Jay Fitzgerald is the Chief Scientist for the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as well as the Program Manager for the BETO Data, Modeling, and Analysis subprogram.
As BETO's Chief Scientist, Jay helps guide scientific program direction for the conversion of biomass and waste resources into low-carbon fuels, chemicals, and materials. He specifically focuses on sustainable aviation fuel, engineering biology, performance-advantaged bioproducts, life-cycle assessment, and plastic redesign and recycling.
Jay was previously a Technology Manager for the Conversion subprogram in BETO where he led formation of the Agile BioFoundry and BOTTLE consortia. Jay was also an American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the DOE Office of Science Office of Biological & Environmental Research.
Jay holds a B.A. in biochemistry and a minor in economics from Middlebury College. He completed his Ph.D. in organic chemistry at Stanford University with Professor Chaitan Khosla, focusing on the biosynthesis of medicinally useful polyketides.