Molly Morse

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Mango Materials

2018 Entrepreneurship Award Winner

Molly Morse co-founded Mango Materials, a start-up company that produces a naturally occurring biopolymer from waste biogas (methane) that is economically competitive with conventional oil-based materials. She is leading Mango Materials in collaborations to optimize and upscale the biomanufacturing technology that drives production, along with multiple other research initiatives investigating biomaterials. Her vision of the future involves the proliferation of anaerobic digestion so that methane can be used to make electricity, fuels, and materials, creating local regions of economic resilience. Morse is also a member of the Unreasonable Fellowship, a community of entrepreneurs, institutions, and investors who aim to solve pressing global problems. Prior to founding Mango Materials, Morse served as Construction Manager & Green Designer for Bryant LLC, where she researched alternative building materials and supervised building remodeling using green, sustainable practices. She also organized a number of initiatives for Engineers for a Sustainable World, a group that addresses real-world problems faced by communities in the developing world. Morse has contributed to multiple patents, publications, and presentations. She received her PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering—with an emphasis on anaerobic biodegradation of biocomposites for the building industry—from Stanford University, and she earned her BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Cornell University.