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Research Highlights |
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In the News |
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Calendar of Upcoming Events |
| July 16 |
Seminar |
| "Assessing Freshwater Vulnerability in a Water-Stressed Region" Steve Gorelick, a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and professor in the School of Earth Sciences, will discuss his research in water-stressed regions of the world during this talk, which is part of a seminar series offered by the Stanford Environmental and Water Studies Summer Program. » Read more ... |
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| August 13 |
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| "Water Underfoot" Barton ("Buzz") Thompson, Jr., co-director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, will participate in a discussion at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on the tug-of-war over groundwater exacerbated by California's historic drought. » Read more ... |
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How Nature Affects Our LivesTo introduce a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency draft rule that would slash power plant emissions by 2030, President Obama went to a children's hospital. There, he emphasized dirty air's aggravating effects on childhood asthma and other ailments. Worldwide, air pollution-related health problems kill more people than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined and cost at least $3.5 trillion. Stanford Woods Institute-affiliated researchers are also proving that healthy coral reefs are vital to protecting people from natural disasters and sea level rise, access to freshwater is important for promoting peace, and climate change adaptation is crucial to maintaining agricultural yields. Read on to learn more about the links between healthy ecosystems and well-stewarded natural resources to human health and well-being. Sincerely, |
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Jeffrey R. Koseff
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Barton H. Thompson, Jr. |
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2013 Annual Report: Celebrating a Decade of SolutionsThe Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment was created 10 years ago to harness the ingenuity, passion and pioneering spirit of Stanford University in pursuit of breakthrough solutions to the world's most critical environmental and sustainability challenges. We're reflecting on advances made since then in our 2013 Annual Report, which includes a special retrospective on Woods' first Decade of Solutions. Stanford will celebrate this milestone at a symposium on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014, when Woods and our partners will reflect on progress made and pathways forward to a world in which societies meet people's needs for water, food, health, energy and other vital services while protecting and nurturing the earth. Save the date and stay tuned for details! View the 2013 Annual Report |
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Hope for Coastal CommunitiesFor the more than 123 million Americans who live in coastal counties, ocean acidification – caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels – could result in major environmental and economic impacts close to home. However, it's not too late, too costly or too complicated to mitigate and adapt to these impacts, according to a recent study co-authored by several current and former Stanford Woods Institute-affiliated researchers. The study is among the first comprehensive presentations of acidification-related management actions under way. It identifies relatively low-cost opportunities that require no new national legislation or international agreements. |
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Farmers and Climate Change AdaptationEuropean farmers who make efforts to adapt to climate change will see less of a decline in crop yields over time, according to a study co-authored by Stanford graduate student Frances Moore and Woods Senior Fellow David Lobell (Environmental Earth System Science). As global temperatures rise, farms in Europe will likely see yields of wheat and barley drop more than 20 percent. However, a range of options based on existing technologies, such as switching varieties of a crop, installing irrigation or growing a crop suited to warmer temperatures, can help slow the decline, according to the study. |
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Coral Reefs Provide Protection From Rising Sea, Study FindsA new study by an international team of scientists, including Woods-affiliated Professor of Biological Sciences Fiorenza Micheli, reveals that coral reefs protect hundreds of millions of people from rising sea levels and damaging wave action. The researchers found that reefs reduce wave energy by an average of 97 percent. The study's findings could help focus conservation efforts for coral reefs, at least two-thirds of which are degraded or seriously threatened. |
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| For more research, see the Stanford Woods Institute quarterly Research Digest. | ||
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TEDx Stanford Features Woods ResearchersStanford Woods Institute Senior Fellows Steve Palumbi (Biology) and Noah Diffenbaugh (Environmental Earth System Science) wowed the audience at TEDxStanford, an independently organized TED event. Palumbi, co-author of the recently released book The Extreme Life of the Sea, told stories about how little-known sea creatures deal with harsh and demanding environments. Diffenbaugh discussed climate change science and what we can still do to avert the worst impacts of global warming |
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Peerless Teacher: Julie KennedySenior Fellow Julie Kennedy (Environmental Earth System Science) was awarded the 2014 Excellence in Teaching Award by the Northern California Association of Phi Beta Kappa. She was one of only four teachers so honored this year, and only the 12th ever at Stanford. "The deepest honor is to have been nominated, to have a student say that what you did, the way you put yourself out there as a teacher and as a friend really mattered to me, and I want others to know about it," Kennedy said. "That's what really hits my heart." |
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Groundbreaking Scholar: Jon KrosnickSenior Fellow Jon Krosnick (Communication, Political Science) won the American Association for Public Opinion Research 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of outstanding contributions to public opinion research which have produced "essential insights into questionnaire design and survey research methods." Krosnick directed a 2013 climate adaptation survey, sponsored by Woods and the Center for Ocean Solutions, that found an overwhelming majority of Americans want to prepare in order to minimize the damage likely to be caused by global warming-induced sea level rise and storms. |
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Guiding Force: Stephen SchneiderA new archive in the Stanford Library documents the efforts of Senior Fellow Stephen Schneider (Biology), a leader in science communication and a world expert on interdisciplinary climate science, to call attention to human impacts on our planet during his entire academic career. At the time of his death in 2010, Schneider was the Melvin and Joan Lane Professor for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies. He played a key role in the creation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and was among the members of IPCC groups who shared (equally with Al Gore) the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Schneider consulted with federal agencies and/or White House staff in every U.S. presidential administration since the Nixon era. |
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Preparing Costa Rica's Future Environmental LeadersCosta Rica's president, Luis Guillermo Solís, recently paid a visit to a Stanford Woods Institute program in that country. Woods' Osa & Golfito Initiative (INOGO) is seeking ways to help the Osa and Golfito region, an ecological wonderland, grow sustainably as an ecotourism destination. The initiative has launched a program aimed at developing leadership skills and creating sustainable tourism offerings in the area. Caminos del Liderazgo, or Pathways to Leadership, is a collaboration among local leaders and entrepreneurs, nonprofit organizations and businesses, including national tour operators. It will provide the opportunity for a select group of entrepreneurs and community leaders to develop their business or community project idea. |
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Symposium Brings Top Fisheries Experts to ChinaWell-managed aquaculture is key to feeding the world's most populous nation. At a recent symposium in Beijing, leading scientists and scholars from around the world shared research on the role of ocean fisheries, aquaculture and marine ecosystems for improving food security in China. The symposium focused on critical issues such as how China's seafood consumption will evolve with a population that is growing in both size and wealth and how aquaculture take pressure off wild fisheries. The symposium, chaired by William Wrigley Senior Fellow and Center on Food Security and the Environment Director Rosamond Naylor (Environmental Earth System Science), kicked off a multi-year series of research papers and international meetings aimed at advancing the science around Chinese fisheries and food security. |
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Water's Link To Middle East PeaceJust as conflict over water can fuel revolt, sound water management and regional cooperation on water issues can create stability, according to His Excellency Hazim El-Naser, Ph.D., minister of water and irrigation for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. "Water is the bridge to peace and trust building in the Middle East," El-Naser said recently during a talk on water security in the Middle East as part of the Stanford Woods Institute's Environmental Forum series. Working with El-Naser, the Global Freshwater Initiative is coordinating a project aimed at developing new approaches for enhancing the sustainability of freshwater resources in Jordan and, ultimately, arid regions throughout the world. |
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| Selected media coverage of the Stanford Woods Institute and its fellows, affiliated scholars and supported research |
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Breakthrough Research From Stanford Uses Satellites To 'See' Groundwater Levels Amid Drought KPIX (CBS San Francisco Bay Area), June 17, 2014 |
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Yours to Cut Out and KeepThe Economist, June 7 |
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Obama Clean-Air Rules Said to Underplay Methane Gas RisksBloomberg Businessweek, June 4 |
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How Real Is Virtual Reality?Forbes, June 2 |
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Is Global Warming Real? Most Americans Say YesThe New York Times, June 2 |
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Europe Wheat Yields Forecast in Study to Fall on Climate WarmingBloomberg Businessweek, May 22 |
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Stanford Professor's Plan for Combating Global Warming in California and 49 Other StatesKCBS, May 19 |
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Coral Reefs: The Seawall That Nature BuiltNational Geographic, May 14 |
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Read more News and Media Coverage from the Stanford Woods Institute's fellows and affiliated faculty, including fellows with our Leopold Leadership Program. Subscribe to our other online publications. Submissions Past issues can be found online. For more information about the Stanford Woods Institute, visit our website or email us at environment@stanford.edu. |