Bioroot Energy

Since 2007, Jay Toups has guided Bioroot Energy, LLC, from inception to one of today’s best positioned clean fuel startups.  Raised in Gulfport, Mississippi, after high school he worked 96-hour weeks as a deckhand aboard an oil field work boat in the Gulf of Mexico, providing formative insights into the environmental issues and economics of extraction and use of petroleum oil. His time in the Gulf only lasted 18 months, but this early “black collar” experience led to a lifelong interest in industrial-scale energy and its environmental and economic impact on communities and the environment.

Since completing undergraduate studies in English and Business at the University of Southern Mississippi in 1980, Jay has excelled in the fields of information technology, corporate and technical communication, business application development, and strategic SMB marketing.  His professional background includes 13 years as an information technology consultant and 12 years’ employment with Novell, Portlock Software, and Ford Sherman, Inc. in a variety of technical, managerial and executive positions.

A resident of Darby, Montana, since 1998, Mr. Toups’ interest in producing clean liquid fuels from diverse feedstocks began in 2007 with his involvement with the Big Sky Coalition, a community-led Montana non-profit (now defunct) dedicated to addressing Montana forestry and environmental policy issues. This community-focused mission to “do something about our overgrown and dying forests” carries on with Bioroot Energy, albeit with a dynamic market focus.

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Mark is co-founder of Standard Alcohol Company of America, Inc., and is co-author of the company’s slate of higher mixed alcohol fuel formula and usage patents.

Heath Carey was born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and was raised in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.  He spent the majority of his childhood blazing trails in the wilderness, boulder climbing, hunting, fishing, mountain biking and most preferably, wading in streams.

Following completion of a 2001 BA in English at Shippensburg University, Heath moved west and enrolled as a Post Bach. at the University of Montana.  Over the following years he was employed by various agencies, as a hydrologic technician in Arizona and New Mexico, a biologic technician in the Sonoran Desert and a Stream Ecological Investigator in Glacier National Park.

While enrolled as a University of Montana Resource Conservation graduate student, Heath took an opportunity to spearhead the Missoula Hybrid Poplar Demonstration Project, which focuses on the reuse of treated wastewater as a source of irrigation and fertilization for a 1.6 acre poplar plantation.  Upon receiving his MS in May 2010, Heath established Terra Mater Solutions, an environmental consulting firm, where he continues his work with the Missoula Poplar Project and developing a full circle transformation of America’s wastes into  clean energy sources.

“Joining the Bioroot Energy team is a simple no-brainer – commonality in utilizing waste as an under-appreciated and all too often overlooked resource is just the beginning.  Throw in the shared ideals of making a difference while triggering a global phenomenon – well now we’re talking!”

Dr. Avniel holds a Ph.D. in physics (emphasis on materials) from Cambridge University and has successfully combined technology development, technical due diligence and executive leadership in the advanced materials and nanotechnology marketplace for the past 15 years. Some career highlights include executive leadership positions in the corporate and technology start up industries, the receipt of a NASA inventor recognition award, securing numerous government funded research awards and the granting of 13 technology-related patents. His present efforts include the development of novel energy sources, the development and application of nanophase thin film systems, and providing technical due diligence services to the advanced materials and alternative energy marketplaces.