# Molly Morse

> Dr. Molly Morse is the CEO and co-founder of Mango Materials, a Vacaville, California-based startup that turns waste methane into biodegradable PHA biopolymers. Founding the company in 2010 on the back of her Stanford PhD research, Morse has spent over a decade building a circular bioeconomy solution that converts a potent greenhouse gas into a commercially viable plastic replacement — branded as YOPP pellets. She has won the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge (2012), the C3E Entrepreneurship Award (2018), and was selected as an Unreasonable Fellow in 2022.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at Mango Materials
- **Organizations:** Mango Materials, Engineers for a Sustainable World, Unreasonable Fellowship
- **From:** Berkeley, California, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering (focus: anaerobic biodegradation of biocomposites, PHA production from methane), Stanford University
- **Known for:** Winner, Postcode Lottery Green Challenge (2012) — one of the world's largest green entrepreneurship competitions, 2018 C3E Initiative Entrepreneurship Award from the U.S. Department of Energy, recognizing mid-career women in clean energy, Co-inventor of Stanford's patented biocomposite technology (U.S. Patent Application 20110112257)

## Career timeline

- **2003-2009** — Doctoral research at Stanford under Prof. Craig Criddle; studied PHA biopolymers from methane and their use in biodegradable biocomposites for construction
- **2009-2010** — Construction Manager & Green Designer at Bryant & Bryant LLC; consulted for venture capital firms evaluating sustainable materials companies
- **2010** — Co-founded Mango Materials with Allison Pieja and Anne Schauer-Gimenez, commercializing Stanford PHA research
- **2011** — Mango Materials received its first government grant
- **2012** — Won the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge, a major international green entrepreneurship award
- **2013** — Presented at Google Solve for X conference; interviewed at Sustainable Brands conference; company ranked #33 of 40 hottest smaller bioeconomy companies
- **2018** — Awarded the U.S. Clean Energy Education and Empowerment (C3E) Initiative Entrepreneurship Award
- **2022** — Mango Materials named one of 'Next 50 Companies to Disrupt the World' by Biofuels Digest; selected as Unreasonable Fellow (Unreasonable Impact Americas)
- **2025** — Appeared on Big Red Podcast discussing methane-to-PHA scaling; Mango Materials continues operations from Vacaville, CA facility

## Achievements

- Winner, Postcode Lottery Green Challenge (2012) — one of the world's largest green entrepreneurship competitions
- 2018 C3E Initiative Entrepreneurship Award from the U.S. Department of Energy, recognizing mid-career women in clean energy
- Co-inventor of Stanford's patented biocomposite technology (U.S. Patent Application 20110112257)
- Mango Materials named one of 'Next 50 Companies to Disrupt the World' by Biofuels Digest (2022)
- Selected as an Unreasonable Fellow, Unreasonable Impact Americas (2022)
- Multiple patents and publications in bioplastics and biocomposites
- Licensed exclusive commercialization rights to a decade of Stanford PHA research

## Latest updates

- **2025-05** — Appeared on the Big Red Podcast (Cornell alumni series) discussing Mango Materials' methane-to-PHA technology, partnerships with wastewater facilities, and scaling challenges
- **2024-01** — Featured in The Circular People profile highlighting Mango Materials' progress in circular biopolymer production
- **2022-01** — Selected as an Unreasonable Fellow in the Unreasonable Impact Americas 2022 program

## Links

- Website: https://mangomaterials.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greenmolly
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/molmorse
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mangomaterials

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/molly-morse
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-13