Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
Showing 301-394 of 394 Results
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Sergio Sánchez López
Ph.D. Student in Environment and Resources, admitted Autumn 2021
BioSergio is an environmental justice advocate. Originally from Mexico City, he has experience working in the public, private and non-profit sectors both in Mexico and the USA. He has drafted bills and policy proposals related to land management, natural resources, renewable energy, and indigenous communities. His research interests relate to how to accelerate the clean energy transition in an equitable, diverse, and inclusive way. He holds a bachelor's degree in international business from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in Mexico, a J.D. from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, an LL.M in environmental law & policy from Stanford Law School, and is a former Schneider Fellow. Sergio is passionate about water sports and the beach.
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Benjamin Shapero
Ph.D. Student in Earth System Science, admitted Autumn 2020
BioI am a geomicrobiologist and am broadly interested in the connections between protein biochemistry, environmental microbiology, and biogeochemistry. I hail from the surf town of Encinitas near San Diego. I completed my undergraduate studies at the University of Southern California (USC), where I majored in both Biological Sciences and Classical Saxophone Performance. At USC I volunteered in a cellular and molecular neuroscience lab, and it was there that I discovered my fascination with proteins. After graduation, I worked in a vaccine design lab at Scripps Research. This research fostered my growing fascination with protein biochemistry and further exposed me to the realm of microbiology. I have since followed my interests in proteins and microbiology, along with my longstanding passion for climate science, to the field of geomicrobiology. I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in geomicrobiology at Stanford University in the Earth System Science department.
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Rohan Sharma
Ph.D. Student in Geophysics, admitted Autumn 2025
Masters Student in Geophysics, admitted Autumn 2026BioI’m a Ph.D. student in the Department of Geophysics. My research explores the applications of quantum computing and scientific machine learning to geophysical problems, with a focus on modeling, inversion, and uncertainty quantification.
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Adam Spitzig
Ph.D. Student in Environment and Resources, admitted Autumn 2024
Student Worker, Ethics In SocietyBioAdam Spitzig is a PhD candidate in Environment and Resources (E-IPER) at Stanford University’s Doerr School of Sustainability. He is a historical ecologist and data scientist whose research examines long-term biodiversity dynamics and their human drivers.
His work integrates paleoecological data (especially fossil pollen records), archaeological and historical sources, geospatial analysis, and statistical modeling to understand when and how human societies have increased, maintained, or reduced biodiversity. He is particularly interested in identifying cases of sustained anthropogenic biodiversity expansion and examining the institutional, economic, infrastructural, and land-use processes that produced them. His work also explores how long-term ecological knowledge can inform contemporary conservation and restoration strategy.
Before beginning his PhD, he led ecological modeling and machine learning initiatives in conservation and technology organizations, including Ducks Unlimited and several data-driven startups.
He holds a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University, a Master of Information & Data Science from UC Berkeley, a Master of Environmental Management and a Juris Doctor from Duke University, and a BA from the University of Florida. -
Heath Stanfield
Ph.D. Student in Earth System Science, admitted Autumn 2026
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsSubsurface fluid-rock interactions for energy, resources, and carbon storage
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Joseph Dalton Stitt
Ph.D. Student in Geophysics, admitted Autumn 2021
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDeep learning with applications in CO2 Sequestration and DAS
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Hanif Sulaiman
Ph.D. Student in Earth System Science, admitted Autumn 2022
BioI'm interested in the marine nitrogen cycle, particularly in nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas that plays a key role in stratospheric ozone destruction. I'm focused on delineating nitrous oxide's accumulation (production-consumption) pathways in various oceanographic regions.
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Veda Sunkara
Ph.D. Student in Environment and Resources, admitted Autumn 2024
BioVeda Sunkara (she/her) is an E-IPER PhD student interested in studying disaster adaptation approaches and equity in outcomes for flood-prone communities in the face of increasing extremes due to climate change. Prior to starting her PhD, she worked as a Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Floodbase (formerly Cloud to Street), where she built machine learning algorithms to create flood maps from remotely-sensed imagery, in-situ sensors, and physics-based models for disaster planning and parametric flood insurance. She seeks to combine her earth observation and machine learning expertise with community-centered research to co-develop the data necessary to enable long term adaptation and resilience to flooding. She holds a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science from Brown University.
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Faye Shen Li Thijssen
Ph.D. Student in Environmental Social Sciences, admitted Autumn 2025
BioFaye is a PhD student in Environmental Social Sciences. Her research focuses on how global institutions and powerful actors shape environmental governance structures, with particular focuses on United States overseas military basing & anti-basing social movements, and multinational corporations.
Prior to coming to Stanford, her research focused on indirect corporate influence in environmental politics, investigating executional greenwashing and its potential to affect public perceptions and preferences for regulatory policy. This research primarily employed experimental methods, with support from the Oxford Department of Politics & International Relations and the Nuffield Centre for Experimental Social Sciences. -
Jayson Toweh
Ph.D. Student in Environment and Resources, admitted Autumn 2021
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsAssessing the Health Impacts of the Major California Outages between 2017-2019
This research aims to investigate the relationship between major power outages and hospitalizations in California. Using outage data between 2017 and 2019, we are working to identify the hospitalization rates following outages. Additionally, we are evaluating how severe weather-caused outages can further impact hospitalizations. -
Larissa Verona
Ph.D. Student in Earth System Science, admitted Autumn 2026
BioI’m a PhD student in Earth System Science, advised by Prof. Alyson Hoyt. I’m interested in understanding the carbon dynamics of tropical wetlands by studying soils, isotopes, and gases, as well as landscape patterns through remote sensing. I earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in plant biology from the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil, where I gained experience in functional and restoration ecology. More broadly, I’m curious about the functioning and conservation of tropical ecosystems, including non-forest ones such as savannas and grasslands.
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Adrian A. Wackett
Ph.D. Student in Geological Sciences, admitted Autumn 2022
BioAdrian A. Wackett was born and raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota (unceded Wahpekute/Dakota lands). He double majored in Chemistry and Geosciences at Trinity University (TX) before returning to Saint Paul and completing his MS degree in Land & Atmospheric Sciences (specifically pedology/biogeochemistry) at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, where he studied global w'o'rming. Before coming to Stanford as an NSF GRFP Fellow he traveled extensively through Latin America and SE Asia (by bike) and worked as an independent researcher affiliated with the Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences at Umeå University and the Climate Impacts Research Centre in Abisko, Sweden. He's passionate about exploring the interconnectedness of Earth’s systems through his research and is equally passionate about looking beyond academia to cultivate enduring relationships with the lands and peoples he works with.Previous topics of inquiry include coupling ant bioturbation to the erosion and weathering of hillslope soils in SE Australia, exploring earthworm invasions and their deterministic effects on soil carbon dynamics in Fennoscandian and Alaskan forests, and examining the biogeochemical diversity of ‘black smoker’ plume particles at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. His dissertation focuses on applying an array of isotopic tracers and synchrotron-based X-ray approaches to explore how landscapes record and respond to a diverse set of disturbances, from biological invasions in Earth’s northern biomes to extreme storm events in Puerto Rico to cultural burning and wildfires in California.
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Katie Wu
Ph.D. Student in Environment and Resources, admitted Autumn 2022
Ph.D. Minor, Civil and Environmental EngineeringBioKatie's research explores how community-driven social interventions and infrastructure development impact community and climate resilience in informal settlements. Her work advances how we operationalize resilience to better inform community-based strategies, policy, and investments that support urban transformation for vulnerable populations. She incorporates participatory methods essential for driving community-led efforts, ensuring a community's deep participation in every step of the iterative analysis, planning, and decision-making processes, in collaboration with multi-sectoral partners and decision-makers. Katie integrates advanced data science techniques, including network science and graph neural networks (GNNs), with community-generated, ground-truthed data to redefine how resilience is measured and applied for more equitable, community-driven strategies for sustainable development. She uses unconventional data sources, such as satellite imagery and citizen-sourced data, to model the built and natural environment in areas with limited conventional data.
Prior to Stanford, Katie studied data science and AI for Product Innovation at Duke University, where she obtained a Master of Engineering Management (MEM). She was a Sustainability Graduate Intern at Lyft, Inc., where she completed and rebuilt their 2020 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory and Report and designed an air quality model forecasting potential health benefits of EV adoption for underserved communities. She received an M.S. in Medical Science from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and a B.S. in Animal Science with Distinction in Research from Cornell University. Katie is a Dean's Graduate Scholar in the Doerr School of Sustainability, an Emerson Consequential Scholar with the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), a Graduate Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI), and a Stanford Dalai Lama Fellow. -
Flora Jiaxuan Xu
Ph.D. Student in Environment and Resources, admitted Autumn 2023
Ph.D. Minor, Psychology
Student Summer Research Assistant, Environmental Social SciencesBioFlora Jiaxuan Xu is a PhD candidate in the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER) at Stanford University, working at the intersection of environmental psychology, civil and environmental engineering, urban design, and behavioral science. Her research investigates how people define, experience, and internalize “nature” as part of the self, and how psychological, cultural, and built-environment factors shape human–nature relationships in contemporary cities.
Drawing on theories of identity, perception, cultural psychology, and ecological systems, Flora proposes Nature Identity as a new interdisciplinary framework for understanding how nature becomes woven into self-concept and everyday meaning-making. She employs a broad mixed-methods approach—including qualitative interviews, quantitative modeling, ecological momentary assessment, photovoice, and human-centered design—to examine how urban nature influences wellbeing, identity formation, and environmental behavior. In parallel, she develops creative, design-driven solutions such as immersive installations, biophilic illusions, narrative and sensory interventions, and technology-enabled building features that aim to strengthen nature connection and promote climate engagement in urban settings.
Flora works with the Social Ecology Lab and the Billington Lab, as well as external partners in urban design, behavioral science, and immersive storytelling. Her work seeks to bridge scientific research with real-world application, advancing strategies that integrate psychology, culture, and design to foster healthier and more nature-responsive cities.
Prior to Stanford, Flora completed an M.S. in Environmental Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and holds B.A. degrees in Sustainable Environmental Design and Cognitive Science from the University of California, Berkeley. -
Ao Yu
Ph.D. Student in Earth System Science, admitted Autumn 2023
Masters Student in Earth System Science, admitted Autumn 2026BioAo Yu is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in Stanford University’s Department of Earth System Science. Working with Professor Giulio De Leo, she studies how anthropogenic disturbances, including climate change, pollution, and land-use change, affect the transmission of parasitic diseases.
Her current research focuses on schistosomiasis and Lyme disease. She combines laboratory experiments and fieldwork with geospatial analysis and mathematical and statistical modeling to investigate the ecological drivers of disease transmission. She also aims to translate these findings into practical, ecologically informed solutions for disease prevention and control.
Ao earned an M.P.H. in Environmental Health Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2023. She graduated with honors from Purdue University in 2021 with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and a minor in Chemistry. -
Yifan Yu
Ph.D. Student in Geophysics, admitted Autumn 2022
BioYifan is a PhD student in Geophysics, advised by Prof. Greg Beroza. His research interests include earthquake source study, location, and machine learning. He received bachelor degree in geophysics from Nanjing University.
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Andrea Zorzi
Ph.D. Student in Geological Sciences, admitted Autumn 2020
BioBorn in Venice, Italy, I earned my BSc in Aerospace Engineering at Università degli Studi di Padova in 2017. For my MSc degree, I moved to the Netherlands and graduated in Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft in 2019, focusing on space flight, planetary sciences and radiative transfer modeling. Afterwards, I spent a year at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Göttingen (Germany), conducting research on neural network applications for cometary gas expansion studies.
I've joined Stanford as a GS graduate student in Fall 2020 and I am part of the Planetary Modeling Group led by Prof. Schaefer.
My focus is on planetary impacts, how they affect the climate and chemical evolution of the atmospheres of planets in their early stages.
Personal website: https://azorzi.github.io/
