Past News: 2009
Scientists Solve Puzzle of Arsenic-Poisoning Crisis in Asia »
Every day, more than 140 million people in southern Asia drink groundwater contaminated with arsenic. Thousands of people in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Myanmar and Vietnam die of cancer each year from chronic exposure to arsenic,...
By Chelsea Anne Young,
While studying the migration patterns of endangered sea turtles using satellite tagging technology, George Shillinger, MS ’97, a doctoral student working with marine biologist Barbara Block at Hopkins Marine Station, showed his...
By News Staff,
Research Team Develops Faux Wood That Can Biodegrade »
Stanford University researchers have developed a synthetic wood substitute that may one day save trees, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and shrink landfills.
By Mark Shwartz,
'Frog Doctor' to Lead Comparative Medicine Department »
Not long after she arrived at Stanford in 1997, veterinarian Sherril Green, DVM, PhD, was called in to examine some South African clawed frogs in the lab that were looking poorly. Green had to make the leap from her background in...
By Ruthann Richter,
Fiorenza Micheli Awarded Marine Conservation Fellowship »
Fiiorenza Micheli, associate professor of biology at Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station, has been awarded one of five 2009 Pew Fellowships in Marine Conservation.
By News Staff,
Scientist Testifies on Federal Waiver to Regulate Auto Exhaust »
On March 5, the Environmental Protection Agency took a step in that direction by holding a hearing to reconsider California's application for a waiver that would allow the state to regulate greenhouse gases from motor vehicles....
By Louis Bergeron,
Woods Institute Names 19 Leopold Leadership Fellows »
Nineteen environmental researchers from across North America have been awarded Leopold Leadership Fellowships for 2009.
By News Staff,
$10 Million Gift for Environmental Program »
Dan Emmett, '61, and his wife, Rae, have endowed the Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources with a $10 million gift through their Emmett Foundation.
By Louis Bergeron,
Meet Five Extraordinary Stanford Scholarship Recipients »
Despite the current economic difficulties, Stanford remains steadfastly committed to ensuring that the best students are able to attend the university, no matter their financial circumstances. Meet five extraordinary undergraduates...
By News Staff,
Tools for Battling Climate Change »
The world must look to currently available technologies to combat climate change rather than wait for the ideal solution, urged visiting professor and energy expert Nick Jenkins in a Stanford forum titled "Clean Technologies for a...
By Chelsea Anne Young,
Reversing Ecology Reveals Ancient Environments »
From hair color to the ancestral line of parasitic bacteria, scientists can glean a lot from genes. But imagine if genes also revealed where you lived or who you spent time with. It turns out they do, if you know where and how to look.
By Cassandra Brooks,
Nuclear Is Going Worldwide, But U.S. Is Not in the Game »
Nuclear power plants, already more popular outside the United States than stateside, are popping up all over the developing world. But America, having backed away from nuclear power since the accident at Three Mile Island in 1979,...
By Dan Stober,
Coasts Catch Fish Farming's Dirty Drift »
If you are a fish eater, it's likely that the salmon you had for dinner was not caught not in the wild, but was instead grown in a mesh cage submerged in the open water of oceans or bays. Fish farming, a relatively inexpensive way...
By Dan Stober,
Exxon Mobil Chief Lauds GCEP's Energy Research »
Rex Tillerson, the president and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp., spoke on campus Tuesday night, praising the work of Stanford researchers and—in a recent switch of company policy—urging Congress to pass a carbon tax to reduce greenhouse...
By Dan Stober,
Climate Could Cross Critical Threshold by 2100, Expert Warns »
Without decisive action, global warming in the 21st century is likely to accelerate at a much faster pace and cause more environmental damage than predicted, according to a leading member of the Nobel Prize-winning...
By Mark Shwartz,
Media Often Fail in Their Global Warming Coverage, Says Climate Researcher »
"Business managers of media organizations: You are screwing up your responsibility by firing science and environment reporters, who are frankly the only ones competent to do this," said climate researcher and policy analyst Stephen...
By Louis Bergeron,
Biofuels Boom Could Fuel Rainforest Destruction »
Farmers across the tropics might raze forests to plant biofuel crops, according to new research by Holly Gibbs, a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford's Woods Institute for the Environment.
By Chelsea Anne Young,
Elephants Look for Love through Seismic Vibrations »
Many a love-besotted soul has declared he would move the world for his true love, but how many actually accomplish that task in their quest to unite with a lover?
By Louis Bergeron,
Green Fund Rewards Student Sustainability Efforts »
The planting of new gardens at campus residences, a friendly water and energy conservation contest between dormitories, and seven other student-driven sustainability projects and organizations were chosen in the inaugural round of...
By Michael Peña,
In the era of global warming, when many scientists say we are experiencing a human-caused mass extinction to rival the one that killed off the dinosaurs, one might think that the discovery of a host of new species would be cause...
By Louis Bergeron,