Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
Showing 241-260 of 376 Results
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Michael Mastrandrea
Research Director
BioMichael Mastrandrea is an interdisciplinary scientist focused on managing climate risks and the design and implementation of energy and climate policy in California and beyond. He is Research Director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program and a Senior Research Scholar at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, as well as Director of Policy at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability Accelerator. He also serves as Chief Advisor for Energy and Climate Research at the California Energy Commission, supporting the R&D and Energy Assessments divisions. Prior to joining Stanford he was Director of Near Zero and a Senior Research Associate at the Carnegie Institution for Science. He was part of the leadership team for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report, where he helped lead the development of two international scientific assessments of climate change science and policy options. He has also served as an author for the Fourth U.S. National Climate Assessment and as an associate editor for the California Fourth Climate Change Assessment. Mastrandrea sits on the Editorial Board and is a Managing Editor for the journal Climatic Change. He holds a Ph.D. from Stanford’s Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources, and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Stanford.
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Pamela Matson
Richard and Rhoda Goldman Professor of Environmental Studies and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute, Emerita
BioPAMELA MATSON is an interdisciplinary sustainability scientist, former academic leader, and organizational strategist. She served as dean of Stanford University’s School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences from 2002-2017, building interdisciplinary departments and educational programs focused on resources, environment and sustainability, as well as co-leading university-wide interdisciplinary initiatives. In her role as the Goldman Professor of Environmental Studies and Senior Fellow in the Woods Institute for the Environment, she lead the graduate program on Sustainability Science and Practice. Her research addressed a range of environment and sustainability issues, including sustainability of agricultural systems, vulnerability and resilience of particular people and places to climate change, and characteristics of science that can contribute to sustainability transitions at scale. as an emerita faculty member, she continues to engage in questions related to transformational change for sustainability goals, and advises Stanford's efforts in that realm.
Dr. Matson served as chair of the board of the World Wildlife Fund-US and as a board member of the World Wildlife Fund-International and several university advisory boards. She served on the US National Academy of Science Board on Sustainable Development and co-wrote the National Research Council’s volume Our Common Journey: A transition toward sustainability (1999); she also led the NRC committee on America’s Climate Choices: Advancing the Science of Climate Change. She was the founding chair of the National Academies Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability, and founding editor for the Annual Review of Environment and Resources. She is a past President of the Ecological Society of America. Her recent publications (among around 200) include the books 'Seeds of Sustainability: Lessons from the Birthplace of the Green Revolution' (2012) and 'Pursuing Sustainability' (2016).
Pam is an elected member of the National Academy of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is a AAAS Fellow. She received a MacArthur Foundation Award, contributed to the award of the Nobel Prize to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, among other awards and recognitions, and is an Einstein Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Matson holds a Bachelor of Science degree with double majors in Biology and Literature from the University of Wisconsin (Eau Claire), a Master degree in Environmental Science and Policy from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, a Doctorate in Forest Ecology from Oregon State University, and honorary doctorates from Princeton, McGill and Arizona State Universities. She spent ten years as a research scientist with NASA-Ames Research Center before moving to a professorship at the University of California Berkeley and, in 1997, to Stanford University. -
Meagan Mauter
Associate Professor Civil & Environmental Engineering, of Photon Science, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and at the Precourt Institute for Energy and Associate Professor, by courtesy, of Chemical Engineering
BioProfessor Meagan Mauter is appointed as an Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and as a Center Fellow, by courtesy, in the Woods Institute for the Environment. She directs the Water and Energy Efficiency for the Environment Lab (WE3Lab) with the mission of providing sustainable water supply in a carbon-constrained world through innovation in water treatment technology, optimization of water management practices, and redesign of water policies. Ongoing research efforts include: 1) developing automated, precise, robust, intensified, modular, and electrified (A-PRIME) water desalination technologies to support a circular water economy, 2) identifying synergies and addressing barriers to coordinated operation of decarbonized water and energy systems, and 3) supporting the design and enforcement of water-energy policies.
Professor Mauter also serves as the research director for the National Alliance for Water Innovation, a $110-million DOE Energy-Water Desalination Hub addressing water security issues in the United States. The Hub targets early-stage research and development of energy-efficient and cost-competitive technologies for desalinating non-traditional source waters.
Professor Mauter holds bachelors degrees in Civil & Environmental Engineering and History from Rice University, a Masters of Environmental Engineering from Rice University, and a PhD in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from Yale University. Prior to joining the faculty at Stanford, she served as an Energy Technology Innovation Policy Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the Mossavar Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and as an Associate Professor of Engineering & Public Policy, Civil & Environmental Engineering, and Chemical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. -
Gerald Mavko
Professor (Research) of Geophysics, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsResearch
I work to discover and understand the relationship between geophysical measurements and the rock and fluid properties that they sample in the Earth. My students and I have begun to understand the impact of rock type, porosity, pore fluids, temperature, and stress on seismic wave propagation and electromagnetic response. We are also working to quantify the links between geophysical measurements and the sedimentary and diagenetic processes that determine rock mineralogy and texture. Ultimately, this work allows us to better infer, from geophysical images, the composition and physical conditions at depth.
Teaching
I teach courses for graduate and undergraduate students on rock physics--the study of the physical properties of rocks and how they can be detected and mapped using seismic and electrical methods. This includes theory, laboratory measurements, and field data analysis. I also lead seminars in which students present and critique their ongoing research in rock physics.
Professional Activities
Associate chair, Department of Geophysics (2006-2008); distinguished lecturer, Society of Exploration Geophysicists (2006); honorary membership, Society of Exploration Geophysicists (2001); nominated for Reginald Fessenden Award, Society of Exploration Geophysicists (2000); School of Earth Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award (2000) -
Perry L. McCarty
Affiliate, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment
BioPerry L. McCarty, Silas H. Palmer Professor Emeritus, came to Stanford University in 1962 to found a new multidisciplinary education and research program in environmental engineering and science that became a model for others throughout the country. From 1980 to 1985 he was Chairman of Stanford's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and from 1989 to 2002 he served as Director of the Western Region Hazardous Substance Research Center. He received a B.S. Degree in civil engineering from Wayne State University (1953), and M.S. (1957) and Sc.D. (1959) degrees in sanitary engineering from M.I.T.
The focus of McCarty's research, teaching, and writing has been on water, with a primary interest in biological processes for the control of environmental contamination. His early research was on anaerobic treatment processes, biological processes for nitrogen removal and water reuse. Recent interests are on aerobic and anaerobic processes for the treatment of domestic and industrial wastewaters, and the movement, fate, and control of groundwater contaminants.
His numerous awards and accolades for pioneering work on improving water quality worldwide includes memberships in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. McCarty won the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 1992, the Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize for Outstanding Achievements in Water Science and Technology in 1997, and the Stockholm Water Prize in 2007. In 2011 the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors Foundation established the Perry L. McCarty AEESP Founder's Award, given annually in recognition of McCarty's significant contributions to environmental engineering education, research, and practice. The Directorship of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, part of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, was named in his honor.
McCarty has written and coauthored over 350 papers, plus the textbooks, Chemistry for Environmental Engineering and Science, and Environmental Biotechnology - Principles and Applications. -
David Thomas McColl
Adjunct Professor
BioDavid McColl is the Executive Director of Stanford Climate Ventures. He received a B.S. in Management Science & Engineering and an M.S. in Energy Resources Engineering from Stanford University. He is an Adjunct Professor in Energy Resources Engineering, a research fellow at the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy & Finance, and a partner at Echelon.
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Michael McFaul
Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini Professor of International Studies, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and at the Woods Institute for the Environment
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsAmerican foreign policy, great power relations, comparative autocracies, and the relationship between democracy and development.
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Paul McIntyre
Rick and Melinda Reed Professor, Professor of Photon Science and Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
BioMcIntyre's group performs research on nanostructured inorganic materials for applications in electronics, energy technologies and sensors. He is best known for his work on metal oxide/semiconductor interfaces, ultrathin dielectrics, defects in complex metal oxide thin films, and nanostructured Si-Ge single crystals. His research team synthesizes materials, characterizes their structures and compositions with a variety of advanced microscopies and spectroscopies, studies the passivation of their interfaces, and measures functional properties of devices.
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Nicholas Melosh
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
BioThe Melosh group explores how to apply new methods from the semiconductor and self-assembly fields to important problems in biology, materials, and energy. We think about how to rationally design engineered interfaces to enhance communication with biological cells and tissues, or to improve energy conversion and materials synthesis. In particular, we are interested in seamlessly integrating inorganic structures together with biology for improved cell transfection and therapies, and designing new materials, often using diamondoid molecules as building blocks.
My group is very interested in how to design new inorganic structures that will seamless integrate with biological systems to address problems that are not feasible by other means. This involves both fundamental work such as to deeply understand how lipid membranes interact with inorganic surfaces, electrokinetic phenomena in biologically relevant solutions, and applying this knowledge into new device designs. Examples of this include “nanostraw” drug delivery platforms for direct delivery or extraction of material through the cell wall using a biomimetic gap-junction made using nanoscale semiconductor processing techniques. We also engineer materials and structures for neural interfaces and electronics pertinent to highly parallel data acquisition and recording. For instance, we have created inorganic electrodes that mimic the hydrophobic banding of natural transmembrane proteins, allowing them to ‘fuse’ into the cell wall, providing a tight electrical junction for solid-state patch clamping. In addition to significant efforts at engineering surfaces at the molecular level, we also work on ‘bridge’ projects that span between engineering and biological/clinical needs. My long history with nano- and microfabrication techniques and their interactions with biological constructs provide the skills necessary to fabricate and analyze new bio-electronic systems.
Research Interests:
Bio-inorganic Interface
Molecular materials at interfaces
Self-Assembly and Nucleation and Growth -
Fiorenza Micheli
David and Lucile Packard Professor of Marine Science, Professor of Oceans and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr Fiorenza Micheli is a marine ecologist and conservation biologist conducting research and teaching at the Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University. Micheli’s research focuses on the processes shaping marine communities and incorporating this understanding in the management and conservation of marine ecosystems. She is a Pew Fellow, a fellow of the California Academy of Science and the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program, and past president of the Western Society of Naturalists.
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Elizabeth Miller
Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Emerita
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsStructural geology and tectonics. Evolution and deformation of continental crust and its sedimentary cover, plate tectonics and continental deformation, geochronology and thermochronology. Current interests in the Cordillera, northern circum-Pacific, Russia and Arctic regions.
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Reginald Mitchell
Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Emeritus
BioProfessor Mitchell's primary area of research is concerned with characterizing the physical and chemical processes that occur during the combustion and gasification of pulverized coal and biomass. Coals of interest range in rank from lignite to bituminous and biomass materials include yard waste, field and seed crop residues, lumber mill waste, fruit and nut crop residues, and municipal solid waste. Experimental and modeling studies are concerned with char reactivity to oxygen, carbon dioxide and steam, carbon deactivation during conversion, and char particle surface area evolution and mode of conversion during mass loss.
Mitchell’s most recent research has been focused on topics that will enable the development of coal and biomass conversion technologies that facilitate CO2 capture. Recent studies have involved characterizing coal and biomass conversion rates in supercritical water environments, acquiring the understanding needed to develop chemical looping combustion technology for applications to coals and biomass materials, and developing fuel cells that use coal or biomass as the fuel source. Studies concerned with characterizing coal/biomass blends during combustion and gasification processes are also underway.
Professor Mitchell retired from Stanford University in July 2020, after having served over 29 years as a professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department. -
Diana Moanga
Lecturer
BioDiana A. Moanga, PhD, is a Lecturer in the Earth Systems Program at Stanford University's Doerr School of Sustainability and serves as Manager of the Spatial Analysis Center. She teaches a comprehensive suite of geospatial courses including Remote Sensing of Land, Fundamentals of Geographic Information Science, Advanced Concepts in Geospatial Information Science, and Independent Study classes, and has been recognized with Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability's Excellence in Teaching Award in 2025.
Dr. Moanga's research centers on coastal resilience, land system science, and conservation, with expertise in GIS, remote sensing, and spatial analysis. Her work focuses on understanding land use and land cover change processes, particularly examining the effects of environmental and anthropogenic stressors on coastal systems. She is especially passionate about advancing our understanding of coupled socio-ecological systems, mapping coastal hazards dynamics and developing resilience metrics.
She earned her PhD in Environmental Science Policy and Management from UC Berkeley in 2020, where her dissertation research employed geospatial techniques to study land use and land cover changes across California. Her doctoral work explored management impacts on California's coastal lands, agricultural transitions in the Central Valley, and wildfire activity under future climate regimes. Prior to her doctoral studies, Diana completed a Master's in Marine Affairs and Policy from the University of Miami in 2015, where she examined the spatial and temporal characteristics of harmful algal blooms and studied coastal zone management and coral conservation.
Before joining Stanford as a lecturer in 2023, Dr. Moanga served as a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University's Department of Earth System Science and previously at Florida International University's Sea Level Solutions Center. -
J. Moldowan
Professor (Research) of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOrganic geochemistry; study of molecular fossils (biomarkers) and their use in petroleum system analysis, reservoir characterization, environmental monitoring, molecular paleontology, global change, petroleum biodegradation in reservoir. Studies of thermal cracking of petroleum by deep burial or catalytic alteration in deep source rocks and reservoirs by using diamondoids. Applications to unconventional petroleun exploration and development.
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Stephen Monismith
Obayashi Professor in the School of Engineering and Professor of Oceans
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsHydrodynamics of lakes, estuaries, coral reefs, kelp forests and the coastal ocean
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Dena K Montague
Environmental Justice Lecturer
BioDena Montague is an Environmental Justice Lecturer at Stanford University. She is also the Founder and Executive Director of ÉnergieRich, an early-stage start-up establishing community based local manufacturing of solar energy systems in Ghana. ÉnergieRich develops collaborative research partnerships between Ghanaian engineers and engineers in the African Diaspora to implement innovative energy solutions that center community voices. Her research focuses on energy justice through decentralized production; impacts of Global North clean energy transition on climate/environmental justice in the Global South. Prior to her position at Stanford, she was a Postdoctoral Scholar at Duke University and Lecturer at The Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at UC Santa Barbara.
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Harold Mooney
Paul S. and Billie Achilles Professor in Environmental Biology, Emeritus
BioStanford ecologist Harold “Hal” Mooney is the Paul S. Achilles Professor of Environmental Biology, emeritus, in the School of Humanities and Science’s Department of Biology and senior fellow, emeritus, with the Stanford Woods Institute as well as the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Mooney helped pioneer the field of physiological ecology and is an internationally recognized expert on environmental sciences. Through his six-decade academic career, Mooney has demonstrated how plant species and groups of species respond to their environments and developed research methodologies for assessing how plants interact with their biotic environments. To date he has authored more than 400 scientific books, papers and articles.
Mooney's recent research focuses on assessing the impacts of global environmental change on terrestrial ecosystems, especially on ecosystem function, productivity and biodiversity. Recent research includes studying the environmental and social consequences of industrialized animal production systems and examining factors that promote the invasion of non-indigenous plant species.
Mooney has played an international leadership role in numerous research settings, especially with problems related to biodiversity, invasive species, global warming and Mediterranean climates. In addition, he has been active in building up worldwide communities and networks of ecologists and scientists in other disciplines and arranging international conferences on the environment. He played a central role in the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP), building up an international organization of scientists and having an influential part in setting the guidelines for the formulation of environmental policies. He also has advanced numerous international research programs as Secretary General and Vice-President of the International Council for Science (ICSU).
Mooney earned his Ph.D. from Duke University in 1960 and started as an assistant professor at UCLA that same year. In 1968 he was recruited to Stanford University, where he was later appointed the Paul S. Achilles Professor of Environmental Biology in the School of Humanities and Science’s Department of Biology. A senior fellow with the Stanford Woods Institute as well as the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Mooney has led a wide range of national and international scientific activities related to environment and conservation.
Notable roles included coordinating the 1995 Global Biodiversity Assessment, co-chairing the Assessment Panel of the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, establishing and leading the Global Invasive Species Program and serving as lead review editor for the ongoing global assessment of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. His many accolades and awards include the 1990 ECI Prize in terrestrial ecology, the 1992 Max Planck Research Award in biosciences, the 1996 Eminent Ecologist Award from the Ecological Society of America, the 2000 Nevada Medal, the 2002 Blue Planet Prize, the 2007 Ramon Margalef Prize in Ecology, the 2008 Tyler Prize, the 2008 BBVA Foundation Award for Biodiversity Conservation, and the 2010 Volvo Environment Prize.
