Sarah Glaven, Ph.D., is a Gerhard R. Andlinger visiting fellow with the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University where she is developing a strategy to promote and connect biomanufacturing with renewable feedstocks, power and next-generation process technology. As a senior biologist at the United States Naval Research Laboratory, she pioneered electromicrobiology, the study of electrical interactions between microbes and their environment. She has published extensively on electromicrobiology and environmental biotechnology, including peer-reviewed articles and multiple book chapters, and she holds 5 patents. She has collaborated with the private sector through cooperative research and development agreements and patent licensing. She is a fellow of the International Society for Microbial Electrochemistry and Technology and served as president from 2018-2019.

From 2023-2025, Glaven was principal assistant director for biotechnology and biomanufacturing in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She was the top scientist for biotechnology and biomanufacturing on the industrial innovation team. She led the National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative by establishing and chairing the National Bioeconomy Board. In this role, she oversaw coordination and implementation of over $15 billion in federal funding across the executive branch, including the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Service, United State Department of Agriculture and the National Science Foundation. Glaven holds a B.S. in environmental science and M.S. in molecular biology from the University of Massachusetts and a Ph.D. in environmental health sciences from the University of South Carolina.