Professor Sally Benson is a world-leading expert in clean energy, particularly in carbon capture and storage. Former Director of the eminent Precourt Institute for Energy, her research spans the physics of storing carbon underground, through to modelling whole industrial energy systems.

She has shaped climate policy in the US and internationally as a highly respected and influential advisor, serving from 2021 to 2023 in the White House Office of Science and Technology as Energy Division Leader and Chief Strategist for the energy transition. 

An outstanding role model and scientific leader, Professor Benson has served on advisory boards, mentored many students, and won numerous awards. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2023.

Professor Benson is a distinguished US and international engineer scientist and science leader in clean energy innovation strategy and policy She has recently completed two years in the White House Office as the Energy Division Director and Chief Strategist for the Energy Transition.
She has occupied a number of senior positions at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In 2007 she took up a senior academic appointment at Stanford University as Director of Global Climate and Energy Project and the Precourt Institute of Energy.
Professor Benson has authored many research papers and has a long involvement in Australian carbon dioxide research.