Our 20th anniversary

Celebrating a milestone

Dear Stanford Earth community,  

The Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER) celebrated its 20th anniversary in academic year 2021-2022!  

Former deans Lynn Orr and Pamela Matson championed the program, which launched in 2001 with ESS faculty member Rob Dunbar as its first director. In 2009, the Emmett Family provided a generous sustaining gift. The program continuously has been an exemplar of high-quality interdisciplinary research and education, equipping students with a range of skills and experiences for discovering solutions and contributing to policy.  

Since its first cohort, the program has graduated more than 296 Environment and Resources PhDs and Joint/Dual MS degree holders with students in the schools of business, law, medicine, H&S, education, and engineering. The MS-MBA is especially in demand among those aspiring to bring about transformative changes in sustainability across various sectors and industries. All of this aligns with Stanford Earth’s mission to develop leaders who will create a more sustainable world. E-IPER, along with our other programs, will play a key role in the emerging university-wide sustainability initiative, with a focus on education and research that create real-world impact.  

Compared to its first class of just a handful of students, this year, E-IPER's annual enrollment reached 120 students combined in the PhD and MS programs. In the last six years alone, the Joint/Dual MS program has nearly doubled.  

The range of fields covered has also greatly expanded. In addition to ecology, sustainability, energy, and climate change, E-IPER students delve into ocean science, food security, environmental policy, environmental justice, human behavior, and economics. And this year, the program has expanded to include a dual degree with the Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy (MIP) program.  

We owe this success to the many inspired faculty leaders of the program who have nurtured the program from its inception: from Rob Dunbar and ecologist Stephen Schneider; environmental scientist Gretchen Daily, biologist Peter Vitousek, and social scientist Nicole Ardoin, who now leads the program along with our dedicated staff. We are also incredibly grateful to the more than 140 affiliated faculty from across campus who advise, mentor, teach, and collaborate with our students—the E-IPER community truly is Stanford-wide. 

Stephan Graham
Chester Naramore Dean
School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences