex.
“The entire leadership team knows Julie well, and we’re thrilled she’ll be leading our daily operations as we begin a new decade as the leading laboratory in the advanced energy space ,” Keller said.
Carin Casso Reinhardt will join NREL as chief human resources (HR) officer. She steps into a position held in an acting capacity by NREL’s Kris Green since mid-July. Her most recent position was as the executive head of HR at Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. Casso Reinhardt’s extensive career as an HR leader also includes nearly two decades at ASRC Federal, a federal government services contractor operating in the technology, engineering, sciences, and professional services business spaces.
“Carin brings deep expertise in human resource management to our laboratory leadership team ,” Keller said. “We look forward to leveraging that expertise as we seek to acquire and retain the best talent necessary to accomplish our mission.”
John Stolpa is now NREL’s general counsel. He fills the position vacated in September with the retirement of Steve Silbergleid. He joined NREL in 2008 as a senior counsel in intellectual property (IP) and has served as deputy general counsel since 2018, managing compliance related to IP and procurement law, as well as technology transfer and export control. Before coming to NREL, Stolpa was a patent attorney practicing at IP law firms in Washington, D.C., and Denver, Colorado.
“I have had the opportunity to work frequently with John in his previous roles in our Office of General Counsel, ” Keller said. “I know that we are in good hands as he takes on this larger role here at NREL.”
NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy’s primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for the Energy Department by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.