Tom Murphy is Team Pennsylvania’s Senior Managing Director, Strategic Energy Initiatives. He was previously the Director of Penn State’s Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research(MCOR) and provided leadership to a range of Penn State’s related energy outreach events and research activities.  Tom has 38 years of experience working with public officials, researchers, industry, government agencies, and landowners during his tenure with the Extension branch of the University. His work is centered on educational consultation in energy transitions, specifically at the convergence of shale gas, hydrogen, and renewables. His more recent emphasis focuses on a rapidly changing energy paradigm, which includes wider deployment of utility-scale solar, and the decarbonization implications of hydrogen for heavy industry and transportation. Primarily focused on the DNA H2Hub project, Tom has an ongoing partnership with the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors on the local implications of utility-scale solar energy across the Commonwealth.

Prof. Badissy is a scholar, advisor and international development advocate in the field of energy and climate finance. His research focuses on the use of contract standardization and sustainable finance to accelerate the development of energy infrastructure in emerging markets to increase access to affordable and abundant energy. Prof. Badissy previously served as the Senior Attorney for Energy and Finance with the Commercial Law Development Program of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, where he advised governments in emerging markets on commercial law reforms intended to catalyze private investment to increase energy access and decarbonize power markets. Over the past decade, Prof. Badissy has led energy sector reforms in dozens of markets in partnership with host governments, multilateral institutions, civil society organizations and industry leaders, and continues to serve as an advisor to both public institutions and private developers. He began his career as an associate in the public international law practice of a large law firm and as a law clerk for the Hon. William H. Walls of the United States District Court of New Jersey (Newark). Prof. Badissy’s scholarship has primarily focused on the development of open-source legal guidebooks for use by low-resource governments. This includes three books for which he is the principal editor (Understanding Power Purchase Agreements, Understanding Power Project Financing, and Understanding Power Project Procurement) and as a contributor to a handbook on the management of sovereign debt published by the African Development Bank (Understanding Sovereign Debt). While a law student at the University of Washington School of Law, Prof. Badissy was awarded High Honors, Order of the Coif and Order of the Barrister and served on both the Moot Court Honor Board and the Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal.