Karl Gawell, Executive Director, Geothermal Energy Association (GEA)

Mr. Gawell has been the Executive Director of the Geothermal Energy Association since 1997 prior to which he was the Director of Government Affairs for the American Wind Energy Association. His background includes senior positions in several national environmental organizations, including the National Wildlife Federation and The Wilderness Society. He worked in several positions in the U.S. Congress, including Associate Staff of the House Appropriations Committee, Legislative Director for Representative David Skaggs (D-Colo) and Legislative Assistant to Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minn). He was Business Manager for the Rockford Corporation in Charlottesville Virginia and an analyst and Project Manager for the U.S. Solar Energy Research Institute (now the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.) He recently served on the Renewable Energy Advisory Board of the US Export-Import Bank, and has been an advisor to the US EPA, Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and the United Nations. He BSFS from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and studied in the Department of Economics at the University of Nottingham in England. Mr. Gawell has published numerous papers and articles on energy and environmental policy, testified before Committees of the U.S. House and Senate, appeared on various national television and radio shows. Mr. Gawell, together with co-author Dr. P.M. Wright, was awarded the President’s Certificate for Excellence by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists for their presentation “International Geothermal Development” in 1998.