Graphene-Info is excited to welcome Mark Ritchie for a Q&A session. Mark Ritchie is a founding board member of Graphene Valley Corporation, where he focuses on the water, food, and agriculture sectors, both domestic and international. Minnesota’s elected Secretary of State from 2007 to 2015, he has served as Minnesota’s Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army since 2019. A graduate of Iowa State University and the University of Minnesota, where he served as the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences’ Endowed Chair in Sustainable Agricultural Systems from 2015 to 2017. He has a graduate degree in public affairs from the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, where he is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council.
We were delighted to hear his perspectives during this session, drawing on his extensive experience in public leadership, international collaboration, and sustainable innovation.
Q. Thank you Mark for this Q&A, it is an honor to host you at Graphene-Info. We know that Minnesota's Year of Water has led you to deepen your interest in graphene materials. Can you tell us a bit about Minnesota's goals and how graphene fits into that?
A. With over 11,000 lakes, hundreds of rivers and streams, and home to the headwaters of both the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, Minnesotans believe water must be fairly shared with nature and future generations. In 2026, we will celebrate a statewide “Year of Water”, including activities that rededicate all of us to protecting these precious resources. In my role as convenor for this special year, I have learned about hundreds of ways that graphene-related products are already protecting our water - from purification and desalination to regenerative agriculture and precision farming. Graphene’s well-deserved reputation as a “miracle product” will be a central focus throughout our Year of Water.
Q. Minnesota is also hosting the North American Biochar Conference and Expo next month. Can you introduce us to this interesting event?
A. Alongside the surge in interest in graphene-related research and product development, Minnesota has become one of the nation’s biochar hotspots. The City of Minneapolis, for example, has created the nation’s first municipally owned biochar processing plant. Farmers, gardeners, and conservation groups, including my Minnesota Valley Chapter of the Izaak Walton League, are producing and using biochar for water purification, carbon sequestration, and to promote soil health. This burst of activity in Minnesota caught the attention of the US Biochar Initiative (USBI), leading to the choice of Minneapolis as the site of their 2025 North American Biochar Conference this September. USBI is the national non-profit working to expand the use of biochar, including in the production of bio-based green graphene. This conference brings together scientists, farmers, policymakers, and entrepreneurs from both the biochar and graphene communities, looking to collaborate on new products, research initiatives, and joint promotion campaigns. More info and conference registration
details at https://biochar-us.org.
I will lead a panel on “Biochar and Graphene, the Exciting Future Unfolding for the Pyrolysis Community” and will be part of a site visit to City of Minneapolis’ biochar facility.
Q. As someone coming from outside the graphene industry, how do you perceive the material and its potential? And looking ahead, what do you envision for the future of graphene?
A. As part of my work convening Minnesota’s Year of Water, I searched every information source I could find on water conservation, preservation, and restoration in Minnesota. I kept finding references to graphene-related products and services already being used to solve specific challenges or were on the research agendas of colleges, universities, companies, and other players. One day, I discovered field trials for rice being conducted in South Korea and Vietnam by the Nanographene Fertilizer company, where graphene-based bio-stimulants were shown to significantly improve crop yields, resulting in significant water use efficiencies. Having worked for many years on agriculture policy and food security issues at the state and federal levels, I was excited to see these excellent results.
These important improvements in rice yields motivated me to begin researching all of the many ways that graphene-based products could help farmers, and their rural communities thrive. I have recently joined the board of Graphene Valley Corporation(GVC) with a special interest in the water, food, and agriculture sectors. GVC is an ideal opportunity for me to use my years of experience in both the public and private sectors to help accelerate the adoption of graphene-based solutions throughout our entire food supply chain, both in the United States and worldwide.
Q. What tips or advice would you offer to those developing graphene materials or applications?
A. We need an industry-wide strategy for getting the word out to policymakers, media, and the public about graphene-based products that can address some of our most difficult societal problems. One approach to this might be to come together as an industry to tackle one or two big challenges that graphene can solve. Japan and many other countries want to increase their rice production. Graphene can help. Hospitals in the US are running TV ads promising that their mammograms hurt less than the other hospital down the street.
Graphene-based medical biosensors can revolutionize the detection and treatment of one of the world’s most preventable killers. Building data centers heavily dependent on massive amounts of water and currently unavailable electricity in states that are warm to unbearably hot year-round with very limited water supplies, is not sustainable. Building graphene-based quantum data centers that operate at room temperature and are energy self-sufficient would be a global game-changer. The world is looking for hopeful solutions. They need us to get the word out about graphene.
Thank you Mr. Ritchie, for these insights, it was a pleasure hosting you on Graphene-Info!
Contact us if you wish to get in touch with Mark or if you have any questions about how your graphene-related products or research might benefit from exposure at this event.
