Leadership.

Katy Larson

Director

Office Phone: (661) 654-3149

Meet the Director

Katy brings over 15 years of energy industry experience to CSUB and is a dynamic, thoughtful energy program manager with a track record of success across multiple disciplines and major capital infrastructure projects. Her background includes expertise in carbon sequestration, oil and gas, gas storage, water sustainability, hydropower, and civil infrastructure. Katy’s broad industry experience and forward-looking approach will be instrumental in advancing CERC’s role as a regional and statewide leader in applied energy research and innovation.

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Most recently, Katy served as the Geoscience Compliance Manager at Tallgrass Energy, where she built and led a Carbon Sequestration Compliance and Permitting program. Her leadership resulted in the successful permitting of six Wyoming carbon sequestration projects—from feasibility through permit issuance—including one achieving Authorization to Inject. She also managed key initiatives in New Mexico and Nebraska, including a Department of Energy-funded project in collaboration with New Mexico Tech.

Before her time at Tallgrass, Katy held leadership roles at Battelle Memorial Institute, where she guided carbon sequestration feasibility studies and federal grant applications, and at California Resources Corporation (formerly Occidental Petroleum), where she contributed to over 70 field operations across California and participated in early carbon sequestration efforts. Her earlier roles at Stone Energy and Schlumberger WesternGeco further strengthened her multidisciplinary foundation in geology and geophysics.

Katy earned her Master of Science in Geology from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette—where she was recognized as the most outstanding graduate student—and holds a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Louisiana State University. Beyond her industry experience, she is deeply committed to STEM education and leadership. She facilitated internship for students and served on several local and international boards and programs.

Advisory Board.

Tarabay H. Antoun, Ph.D.

Principal Deputy Principal Associate Director, Physical and Life Sciences, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

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Ken Haney, CSUB Distinguished Alumnus

Strategic Advisor & Engineering Manager - Carbon California Resources Corporation

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Stuart M. Heisler, PE

Co-Founder, VP and Senior Technical Director - Anacapa Engineering and Design, Inc.

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Suely Saro, Ph.D.

Stakeholder Relations Manager, AES | Councilwoman, City of Long Beach

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Chief Researchers.

Tat Acharya, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Engineering - Department of Physics and Engineering

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Chengwei Lei, Ph.D.

Associate Professor - Computer Science

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Tarabay H. Antoun, Ph.D.

Dr. Antoun is the Program Manager of the Energy and Homeland Security Program (E Program) in the Global Security Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He has held this position since June 1, 2020. The E Program develops innovative multidisciplinary science and technology solutions for reliable clean energy supply, resilient infrastructure, domestic and cyber security, and defense systems.

Dr. Antoun’s prior position was as Division Leader of the Atmospheric, Earth and Energy Division (AEED) in the Physical and Life Sciences Directorate. Researchers in AEED utilize world-class scientific capabilities and modern high-performance computing facilities to engage in multidisciplinary research across a broad spectrum of atmospheric and Earth sciences supporting Laboratory programs in mission areas ranging from energy to national security.

Before becoming Division Leader in 2013, Dr. Antoun was the Computational Geosciences Group Leader in AEED, where research efforts focus on developing and using computational tools to understand the response of geologic materials in diverse environments and under varied loading conditions.

He has extensive experience using high-performance computing to study the response of frictional materials (ceramics, glass, concrete, and geologic materials) to strong shock waves, and the interaction of those waves with underground structures. He led the effort to maintain a world-class computational geomechanics capability for the laboratory, with applications to problems in national security, homeland defense, and energy and environment.

He joined the laboratory in 1998 after a six-year tenure with the Stanford Research Institute (SRI International), during which he performed numerical and experimental investigations aimed at understanding dynamic fracture and fragmentation in geologic materials.

Publications & Patents
Dr. Antoun, along with SRI and international colleagues, published the book Spall Fracture, representing the state of the art in analytical, experimental, and computational investigations of dynamic fracture. He is also the author of over 100 technical publications and holds a patent for a high-strain-rate method of producing optimized fracture networks in the subsurface for geothermal and other energy applications.

Education & Honors
Dr. Antoun received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Dayton (1991), following a B.S. in Civil Engineering (1983) and an M.S. in Structural Engineering (1986). He is a member of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, and the recipient of numerous awards, including several achievement awards from SRI, LLNL, and DOE.

Ken Haney

Ken Haney is the Strategic Advisor on Carbon Management and Engineering Manager for California Resources Corporation’s (CRC) Carbon TerraVault (CTV) business. Ken has 8 years of carbon management experience with CRC and 32 years of experience in upstream oil and natural gas exploration and production with CRC, Occidental Petroleum, Chevron, and Texaco.

Industry Experience & Technical Focus
Throughout his career, Mr. Haney has worked as an Engineer, Manager and VP on projects and reservoirs in California, West Texas, New Mexico, Alberta (Canada) and Columbia. His breadth of technical focus includes carbon management across the value chain from carbon dioxide (CO2) capture through transport and storage, miscible and immiscible gas injection, and primary/secondary and tertiary oil recovery operations in shale, clastic and carbonate reservoirs.

Education
Mr. Haney holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from California State University, Bakersfield, and a Master of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Southern California.

Stuart M. Heisler, PE

Stuart Heisler is the Co-Founder of Anacapa Engineering and Design, Inc. in Bakersfield, CA. Stuart has over 40 years of experience in conventional and alternative energy engineering and currently serves as a member of the Advisory Board at the California Energy Research Center (CERC) at CSUB.

Industry Experience & Technical Focus
Throughout his career, Mr. Heisler has held key technical and leadership roles, starting as a Production Engineer at Shell Oil and a Facilities Engineer at Chevron. In 1990, he joined TJ Cross Engineers as a Process Engineer, eventually becoming a partner and Engineering Manager until the firm's acquisition in 2015. He holds a Mechanical Engineering License in California and nine (9) US Patents in Solar Steam Generation for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). He is also an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and the American Petroleum Institute (API).

Education
Mr. Heisler holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Wayne State University.

Suely Saro, Ph.D.

Dr. Suely Saro is a Stakeholder Relations Manager for AES, a US-based Fortune 500 global energy company accelerating the future of energy. Dr. Saro leads stakeholder engagement with communities, partners, and customers, as well as social impact for AES' renewable energy projects in California. Dr. Saro has a bachelor’s degree in molecular Cellular Developmental Biology from UC Santa Cruz, a master’s degree in public administration from CSU Long Beach, and a doctorate in education from the University of La Verne. Dr. Saro previously worked as a Conservancy Project Development Specialist at the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy (RMC). She currently serves on the Long Beach City Council, and she is an alumnus of CORO Southern California’s 2025 Climate Resilience Leadership Network

Education:

Ed.D. in Education & Organizational Leadership: University of La Verne
M.P.A. in Public Administration: California State University, Long Beach
B.S. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology: University of California, Santa Cruz

Civic Leadership & Board Appointments:

Councilwoman, 6th District — City of Long Beach
Chair, Mobility, Infrastructure, & Ports Committee
Chair, Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority
Board Member, Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) — Regional Council 29
Board Member, Los Angeles County Sanitation District
Vice Chair, Arts, Culture, & Tourism Committee
Member, Economic Development & Opportunity Committee

Tat Acharya, Ph.D.

Dr. Tat Acharya is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Engineering at California State University, Bakersfield. He joined CSUB's Department of Engineering as a Lecturer in August 2016 and transitioned to Assistant Professor in August 2018.

Prior to joining CSUB, Dr. Acharya gained extensive industry experience, serving as a Senior Process Simulations Consultant Engineer at Wood Group for two years, a Research Engineer Intern at ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, and a Senior Research Engineer at Kirloskar Oil Engines in Pune, India.

Education:

Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering: Louisiana State University (2014)
M.S. in Mechanical Engineering: Louisiana State University (2008)
B.E. in Production Engineering: University of Pune, India (2004)

Research Focus & Interests:

Dr. Acharya’s research group focuses on computational fluid dynamics (CFD), heat transfer, thermodynamics, and experimental fluid dynamics across several core domains:

Multiphase Flow Physics in Porous Rocks & Geological CO2 Sequestration
Upstream Petroleum Engineering & Subsea Pipeline Flow Assurance (Hydrate and Wax Mitigation)
Urban Climate Dynamics & Mitigation of Urban Heat Island Effects
Computational Modeling of Aerosol Dispersion & Airborne Pathogen Transmission
Rarefied Gas Dynamics & Low-Pressure Thermal-Fluid Flow Systems

Chengwei Lei, Ph.D.

Dr. Chengwei Lei is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer & Electrical Engineering/Computer Science at California State University, Bakersfield. He joined the department as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2016.

Before joining CSUB, Dr. Lei served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at McNeese State University starting in Fall 2014. Driven by a commitment to lifelong learning, he also completed his MBA from the School of Business and Public Administration at California State University, Bakersfield, in August 2022.

Education:

Ph.D. in Computer Science: The University of Texas at San Antonio (August 2014, under the supervision of Dr. Jianhua Ruan)
M.S. in Computer Science: University of Texas at San Antonio (2008)
B.E. in Computer Science & Engineering: Beihang University (2005)
B.S. in Applied Mathematics: Beihang University (2005)

Research Focus & Interests:

Dr. Lei’s research interests center on developing data-analytical methods and computational tools to make complex, large-scale data understandable and actionable across several core domains:

System Modeling, Data Analysis, and Risk Evaluation for Power Grid System Failures
Big Data Analysis & Large-Scale Data Mining
Network Topology Analysis, Network Function Prediction, and Pathway Discovery
Bioinformatics & Biological Sequence Analysis