Dr. Stephen Kaffka is Director of the California Biomass Collaborative and extension specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis. He has advised the California Energy Commission, and California Resources Agency on biomass energy and sustainability issues, and serves as an ex officio member of the state's Bioenergy Interagency Work Group. He was a member of a National Research Council's committee producing the recent report: the Renewable Fuel Standard, Potential Economic and Environmental Effects of US Fuel Policy. He participates onthe California Air Resources Board's Sustainability Standards and Indirect Land Use Change workgroups. From 2003 to 2007 he was director of the Long Term Research on Agricultural Systems Project, focused on the sustainability of farming systems in California. Current biomass energy crop research includes winter annual oilseed crops like canola, Camelina and castor, sweet sorghum, sugar beets and sugar cane experiments. He has also worked on agriculture and water quality projects including the use of salt affected lands and low quality water supplies for biomass production using salt-tolerant grasses in the San Joaquin Valley of California, and water, nutrient and salt balances for irrigated agriculture in the Upper Klamath Basin of California and Oregon.  

Stephen Mayfield is director of the California Center for Algae Biotechnology, and a Co-director of the Food and Fuel for the 21st Century organized research unit at UC San Diego. He is also the John Doves Isaacs Chair of Natural Philosophy in the department of Biology. His research focuses on the molecular genetics of green algae, and on the production of high value recombinant proteins and biofuel molecules using algae as a production platform. Steve received BS degrees in Biochemistry and Plant Biology from Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, and a PhD in Molecular Genetics from UC Berkeley. Following a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Geneva Switzerland he returned to California as an assistant professor at the Scripps Research Institute where he remained for 22 years becoming the Associate Dean of Biology before joining UC San Diego in 2009. In addition to running his research group and university research centers, Steve also founded Rincon Pharmaceutical in 2005, a company based on the low cost production of human therapeutics using eukaryotic algae as an expression platform, Sapphire Energy in 2007, the worlds largest company developing biofuels in algae and photosynthetic bacteria, and Trion Algae Innovations in 2012, a company developing high value recombinant proteins as animal and human nutraceuticals.

Gary Bañuelos is a plant/soil scientist at the USDA-ARS Watermagement Research Unit, Parlier, California, and adjunct professor at CSU-Fresno. Bañuelos focuses his research activates on the phytoremediation of soils and waters laden with selenium, boron, and salinity in California, and on integrated production of innovative biofortified and biobased products (e.g., biofuel, Se-enriched feeds). He strives for creating a sustainable green strategy for managing trace elements in the United States and in other parts of the worked. Dr. Bañuelos is the principle author of over 145-refereed technical journals and senior editor on four books. He received his Bachelor of Arts in German from California State University, Bachelor of Science in Crop Science in Crop Science, and Master of Science in International Agriculture from California Poly-Technical University. His Diploma in Plant Biology was earned at the University of Tubingen, Germany, and Doctorate in Agriculture/Plant Nutrition at Hohenheim University, Germany, as a National Science Foundation Fellow.

Laura Fisher is Chief of the UST Leak Prevention Unit and Office of Tank Tester Licensing at the California State Water Resources Control Board. Laura has been involved in the development and implementation of California's UST Program for the past 15 years. Laura currently serves on a number of technical committees including Underwriters Laboratories (UL) 58, 971, 1316, 1746 and Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI) Recommended Practice (RP) 900 and RP 1000. Laura also serves as the regional representative on The Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO) Underground Storage Tank Subcommittee.

Doug Meyers is Director of Business Development for Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, where he leads the Pacific Region's biodiesel business initiatives. During his 16 years with KM, he held corporate roles at Houston headquarters in Financial & Strategic Planning before moving to the Product Pipelines business unit in 2005. He moved to the KM Pacific Region office in Orange, CA, in 2008, where his primary scope includes revenue generation through contract negotiation, acquisitions/divestitures and capital expansion projects. Kinder Morgan's current west coast biodiesel business includes the off-loading, storage, and blending of biodiesel at its Seattle WA, Portland OR, Las Vegas NV, Phoenix AZ, Colton CA and Fresno CA terminals. The San Jose, CA terminal will host the region's newest system after construction is completed in Q3 2014. These terminal facilities provide KM's customers with blending of biodiesel into KM pipeline-delivered diesel fuel. The blended biodiesel is then moved across truck loading racks for ultimate delivery to retail users.

Allan Morrison is the Supervising Senior Environmental Scientist for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Division of Measurement Standards, Fuels and Lubricant Laboratory.    The Laboratory provides analytical support for the Division's Petroleum Enforcement Program. The Program has jurisdiction over motor vehicle fuels, lubricants and related automotive products. The Program is responsible for maintaining product quality, ensuring the correct quantity and proper labeling of dispensers, storage tanks and package products. Mr. Morrison is an active member of ASTM International and SAE International, where he participates on the committees responsible for the specifications and test methods of fuels, lubricants and engine coolants. Currently, he is working with ASTM on the development of alternative motor vehicle fuels specification. Some of the standards under development include greater than 20 percent biodiesel diesel blends, dimethyl ether, natural gas, and emulsified diesel mixtures. Previously, Mr. Morrison worked as a chemist in the State's Petroleum Products Program. Before coming to the State, he worked as an analytical chemist in various commercial laboratories, where he was responsible for the analyses of a wide range of contaminates in air, water, and soil samples. Mr. Morrison holds a B.S in Chemistry from California State University, Sacramento.

David Isen graduated from Arizona State in 2007 with a bachelors of science in Criminology. David attended the San Diego Regional Public Safety Institute Police Academy and graduated in the top five of his class. After graduating from the academy David acquired a position with Abercrombie & Fitch where he worked as an organized retail crime investigator. He worked with local management at multiple retail locations and took point in coordinating efforts and reporting theft to local law enforcement agencies. In 2012 David was hired by Imperial Western Products to act as the lead contract enforcement and loss prevention officer. Since joining Imperial Western David has worked diligently with representatives of local law enforcement and regulatory agencies to better educate them on matters of theft and vandalism within the waste cooking oil collection industry. David has also coordinated efforts with CDFA meat and poultry branch investigators as well as other waste cooking oil service providers to facilitate the sharing of information and educate the industry customer base on waste cooking oil theft.