Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes
US Critical Minerals Leader | Energy & Mining Exec | Connecting Policy, Capital & Projects
- Role
- Principal at Smoketree Resources
- Location
- Austin, TX, US
- LinkedIn followers
- 500 followers
About Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes
Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes is an engineer with thirteen years of experience in acquiring, financing, and developing both greenfield and brownfield natural resources projects around the globe. She is COO and on the Board of Directors for M Evo Global Acquisition Corp II (Nasdaq: MEVO), Principal at Smoketree Resources, a critical minerals-focused family office, and a Non-Resident Fellow at Rice Center for Energy Studies.Ms. Zumwalt-Forbes formerly served as the US Deputy Director for Batteries and Critical Materials, overseeing the deployment of ~$6B in non-dilutive equity and ~$10B in tax credits into the US battery supply chain. She has deep expertise in starting and scaling energy supply chain ventures, having served as Co-Founder and President of Black Mountain Metals (private nickel mining company) and Black Mountain Exploration (private natural gas company - successfully IPO’d). She was key to both the IPO and business combination for Metals Acquisition Corp, having served as its Co-Founder and Senior Advisor from 2021–2023.Prior to joining Black Mountain in 2017, Ms. Zumwalt-Forbes worked in several Lead Engineering roles at ExxonMobil and XTO Energy, managing drilling, completions, and planning aspects of international shale exploration, laying the groundwork for >US$1 billion capital deployment. She is on the Advisory Board of OU’s School of Petroleum Engineering.Ms. Zumwalt-Forbes graduated summa cum laude from the University of Oklahoma with a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. She was highlighted as the featured honoree on the 2020 Forbes 30 under 30 in Energy list, a 2021 Oil & Gas Investor Forty under 40 award winner, and one of the top 25 women in business in DFW by Dallas Business Journal. She now resides in Austin, TX with her husband, two daughters, and two cats.
Experience
Principal
Jan 2025 — Present
Smoketree Resources is a family office focused on building the future of critical minerals. We invest across the supply chain and back founders, teams, and technologies aligned with long-term industrial strategy. With deep roots in both government and industry, we bring capital, insight, and connectivity to help bold ideas become enduring businesses.
Education
University of Oklahoma
Bachelor of Science, Petroleum Engineering
2008 — 2012
Harvard Business School
Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.)
2015 — 2017
University of Oklahoma College of Law
Master of Legal Studies , Oil, Gas, & Energy Law
2018 — 2019
Skills
- Project Management
- Completion
- Petroleum
- Operational Due Diligence
- Well Testing
- Well Control
- Reservoir Simulation
- Upstream
- Due Diligence
- Oil & Gas
- Field Development
- Aries
- Drilling Engineering
- Drilling
- Petroleum Economics
- Mining
- Execution of Business Plans
- Team Leadership
- Energy Industry
- Petrophysics
- Oil & Gas Industry
- Completions
- New Technology Evaluation
- Public Speaking
- Formation Evaluation
- Pressure
- Hydraulic Fracturing
- Reservoir Modeling
- Petroleum Engineering
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