Katherine Vaz Gomes, PhD

Katherine Vaz Gomes is a decarbonization engineer dedicated to advancing carbon management solutions that bridge scientific innovation with real-world implementation. With a background in chemical and biomolecular engineering, she specializes in carbon mineralization, critical mineral extraction, and techno-economic assessment of emerging decarbonization technologies.

At Carbon Direct, Katherine advises clients on the technologies to reduce the emissions of cement, concrete, and mining while maintaining economic growth. She works on strategies to lower the carbon intensity of concrete by integrating carbon mineralization into cement production and utilizing industrial waste streams as feedstocks for carbon removal. Her expertise in circular economy principles helps industries scale up low-carbon solutions by repurposing byproducts from mining and industrial processes into valuable materials.

Katherine conducts due diligence on carbon management projects, ensuring that emerging technologies — such as mineralization for concrete curing and carbon-storing supplementary cementitious materials — are scientifically robust, economically viable, and scalable. She also supports decarbonization strategies for the mining sector, evaluating pathways to capture and store carbon in mine tailings while extracting critical minerals essential for the energy transition.

Katherine received a PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, with a focus on the process engineering, techno economics, and government regulations involved in using mining waste to store greenhouse gases and produce critical minerals.