Nate Kirchhofer

CEO, Cofounder, & Physical Electrochemist @ BioZen Batteries

Nate Kirchhofer works at the confluence of electrochemistry, nanotechnology, materials science, physics, microbiology, synthetic chemistry, and statistics to develop cutting-edge technologies that advance sustainable energy systems. His work is driven by a commitment to fundamentally enabling sustainable energy conversion and accelerating the transition away from a fossil-fuel–dominated future.

He believes that cross-disciplinary collaboration is essential to solving complex global challenges, bringing together diverse perspectives to unlock scientific and technological breakthroughs that support and preserve human civilization. Grounded in the interconnectedness of natural and engineered systems, he approaches his work with humility, responsibility, and urgency, aiming to help realize society’s full scientific potential for both present and future generations.

He earned his PhD in the Materials Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara (2016), specializing in physical bioelectrochemistry, where he focused on designing biologically inspired and biologically enabled electronic reactions for sustainable energy conversion technologies. Prior to that, he completed a degree in Physics (magna cum laude) and Mathematics at the University of Colorado (2008), and worked at the biotech startup OPX Bio (2008–2010) in Boulder, Colorado.

Following graduate school, he joined Oxford Instruments Asylum Research (2016–2021), where he contributed to the development of advanced nano-electrochemical scanning probe techniques. He is currently a co-founder of BioZen Batteries, where he is helping develop affordable, abundant, bio-inspired redox-active organic semiconducting materials for flow batteries, enabling scalable, long-duration energy storage for a sustainable energy future.