Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment
Showing 41-60 of 175 Results
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Giulio De Leo
Professor of Oceans, of Earth System Science and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsI am a theoretical ecologist mostly interested in investigating factors and processes driving the dynamics of natural and harvested populations and on how to use this knowledge to inform practical management. I have worked broadly on life histories analysis, fishery management, dynamics and control of infectious diseases and environmental impact assessment.
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Noah Diffenbaugh
William Wrigley Professor and Kimmelman Family Senior Fellow
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Noah S. Diffenbaugh is an Editor of the peer-review journal Geophysical Research Letters, and a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He is a recipient of the James R. Holton Award from the American Geophysical Union, a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, and a Terman Fellowship from Stanford University. He has also been recognized as a Kavli Fellow by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and as a Google Science Communication Fellow.
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Rodolfo Dirzo
Associate Dean for Integrative Initiatives in Environmental Justice, Bing Prof in Environmental Science, Professor of Earth System Science and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsEcological and evolutionary aspects of plant-animal interactions, largely but not exclusively, in tropical forest ecosystems.
Conservation biology in tropical ecosystems.
Studies on biodiversity.
Education, at all levels, on scientific practice, ecology and biodiversity conservation. -
Rob Dunbar
W.M. Keck Professor in the School of Earth Sciences, Professor of Oceans, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Professor, by courtesy, of Earth System Science
On Leave from 10/01/2025 To 09/30/2026Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOcean processes, biogeochemistry, climatology/paleoclimatology, isotopic chemistry, ocean policy
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William Durham
Bing Professor in Human Biology, Emeritus
BioWilliam (Bill) Durham is Bing Professor in Human Biology (Emeritus), Bass University Fellow in Undergraduate Education, and a Senior Fellow (Emeritus) in the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford. He has been jointly appointed in Human Biology and Anthropology at Stanford since 1977, when he came from the Society of Fellows at the University of Michigan. Bill was an undergraduate Biology major at Stanford, Class of 1971, and received the Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award at graduation for his contribution to undergraduate education via the NSF-funded Student Air Pollution Research Project, the first student initiative nationally to receive NSF funding.
Bill’s career has focused on two main themes: (1) putting principles of evolution to work in efforts to sustain the biological and cultural diversity of our world; and (2) identifying social dimensions of environmental problems in Latin America and working with local leaders to help solve them. He has carried out fieldwork in Peru, Brazil, and Ecuador (especially Galápagos) in South America, and in El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and Costa Rica in Central America. In 1983, he was one of the first scholars to receive the MacArthur Prize Fellowship and has also received five five awards for research and teaching at Stanford, including one by vote of the students. Bill’s recent book, Exuberant Life: An Evolutionary Approach to Conservation in Galápagos (Oxford University Press, 2021) was named a Finalist for the 2022 PROSE Award from the Association of American Publishers.
Bill’s other publications include the books Scarcity and Survival in Central America (Stanford Press 1979; and in Spanish, by UCA Editores 1988), Coevolution: Genes, Culture, and Human Diversity (Stanford Press, 1991), The Social Causes of Environmental Destruction in Latin America (U. of Michigan Press, 1995, with M. Painter), Inbreeding, Incest and the Incest Taboo (Stanford Press 2004, with A. Wolf), and Ecotourism and Conservation in the Americas (CABI, 2008, with A. Stronza). In addition, he served as Editor in Chief for 16 volumes of the Annual Review of Anthropology between 1992 and 2008.
Bill was Founding Co-Director of the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST), a research organization that views tourism as a means to promote local livelihoods and environmental conservation. He was invited to design the Max Planck Institute for Environmental Anthropology and his proposal was accepted and implemented in Leipzig, Germany starting in 1997. Along with Stanford Professors Rodolfo Dirzo and Larry Crowder, Bill has been Co-director of the Osa-Golfito Initiative (INOGO) in the Woods Institute, working with Costa Ricans to develop a sustainability strategy for the southern region of the country.
He has led more than 50 Stanford Alumni Association trips to Galápagos, Costa Rica, the Amazon, East Africa, and elsewhere. -
Louis Durlofsky
Otto N. Miller Professor in the School of Earth Sciences
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsGeneral reservoir simulation, optimization, reduced-order modeling, upscaling, flow in fractured systems, history matching, CO2 sequestration, energy systems optimization
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Paul Ehrlich
Professor, Biology
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe role of the social sciences in dealing with global change
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Kathleen Eisenhardt
Stanford W. Ascherman, M.D. Professor in the School of Engineering, Emerita
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsTheoretical approaches: Cognition, complexity, learning, and organizational theories
Methods: Multi-case Theory Building as well as machine learning, simulation, and econometrics
Recent research: Business model design, strategy as "simple rules" heuristics, strategic interaction in novel markets and ecosystems, strategy in marketplaces, communities v. firm organizational forms -
David Epel
Jane and Marshall Steel Jr. Professor of Marine Sciences, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsEcological Developmental Biology
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Stefano Ermon
Associate Professor of Computer Science and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
On Partial Leave from 10/01/2025 To 06/30/2026BioI am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University, where I am affiliated with the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and a fellow of the Woods Institute for the Environment.
My research is centered on techniques for scalable and accurate inference in graphical models, statistical modeling of data, large-scale combinatorial optimization, and robust decision making under uncertainty, and is motivated by a range of applications, in particular ones in the emerging field of computational sustainability. -
W Gary Ernst
The Benjamin M. Page Professor in Earth Sciences, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsPetrology/geochemistry and plate tectonics of Circumpacific and Alpine mobile belts; ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism in Eurasia; geology of the California Coast Ranges, the cental Klamath Mountains, and White-Inyo Range; geobotany and remote sensing of the American Southwest; mineralogy and human health.
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Walter Falcon
Senior Fellow, Emeritus, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment
Current Research and Scholarly Interestsbiotechnology; food security; food and agricultural policy in developing countries
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Marcus Feldman
Burnet C. and Mildred Finley Wohlford Professor
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsHuman genetic and cultural evolution, mathematical biology, demography of China
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Stephen Felt, DVM, MPH
Professor of Comparative Medicine
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsHis research interests include infectious diseases, particularly zoonoses, and exploring techniques which promote the health and welfare of laboratory animals.
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Scott Fendorf
Terry Huffington Professor, Senior Associate Dean for Research, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Professor of Photon Science
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsSoil and environmental biogeochemistry
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Chris Field
Melvin and Joan Lane Professor of Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies, Director, Woods Institute for the Environment & Professor of Earth System Science, of Biology and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute and at the Precourt Institute
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsResearch
My field is climate-change science, and my research emphasizes human-ecological interactions across many disciplines. Most studies include aspects of ecology, but also aspects of law, sociology, medicine, or engineering. -
Sarah Fletcher
Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Center Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Fletcher Lab aims to advance water resources management to promote resilient and equitable responses to a changing world.
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Christopher Francis
Professor of Earth System Science, of Oceans and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMicrobial cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and metals in the environment; molecular geomicrobiology; marine microbiology; microbial diversity; meta-omics
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Nicole Franz
Research Scholar
BioNicole Franz (she/her) is an expert in the political economy of sustainable development. She has over two decades of experience working in intergovernmental organizations, namely the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development in Rome as well as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris.
As leader of the equitable livelihoods team in FAO’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, Nicole focused on advancing global sustainability policy, making policy processes more inclusive, and empowering stakeholders.
Her role and leadership in the development and implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication cemented her dedication to bringing together responsible natural resource use with social development. She spearheaded efforts to embed these guidelines into national, regional, and global policy processes and initiatives relating to fisheries, food security, climate change, and biodiversity.
Also during her tenure at FAO, Nicole kickstarted the Illuminating Hidden Harvests initiative to generate and disseminate new evidence about the benefits, interactions, and impacts of small-scale fisheries to inform policy and practice.
Beyond her policy and research contributions, Nicole is a deeply committed mentor and capacity-builder. Over the past decade, she has supervised and mentored approximately 20 early-career scientists, interns, and young professionals and served as a guest lecturer.
