Management Team
GreenFire, though a new company, is run by people with significant business and technical experience. Below are short biographies of our senior management team:
Mark P. Muir, PG, MBA
President
Mark P. Muir has an undergraduate degree in geology from UC Berkeley, a master's degree in geology from the University of Washington and an MBA from UCLA. He is also a licensed geologist in the State of California and a Certified Environmental Manager in the State of Nevada. Mark was National Coordinator of the Mergers and Acquisitions Consulting Practice for an international environmental consulting company and managed the Southwestern U.S. operations of that practice. Mark has particular expertise in performing environmental assessments and water resource management. Mark will provide overall business coordination, as well as geologic input to GreenFire's efforts.
James B. Page, JD, MD, MPH
Vice President, Engineering and Operations
Dr. Jim Page has over 35 years of experience in the energy and minerals business as an engineer, financial analyst, consultant, manager, and investor. He has worked for several major energy companies, including ARCO, Mobil, Exxon, and Shell, as well as smaller resource companies and consulting firms. He has been responsible for design and execution or supervision of numerous engineering R&D programs. His experience includes CO2 flooding and thermal oil recovery; alternative energy, including solar, geothermal, oil shale, and tar sands; and project management for large and small mining and energy projects. He was responsible for rock mechanics, ground water, and safety engineering for ARCO's alternative energy division. He led the project planning and economic evaluation effort for Exxon's $1 billion plus oil shale project. He has worked on DOE funded projects in thermal and gravity enhanced oil recovery, in situ permeability enhancement, and in situ rock reinforcement for containment of gases and liquids in situ oil shale retorting. He has appeared before oil and gas regulatory commission boards in Wyoming, New Mexico, and North Dakota, and has been involved in mineral leasing activities and unitization committees in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and North Dakota. He was also the project manager for a grassroots silver mining project in Arizona, including mine, mill, water supply and other facilities. His education includes a BS in mining engineering from the Colorado School of Mines where he was the outstanding graduate in mining, graduate studies in petroleum engineering at the Colorado School of Mines and University of Wyoming, and a JD with an emphasis on natural resource law at DU, where he graduated first in his class. He also holds MD and MPH degrees from the University of Colorado and UC Berkeley. His MPH is in the area of occupational and environmental health, where his senior capstone project was in the area of global warming effects and mitigation. Most recently, Dr. Page served as the President and Chief Operating Officer for Navitas Pharma, a successful biotech startup company that recently sold its lead asset to Gilead Life Sciences, a leading public biotech company, for further development, yielding a substantial return to Navitas' investors. Dr. Page continues to consult and invest in the energy field. His background in rock mass and fluid behavior characterization and his project management experience will be helpful to GreenFire's proposed R&D program, as well as its commercial operations.
Alan D. Eastman, PhD
Vice President, Technology Development
Dr. Alan D. Eastman received his B.A., cum laude, and his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Utah. He has maintained an interest in alternative energy technologies that began when he worked for the Fuels Engineering Department of the University as an undergraduate in the area of coal liquefaction. Following graduate school, he took a position as a research chemist with Phillips 66 and spent the next 28 years in various research positions for Phillips and ConocoPhillips. He also spent several years gaining in-depth knowledge of the petrochemical and fuels industries as a senior marketing research specialist. Alan then changed research directions, running the company's vibrational spectroscopy analytical laboratory. This in turn led to a role as lead chemometrician developing Phillips and ConocoPhillips statistical data correlations for on-line analytical chemistry. In this role, Alan developed complex mathematical models for refinery process optimization. Over the years, Alan earned 35 U.S. patents and numerous foreign equivalents, mostly in the areas of refinery catalysis and process control. Technologies he helped develop are used in numerous refineries worldwide. Alan took early retirement from ConocoPhillips to devote his time to GreenFire. His experience with all aspects of technology commercialization, as well as his understanding of complex processes and their mathematical modeling, will be valuable to GreenFire as it develops its technology.
Randy Balik
Vice President, Business Development
Randy Balik has a B.A. in Environmental Science, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania, with an emphasis on geology and geomorphology. For the past eight years, Randy has owned and operated an environmental remediation and land redevelopment contracting company, serving the Western United States. Prior to that, Randy helped found two different Internet-based companies, where he also actively participated in successful fundraising efforts. Randy's primary skill-set relates to entrepreneurial business management and large-scale business development in the environmental and technology sectors. Randy's skills in developing strategic partnerships and general start-up business strategy will continue to be necessary as the company grows and seeks collaborative partners for its R&D efforts, which will eventually lead the company to its long-term operational and licensing opportunities. His skills in construction management will also be useful during GreenFire's pilot and commercial scale facilities development. Randy maintains a “Class A-Haz” general engineering contractor's license with the State of California, and can seek similar licenses in neighboring states as needed. Randy is also an officer of the Board of Directors for the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) Associates, allowing him access to energy industry executives and lobbying groups that focus on all aspects of the energy industry. He intends to maintain his position with this group so that GreenFire may have access to these people as well.