News

New research shows grain yields critical to India’s food security are dragged down 10% or more in many parts of the country by nitrogen dioxide pollution from power stations that run on coal. Economic losses from crop damages exceed $800 million per year.

Between 1997 and 2024, endangered North Pacific loggerhead sea turtles shifted their foraging northward at a rate six times faster than the average for most marine species. The turtles face risks as they adapt to ocean warming caused by climate change.

TIME recognizes the 100 most influential people in business worldwide working on climate for 2024, including eight Stanford alumni.

From June to September 2024, Benedict Chen, E-IPER MBA-MS ’25, worked at Mitra Chem through the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability Summer Internship Program. Mitra Chem is a startup based in Mountain View that innovates in and develops iron-based cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

"The offer of €1 homes amid a global refugee crisis is a troubling reflection of the underlying xenophobia shaping these programs", says Leona Neftaliem.

PhD student Eeshan Chaturvedi is driven to create meaningful change worldwide. He’s advancing sustainability through both his legal research and global leadership.

"Sometimes a local approach may be the most effective for addressing a global problem", says Hannah Melville-Rea.

Nearly two dozen students from across campus meet quarterly to discuss topics and questions raised by Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability faculty and staff and then share their recommendations with the Dean’s Office.

TIME named Jenna Forsyth to the inaugural 2024 TIME100 Health, a new annual list of 100 individuals who most influenced global health this year. The list recognizes the impact, innovation, and achievement of the world’s most influential individuals in health. 

Stanford experts discuss agreements related to fossil fuels, food, oceans, and more at the 2023 U.N. climate talks in Dubai and share reflections on the summit.

Scholars from the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability discuss their hopes and expectations for international climate talks taking place this month in Dubai.

Stanford Report highlights third-year E-IPER student Karli Moore and two other Stanford graduate students and Knight-Hennessy scholars who are using their fellowship to support Native and Indigenous communities, both on and off campus.

Three Stanford graduate students and Knight-Hennessy scholars are using their fellowship to support Native and Indigenous communities, both on and off campus.

Seetah, an environmental archeologist, will be leading the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER), which offers PhDs within the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and joint and dual MS degrees with other schools within the university.

Stanford alumna and visiting scholar Kim Nicholas discusses obstacles and strategies for what she calls “everyday climate action.” (Source: Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment)

Two Stanford scientists found hope and lessons for improving disaster response after oil spills hit close to home.

Motivated to increase revenue and contribute to climate impact, livestock farmers are planting more trees on pastureland with the help of Working Trees, a venture co-founded by John Foye, MBA ’22/MS E-IPER, and Aakash Ahamed, a PhD candidate in geophysics.

The award recognizes individuals who go above and beyond their role to create a more inclusive, just, and welcoming community at the Stanford School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences.

More than any class before, the 2022 graduates of the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences are prepared to navigate uncertainties in the pursuit of a life that brings happiness and meaning, according to Dean Stephan Graham.

A new certificate program provides a framework for Stanford Earth graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to learn new skills, gain practical experience, and produce portfolio pieces that will broaden their professional preparedness. The program will be carried into the new school focused on climate and sustainability.

Associate Professor and E-IPER Director Nicole Ardoin and her team are working to understand how people feel about the world around them – and what they’re able and willing to do to protect it.

E-IPER alumni Jayce Hafner, MS/MBA ’19, and Sami Tellatin, MS/MBA ’20, co-founded a startup that automates the process of matching farmers to financing, drastically reducing the time needed for the whole application process.

Nicole Ardoin and Mark Horowitz discuss exciting new programs and courses within the new school, which will focus on climate and sustainability.

The 2021 Stanford Earth Photo Contest yielded evidence that despite another difficult year, faculty, students and staff kept their academics, research and engagement with nature going. Two undergraduates and three graduate students won the top prizes.

Forbes' 2022 "30 under 30" feature includes two current Stanford University students and eight recent alumni developing energy- and sustainability-related technologies. 

On PBS NewsHour Weekend starting at [04:57], recent E-IPER PhD graduate David Gonzalez discussed his upbringing and research exploring how oil and gas operations impact nearby residents.

"Climate’s impact on health allows us to put our arms around a problem," says Michele Barry, director of the Center for Innovation in Global Health. "When you bring health into the equation, all of a sudden, people can focus on the impact – the very real impact – on their lives."

Two E-IPER-affiliated teams have been awarded by XPRIZE and The Musk Foundation. Holocene Climate won in the category of Carbon Dioxide Removal Demonstrations and Working Trees in Measurement, Reporting, and Verification Technologies.

The director of the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER), has been recognized by Stanford’s Bass University Fellows in Undergraduate Education Program for extraordinary contributions to undergraduate education. 

Vitousek and Daily, who are both emeriti faculty directors of the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER), have been recognized for work that has benefited the scientific community and society in general.

Researchers found increased concentrations of air pollutants downwind from oil and gas wells in California, likely affecting millions of Californians who live near them.

WeaveGrid founders and Stanford alums Apoorv Bhargava and John Taggart forecast the future of electricity use from greater adoption of electric vehicles. Their goal: to prepare energy utilities for the electrification shift.

Interviews with Northern California residents reveal that social norms and social support are essential for understanding protective health behaviors during wildfire smoke events – information that could be leveraged to improve public health outcomes.

Stanford Law School’s Professor Buzz Thompson, one of the country’s leading water law experts, discusses California’s wildfires, drought, water, and climate change with Stanford Legal on SiriusXM co-hosts Professors Joseph Bankman and Richard Thompson Ford. 

The new school will include transitional academic divisions, university-wide cross-cutting themes organized into institutes and an accelerator focused on solutions. 

This summer, 19 undergraduate students are participating in faculty research projects through the Stanford Earth Summer Undergraduate Research program.

Governments need to double down on investments and innovation in educating youth and communities about the environment if future generations are to be able to respond effectively and with appropriate urgency to the climate emergency, according to Stanford researchers. (Source: Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment) 

Recipients of the school’s annual Excellence in Teaching Awards are selected based on nominations from students, faculty, and alumni.

Graduates of the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences have the skills and knowledge to persevere in the face of new challenges and uncertainty, according to Dean Stephan Graham.

April 2021 saw a 20-year high in the number of people stopped at the U.S./Mexico border, and President Joe Biden recently raised the cap on annual refugee admissions. Stanford researchers discuss how climate change’s effect on migration will change, how we can prepare for the impacts and what kind of policies could help alleviate the issue.

A wide range of organizations focused on areas as seemingly disparate as social justice, religion and the arts play important roles in helping people understand and act on environmental issues. Stanford environmental experts discuss their analysis of nearly 1,000 such organizations in the San Francisco Bay.

Stanford Earth graduate students Amanda Zerbe, Carl Ziade, Ian Field, Jenna Louie, Krishna Rao, Lauren Abrahams and Marie-Cristine Kaptan have received 2021 Community Impact Awards from the Stanford Alumni Association (SAA) for campus contributions.

Women exposed to higher levels of nitrate in drinking water were more likely to deliver very early, according to a study of 1.4 million California births.

Analysis of sales data and flood risk data over two decades indicates that housing markets fail to fully account for information about flood risk. The findings suggest that policies to improve risk communication could influence market outcomes.

In a podcast series hosted by The Stanford Daily, Dean Stephan Graham discussed the new climate and sustainability school and other topics affecting the Stanford community. 

E-IPER alumni Nicole Systrom, '14, and Nicholas Flanders, '16,  shared how their work in clean energy and technology addresses climate change. 

Stanford University scholars discuss the Biden administration’s early actions on environmental issues in the Arctic and how the U.S. government can address threats to ecosystems, people and infrastructure in the fastest-warming place on Earth.

Dean Stephan Graham and Nicole Ardoin presented an update on the structure of the new school at the Faculty Senate meeting on March 11th. The plans include a Sustainability Accelerator that will translate policy and technology solutions.

Nina Brooks, E-IPER PhD '20, discussed her research project on air pollution from brick kilns in Bangladesh and its relation to health, the environment and economics. 

Stephan Graham, Noah Diffenbaugh, Sally Benson and Anjana Richards served as panelists at a recent Deliberative Polling event to discuss proposals for the new school focused on climate and sustainability. 

Small-scale fisheries, which employ about 90 percent of the world’s fishers and supply half the fish for human consumption, are on the frontlines of climate change. They may offer insights into resilience.

A new model of disease spread describes how competing economic and health incentives influence social contact – and vice versa. The result is a complex and dynamic epidemic trajectory.

Adjunct professor Lauren Oakes , E-IPER PhD '15, wrote an op-ed about the factors necessary to ensure reforestation efforts yield benefits for communities and biodiversity.

Following deliberations by a Blueprint Advisory Committee in the fall, leaders are seeking faculty input on proposals for the new school’s structure, composition and areas of focus.

A remediation and public education effort at an abandoned battery recycling facility in Bangladesh eliminated most lead soil contamination, but levels of the toxic metal in children living near the site did not decrease nearly as much. The discrepancy reveals the scope of other lead exposure sources and the challenge they present to public health.

Looking back at what has been a turbulent year, the Stanford community has found new ways to come together to learn and to work, while also advancing research. 

E-IPER alumnus Nick Halla’s ambition to drive technology for sustainability brought him full circle to focus on food system innovation.

Looking back at what has been a turbulent year, the Stanford community has found new ways to come together to learn and to work, while also advancing research. 

E-IPER PhD candidate Caroline Ferguson co-authored an op-ed about the challenges faced by residents of the Marshall Islands, a nation that stretches across more than a million square miles of Pacific Ocean.

Annie Baldwin, E-IPER MBA/MS '19, is director of strategy at eIQ Mobility, which offers an analytics platform that helps corporate vehicle fleets determine which cars could be readily swapped out for more efficient electric vehicles. Now in its second year, eIQ Mobility is working with 25 fleets representing 80,000 vehicles.

Stanford Earth’s 2020 photo contest drew 156 photographs from faculty, students, and staff. The images captured experiences coping with COVID-19, as well as close encounters with nature from activities before the pandemic.

Drawing from studies on human behavior and responses to past epidemics and wildfire smoke, researchers outline recommendations for communicating correct mask use and suggest areas for further research.

Making high-quality care accessible to local and Indigenous communities was correlated with a 70 percent reduction of deforestation in an Indonesian national park. By offsetting healthcare costs, the community-designed program reduced incentives for illegal logging.

Rebecca Miller, a PhD student in the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources, found that bureaucratic hurdles contribute to a lack of burning, as do public perceptions about fire.

A school focused on climate and sustainability, announced last May, is beginning to take shape. Leaders anticipate blueprints for the school’s academic structure by winter quarter.

A collection of research and insights from Stanford experts on wildfires' links to climate change, the health impacts of smoke, and promising strategies for preventing huge blazes and mitigating risks.

Dean Stephan Graham co-authored an op-ed with the deans of the School of Humanities and Sciences and the School of Engineering urging readers to "vote for the party and candidate of your choice, but by all means vote."

The sustainability initiative that arose out of the Long-Range Vision has awarded 17 seed grants providing one year of funding to faculty pursuing groundbreaking ideas for sustainability solutions.

The Summer Undergraduate Research in Geoscience and Engineering (SURGE) program celebrates 10 years of bringing students from diverse backgrounds to Stanford for a summer of Earth science research and graduate school preparation.

From fieldwork in Hawaii to testifying in Congress, Kate Brauman, Environment and Resources PhD ’10, developed a career in water policy by embracing interdisciplinary interests, following her personal values, and being open to new opportunities – even when her path forward wasn’t clear.

Stanford scientists discuss obstacles for large-scale green initiatives and what it takes for sustainability efforts to deliver lasting benefits across borders, sectors and communities.

Jenna Forsyth, E-IPER PhD '19, now a postdoctoral researcher with the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, helped pinpoint a source of the devastating neurotoxin in turmeric and foster an initiative to reduce exposure.

Rob Dunbar, Nicole Ardoin and Jenny Suckale are among the recipients of 2020 Environmental Venture Projects (EVP) and Realizing Environmental Innovation Program (REIP) grants awarded by the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

The California Report includes a segment on research by Chris Field and Rebecca Miller finding that more controlled burns are needed to prevent future wildfires in our state.

The first-of-its-kind study reveals that subsidies for the planting of commercially valuable tree plantations in Chile resulted in the loss of biologically valuable natural forests and little, if any, additional carbon sequestration.

Graduates of the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences have the knowledge and skills to create an environmentally just and sustainable world for everyone, according to Dean Stephan Graham.

The Stanford Energy Ventures course helps passionate entrepreneurs develop novel energy solutions and has launched almost 20 startups worth more than $30 million over the past three years.

Jordan Conger of Bend, Oregon, who is currently pursuing a master’s degree in business administration at Stanford Graduate School of Business, will pursue a master’s in environment and resources at Stanford Earth in the fall.

“We see the animals as infecting us, but the picture that’s coming from the study and other studies is we really go to the animals,” says Stanford's Eric Lambin.

Viruses that jump from animals to people, like the one responsible for COVID-19, will likely become more common as people continue to transform natural habitats into agricultural land, a new study suggests.

E-IPER PhD candidate Rachel Ragnhild Carlson writes about how she put skills she acquired as a U.S. government scientist to good use when she started graduate school.

E-IPER PhD student Rebecca Miller's research on prescribed burns and vegetation thinning helps explain "fuel treatments" and why we need them now in California.

“Twenty million acres would benefit from having some combination of prescribed burns, mechanical thinning, or managed wildfire,” says Rebecca Miller. “There is no ‘no-fire’ solution in California.”

Despite having proven effective at reducing wildfire risks, prescribed burns have been stymied by perceived and real risks, regulations and resource shortages. A new analysis highlights ways of overcoming those barriers, offering solutions for wildfire-ravaged landscapes.