Anna is the Co-Founder and CEO of SkyNano, a cleantech startup deploying a novel carbon management solution. Anna received her Ph.D. in Materials Science from Vanderbilt University after interning as an undergraduate at NASA Glenn, where she discovered her passion for nanotechnology. Anna was named a 2019 Forbes “30 Under 30,” received an R&D100 Award in 2020, a TechConnect Innovation Award in 2021, and a Tennessee Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award in 2022.  Anna serves on the board of the American Museum of Science and Energy, and is an inaugural member of the American Energy Innovator’s Network.

2025 ACS Fall POLY: CME NASA Symposium Abstract

Economically driven approaches to carbon management to enable resilient manufacturing

There remains no doubt that the devastating climate impacts of high CO2 concentrations in our
atmosphere require innovative approaches to carbon management including CO2 capture, conversion,
transportation, utilization, and sequestration to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. At the same time,
CO2 is being deployed as a precursor to create a variety of intermediary and final products ranging from
textiles, bricks, organic chemicals, and solid carbon materials. The question therefore emerges – Which of
these products and approaches are the most impactful from an economic and full product life cycle analysis
perspective?

2023 ACS Fall POLY: CME NASA Symposium Abstract

A Sustainable Approach to Carbon Management to Enable Our Energy and Economic Transition

Scientists and the broader society are now highly aligned on the imperative to reach net zero emissions goals by the end of this century, with many goals including significant emissions reductions in the next few decades. The last decade has seen a rise in a variety of carbon management solutions ranging from carbon capture, conversion, utilization, sequestration, transformation, etc. being developed at varying technology readiness levels, from academia to industry.  This talk will cover the question: how can all these technologies work collaboratively to achieve our net zero goals which enable our transition to the new green economy?

2022 CME NASA Symposium Abstract

Electrochemical Capture and Conversion of Carbon Dioxide into All-Carbon Nanostructures

Despite over 37,000 million metric tons of CO2 being released into the atmosphere each year, the cost and practicality of carbon capture and conversion hinges on the ability to produce products from CO2 that have a market value greater than the cost of production (including the cost of both carbon capture and conversion). To date, there are very few, if any, economic cases that can be made for existing technologies without assumptions of generous free electricity or significant carbon tax credits. SkyNano has developed a technology that relies on the electrochemical capture and conversion of CO2 into all-carbon nanomaterials mediated by molten carbonate salts.