DeLaine Mayer

DeLaine Mayer works at the intersection of emerging technology, geopolitics, and commercialization, with a focus on advancing technologies that address complex global challenges. Her professional experience spans energy infrastructure, industrial decarbonization, advanced biomaterials, and space technologies. At Nebula Energy, she led the development of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and low-carbon energy systems, while her work with Full Cycle Bioplastics and Genecis Bioindustries focused on commercializing circular economy technologies to reduce food waste and plastic pollution. Across these roles, she has developed commercial strategies and partnerships connecting industry, government, and research institutions.

Mayer is an Executive-in-Residence in Space, Technology, and Geopolitics and Adjunct Professor at New York University's Center for Global Affairs, where she developed and teaches Astropolitik: The Politics, Policies, and Technologies of Outer Space, the university's first graduate course dedicated to New Space geopolitics. Her research examines the role of space technologies in national development and security strategies, the potential of in situ space resource utilization and in-space manufacturing, and the geopolitical relationships connecting Earth, cislunar space, the Moon, and beyond.

In Fall 2027, she will offer a new course examining intersections of polar and space exploration, focusing on scientific leadership, emerging geopolitical competition, resource governance, and the planetary-scale ecological implications of climate change in the Arctic and Antarctica.

Mayer was named a 2021 NASA iTech winner for her work with Full Cycle Bioplastics on closed-loop manufacturing and biomaterials-based packaging. She is a 2026 Atlantic Council Millennium Leadership Intensive participant, a 2026 KOSMICA Institute Space Humanities Fellow, and a 2027 Ethics Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.

She holds an M.S. with distinction in Global Affairs from New York University, concentrating in Energy and Environmental Policy; an M.S. in Space Resources from Colorado School of Mines; and a B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University.