People

Dr. Ning Lin

Dr. Ning Lin is the Chief Economist of the Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Lin has over 15 years of experience in advanced market analysis and technology-commercialization across natural gas, power, hydrogen, and downstream industrial value chains. Prior to UT Austin, she led global market analytics and commercial development at Shell Trading, Koch Industries, and Tenaska, with work spanning petrochemical derivatives, intermediate chemicals, polymers and fibers, and large capital project development, including technology licensing, market entry, and investment evaluation.

Dr. Mariam Arzumanyan

Dr. Arzumanyan is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Bureau of Economic Geology. Her work applies quantitative modeling and data-driven analysis to energy economics, infrastructure, and large-load industries such as data centers, biofuels, hydrogen, and ammonia. With a background in mathematics, economics, and data science, she focuses on clarifying the economic and policy dimensions of energy and natural resources to inform decision-makers in the community, government, and industry.

David Chapman

Mr. Chapman’s passion is delivering advanced technology that can change the world by satisfying the triple bottom line (financial, environmental, and societal profitability) with commercially sustainable competitive advantages. Mr. Chapman manages multiyear, cross-university research programs for the BEG, drawing on proven strengths in technical and business development, with 28 years’ experience developing advanced technology with UT Austin, Motorola, Intel, Research Triangle Institute, and SEMATECH.

Dr. Justin Thompson

Justin’s key expertise is water resource management and planning; a nexus of hydrology, policy, and economics. His dissertation research focused on relating groundwater management in Texas to hydro-economic impacts to pumping. Justin brings a multifaceted perspective to his research. He was an international project finance professional prior to his graduate studies and is proficient in Mandarin Chinese. He has also served as a manager to a Texas wastewater utility, worked as a paralegal, and volunteered with a non-profit bringing ground/rainwater solutions to underserved communities in East Africa.

Dr. Bridget Scanlon

Roxana Darvari

Dr. Yashvi Malhotra

Yashvi Malhotra is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Bureau of Economic Geology, where she works under the mentorship of Dr. Ning Lin and Dr. Tim McMahon. She earned her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Her academic journey spans multiple disciplines, including an M.Tech in Renewable Energy from the TERI School of Advanced Studies in New Delhi, an MBA in Finance from Panjab University, Chandigarh, and a Bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering from the same university.

Yashvi brings a varied professional background to her research, having worked as a Business Development Executive in the IT sector, an Energy Engineer at a consulting firm, and an Onsite Field Researcher at a research institute. Her interdisciplinary training and experience inform her work on energy systems, energy economics, and the dynamics of energy supply and demand.

Dr. Jani Das

Dr. Jani Das is a Research Associate at the Bureau of Economic Geology. She is working in the CEO project with Prof. Michael Young. Her current work focus on Life Cycle Analysis. Prior to joining BEG, Dr. Jani was working as Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Muthoot Institute of Technology and Science, Kerala, India. She has over 15 years of academic experience. Dr. Jani was also associated with the DST sponsored Indo-UK project "Intelligent Microgrids with Appropriate Storage for Energy (IMASE)" with Prof. Rangan Banerjee and Prof. Prakash Chandra Ghosh, Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. She holds a PhD in Energy Science and Engineering from IIT Bombay. She holds a master's in electrical engineering from National Institute of Technology Calicut, Kerala, India and undergrad in Electrical and Electronics engineering from university of Calicut, Kerala, India.