Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
Showing 1-10 of 10 Results
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Anjani D Varma
Assistant Director of Student Services, Earth & Planetary Sciences
Current Role at StanfordManages all aspects of graduate and undergraduate programs, such as policy interpretation, advising, problem-solving, and developing action plans to ensure student success. Provides comprehensive support to the department and graduate program by addressing various issues, including academic progress, funding inquiries, faculty advising concerns, personal wellness, and referrals to campus resources.
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Erika Veidis
Lecturer, Earth Systems Program
Strategic Initiatives Advisor, Human and Planetary HealthBioErika Veidis is the Strategic Initiatives Advisor for the Stanford Center for Human and Planetary Health, where she supports a range of efforts focused on community engagement, outreach, education, and impact. Prior to this role, Erika directed the forestry program at the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, where she led funding and capacity-building initiatives focused on forest restoration and wildfire resilience, and served as program manager for the Stanford Center for Human and Planetary Health and Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health, where she led policy influence and strategic communications initiatives, coordinated research and outreach programs, and designed and implemented curricula for undergraduate and graduate students in planetary health and environmental systems thinking. Erika also previously built and managed a global network of 200+ universities, NGOs, research institutes, and government entities investigating the linkages between global environmental change and public health through the Planetary Health Alliance.
Erika has published on the health and social dimensions of climate change and other environmental challenges, ranging from wildfires to plastic pollution to heat stress. She graduated from Harvard University in 2015 with a BA in Government and Mind/Brain/Behavior, where she studied the sociological determinants of community resilience and adaptation responses, particularly in response to economic and political stress, and obtained an MBA from the California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo in 2016, where she focused on environmental economics, nonprofit and philanthropic strategy, and corporate sustainability. -
Daniel Verdi
Ph.D. Student in Education, admitted Autumn 2025
Research Assistant, Environmental Social SciencesBioMy research centers on science of science, human-centered AI, and social media, applying computational methods to explore how AI and scientific knowledge are evaluated, communicated, and governed. Methodologically, my main tools are large-scale data, natural language processing, and network science.
I’m currently interested in three interconnected themes: how AI and digital technologies are changing research practices; how science is developed and shared across scientific fields and regions; and how AI is impacting society more broadly.
Beyond conducting research, I am also passionate about designing tools and events to put science in conversation with communities and create opportunities for marginalized students to engage with research and technology. I’m especially curious about implementing ways to improve digital and AI literacies, as well as how to use AI and other technologies in informal education.
Before Stanford, I graduated from the University of Richmond as a Richmond Scholar, the institution's most prestigious merit scholarship. I have conducted research at universities such as Carnegie Mellon, USC, and University of Copenhagen, and interned at Amazon Alexa AI. I’m also proud to have co-founded one of Brazil's largest high school science fairs, the Brazilian Fair of Young Scientists (FBJC), which has engaged over 2,000 participants and received over 1M website visits. -
Edgar Virgüez
Research Engineer, Energy Science & Engineering
BioEdgar Virgüez is a Research Engineer in the Department of Energy Science & Engineering at Stanford University, where his work advances reliable, low-carbon energy systems. His research has resulted in more than 40 scholarly outputs and over 1,000 citations in leading journals, including Energy & Environmental Science, PNAS, and Science. He serves on the Editorial Board of Environmental Research: Energy and, in 2026, was awarded the IOP Publishing Editorial Excellence Award in recognition of his individual excellence and leadership, as one of 10 outstanding board leaders among more than 1,000 members across over 100 IOP journals. Beyond his editorial service, he contributes as a reviewer for more than 15 journals, including Nature Communications and Nature Sustainability.
Complementing his scholarship, Dr. Virgüez serves as Managing Director of the $23 million U.S. Department of Energy-funded EARNEST Consortium, led by Stanford University. This initiative brings together 16 universities, 3 national laboratories, and 2 research organizations to advance solutions for the future of the U.S. electricity system. Beyond EARNEST, he has worked with the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, contributing expertise in life cycle assessment, cost-benefit analysis, and decarbonization strategies for governments.
Globally, Dr. Virgüez contributes to major energy and climate initiatives. Since 2024, he has served as an Expert Advisor to the Earthshot Prize, founded by Prince William, reviewing nominations in the Fix Our Climate category and assessing their potential for innovation, impact, and scalability toward a $1.25 million annual award. He also serves in advisory roles for institutions such as Schmidt Sciences, evaluating research programs advancing scalable decarbonization and energy systems solutions, and provides expert review of energy-related reports for organizations including the International Energy Agency.
For his contributions, Dr. Virgüez has received 22 awards totaling $34,365. Among his honors are the Science for Solutions Award (2025) from the American Geophysical Union, recognizing significant contributions to applying Earth and space science to societal challenges, and the K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award (2020) from the Association of American Colleges and Universities, which highlights scholars with strong promise as future leaders in higher education. As an educator, Dr. Virgüez has taught 17 courses to approximately 600 students, with consistently outstanding evaluations and recognition for innovative teaching. In 2021, he received the Graduate School Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching from Duke University, the institution’s highest teaching honor for graduate scholars.
At the highest levels of university governance, he previously served on Duke University’s Board of Trustees, the institution’s top governing body and one of its most selective and distinguished leadership appointments. He continues this leadership through his service on the Nicholas School of the Environment Board of Visitors and the Climate Commitment Campaign Board at Duke University.
Dr. Virgüez holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences and Policy, with a Certificate in College Teaching (2022), and an M.A. in Environment, with a Geospatial Analysis Certificate (2018), from Duke University. He also holds an M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering (2010) and dual B.Sc. degrees in Chemical and Environmental Engineering (2009) from Universidad de los Andes. He has completed professional certificates in Australia, the United States, and Colombia, and has received more than $795,000 in competitive scholarships and fellowships, including support from the Sloan Foundation. -
Katie Vogelheim
Lecturer, Earth System Science
Education Advisor, Human and Planetary HealthBioKatie Vogelheim is an Education Advisor and Lecturer at the Human and Planetary Health (HPH) Center at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, where she has designed a series of project-based courses—HPH Action Labs—focused on tackling complex climate and sustainability challenges. She also serves as an Innovation Coach for the Stanford Ecopreneurship program, mentoring entrepreneurial student teams in the early stages of product and market development. Through these roles, Katie actively supports student education and mentorship in developing innovative solutions to address climate change.
With a 30-year business career spanning multiple industries, Katie has been directing funding since 2010 toward global nature-based solutions and early-stage companies committed to sustainability. From 2020 to 2022, she was a Distinguished Career Institute Fellow at Stanford, concentrating on sustainability, climate, and energy.
Katie collaborates across campus to develop curriculum and connect resources that advance human and planetary health initiatives. She also holds additional affiliations, serving on the Board of Dean’s Advisers at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard Data Science Initiative, and Conservation International’s Science and Leadership Councils.
