Helena Chum is the Manager of the Applied Science and Measurement Group as well as the Senior Advisor of the National Bioenergy Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. She has been at the laboratory since 1979, leading research and development Branches, Divisions, and Centers since 1992.

Dr. Chum's research areas are in the development of technologies for the conversion of biomass and a variety of organic wastes into fuels, including hydrogen, chemicals, electricity, and high value materials. She participated in the development of the Office of Science and Technology Policy's National Environmental Technology Strategy released in 1995. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Academy of Wood Science and the American Council for Chemical Research. She is a member of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy Board of Directors. 

Dr. Chum is an active member of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and serves currently as a Councilor of the Society. She presently serves as member of Advisory Committee of the Hydrogen Technical Advisory Committee (HTAC) which will report to the US DOE Secretary of Energy. She served in the Office of Industrial Technologies' Industry of the Future Program as a NREL representative to the Laboratory Coordinating Council and chaired this Council in 1997.

Dr. Chum contributed to the development of the "Brasilia Statement Directives and Action Plan for Solar, Wind and Biomass Renewable Energy Development in Brazil" (1995). She presently provides technical assistance to advance the US-Brazil hydrogen energy bilateral activities, which is associated with the International Partnerships for the Hydrogen Economy, a Presidential initiative, sponsored jointly by USDOE and USAID.

Education:
BSc. Chemistry (industrial chemistry specialization);
BSc Chemical Education;
Ph.D. Physical Chemistry, Univ. of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil