Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
Showing 1-50 of 82 Results
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Arpita Kalra
Marketing and Engagement Director, Precourt Institute for Energy
BioArpita Kalra is the Director for Marketing and Engagement at Precourt Institute for Energy. In this role she oversees the engagement and outreach efforts for the Stanford Energy brand. Prior to Stanford, she worked in the advertising industry where she developed and executed marketing campaigns across print, electronic and social media. Arpita holds a masters in Marketing Communications from the Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA) in India and a bachelors in Statistics from Delhi University.
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Matthew Kanan
Professor of Chemistry and Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
BioMatt Kanan is a Professor of Chemistry and Director of the TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy at Stanford. Matt’s research group addresses challenges in energy conversion, sustainable resource utilization, and carbon dioxide removal. Their work has led to several inventions in these areas, including process technology that utilizes CO2 to streamline chemical production, metal-free CO2 hydrogenation catalysts that improve the efficiency of sustainable fuel synthesis, membrane-free electrochemical systems to generate acid and base from water, and thermochemical methods to activate silicate rocks for CO2 removal. Matt is the co-founder and Chief Scientific Advisor for ReSource Chemical Corp., an Oakland-based start-up commercializing a process created in his group to produce performance-advantaged plastics from CO2 and inedible biomass. At the TomKat Center, Matt directs programs that help Stanford students and researchers develop and commercialize innovations that impact energy and sustainability. Prior to joining the Stanford faculty in 2009, Matt did his Ph.D. studies in organic chemistry at Harvard and postdoctoral research at MIT in inorganic chemistry. He earned his B.A. in chemistry from Rice University in 2000.
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Chi-Chang Kao
Professor of Photon Science and Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
BioChi-Chang Kao works on the development of experimental methods exploiting the unique properties of high-brightness storage rings and X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFEL), and their applications to materials science. Currently, he is working on using X-ray scattering in combination with high magnetic fields to study high-temperature superconductors, inelastic X-ray scattering study of materials using XFEL, and X-ray study of materials for energy applications.
Kao served as the fifth director of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory from November 2012 to February 2023. Prior to that, he served at Brookhaven National Laboratory for nearly 25 years in a variety of positions, including five years as chairperson of the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS). He was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society in 2006 and was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2010 for his many contributions to resonant elastic and inelastic X-ray scattering techniques and their application to materials physics, as well as for his leadership at the NSLS. -
Zerina Kapetanovic
Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and, by courtesy, of Computer Science and of Geophysics
BioZerina Kapetanovic is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University working in the area of low-power wireless communication, sensing, and Internet of Things (IoT) systems. Prior to starting at Stanford, Kapetanovic was a postdoctoral researcher at Microsoft Research in the Networking Research Group and Research for Industry Group.
Kapetanovic's research has been recognized by the Yang Research Award, the Distinguished Dissertation Award from the University of Washington. She also received the Microsoft Research Distinguished Dissertation Grant and was selected to attend the 2020 UC Berkeley Rising Stars in EECS Workshop. Kapetanovic completed her PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington in 2022. -
Omer Karaduman
Assistant Professor of Operations, Information and Technology at the Graduate School of Business and Center Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and at the Precourt Institute for Energy
BioPrior to coming to Stanford, Omer completed his Ph.D. in Economics at MIT in 2020, and got his bachelor's degree in Economics from Bilkent University in 2014.
His research focuses on the transition of the energy sector towards a decarbonized and sustainable future. In his research, he utilizes large datasets by using game-theoretical modeling to have practical policy suggestions. -
Hemamala Karunadasa
J.G. Jackson and C.J. Wood Professor of Chemistry and Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and Professor, by courtesy, of Materials Science and Engineering
BioProfessor Hema Karunadasa works with colleagues in materials science, earth science, and applied physics to drive the discovery of new materials with applications in clean energy. Using the tools of synthetic chemistry, her group designs materials that couple the structural tunability of organic molecules with the diverse electronic and optical properties of extended inorganic solids. This research targets materials such as sorbents for capturing environmental pollutants, phosphors for solid-state lighting, and absorbers for solar cells.
Hemamala Karunadasa studied chemistry and materials science at Princeton University (A.B. with high honors 2003; Certificate in Materials Science and Engineering 2003), where her undergraduate thesis project with Professor Robert J. Cava examined geometric magnetic frustration in metal oxides. She moved from solid-state chemistry to solution-state chemistry for her doctoral studies in inorganic chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D. 2009) with Professor Jeffrey R. Long. Her thesis focused on heavy atom building units for magnetic molecules and molecular catalysts for generating hydrogen from water. She continued to study molecular electrocatalysts for water splitting during postdoctoral research with Berkeley Professors Christopher J. Chang and Jeffrey R. Long at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. She further explored molecular catalysts for hydrocarbon oxidation as a postdoc at the California Institute of Technology with Professor Harry B. Gray. She joined the Stanford Chemistry Department faculty in September 2012. Her research explores solution-state routes to new solid-state materials.
Professor Karunadasa’s lab at Stanford takes a molecular approach to extended solids. Lab members gain expertise in solution- and solid-state synthetic techniques and structure determination through powder- and single-crystal x-ray diffraction. Lab tools also include a host of spectroscopic and electrochemical probes, imaging methods, and film deposition techniques. Group members further characterize their materials under extreme environments and in operating devices to tune new materials for diverse applications in renewable energy.
Please visit the lab website for more details and recent news. -
Zachary Kaufman
Casual - Other Teaching Staff
Postdoctoral Scholar, Earth System ScienceBioMy research as a climate scientist seeks to understand the physical processes that shape the polar regions. The high latitudes are undergoing the largest changes on Earth; in recent decades, Arctic temperatures have warmed at twice the global average, while 2023 featured the lowest Antarctic sea-ice extent on record. Policymakers’ ability to manage the consequences of these changes requires improved polar climate predictability. Rapidly declining Arctic Sea ice exposes new economic resources and shipping routes, necessitating a detailed understanding of where and how quickly newly open water will appear. In the Antarctic, the instability-prone West Antarctic Ice Sheet may have large future contributions to sea-level rise, but predicting the timing and magnitude of ice sheet melt requires a better understanding of how Antarctic warming trends will progress. To address these scientific priorities, my research characterizes ocean-ice sheet interactions, ventilation of the deep ocean, and coupled atmosphere-ocean variability, among other phenomena. A common theme across my work is the use of data-driven techniques to reconcile discrepancies between models and observations, identifying key areas for improving future generations of climate models.
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Isabelle Kavanagh
Ph.D. Student in Oceans, admitted Winter 2025
BioIsabelle Kavanagh is a first year PhD student in the Oceans department at Stanford University, studying hydrodynamics and heat transfer over coral reefs with Dr. Stephen Monismith.
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Ayako Kawano
Ph.D. Student in Environment and Resources, admitted Autumn 2022
BioAyako Kawano is a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University. Her research interests include the impact analysis of air pollution on population health and climate change in low- and middle-income countries using remote sensing data and machine learning methods. Before coming to Stanford, she worked as a Data Scientist at UN Global Pulse and as a Program Manager at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
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Cameron S. Kay
Postdoctoral Scholar, Environmental Social Sciences
BioStarting in Fall 2025, Cameron S. Kay will join the Climate Cognition Lab at Stanford University as a postdoctoral scholar. His research explores the psychological foundations of antisocial beliefs and behaviours, including why people believe in conspiracy theories, harbour prejudicial beliefs, and gaslight others. To support this work, he develops psychometrically sound scales and tools for improving data quality. Before joining Stanford, Cameron was a visiting assistant professor at Union College in Upstate New York. He earned his PhD in psychology with a specialization in quantitative research methods at the University of Oregon, where he also completed master’s degrees in psychology and journalism. He holds a BA in psychology from the University of British Columbia.
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Leonid Kazovsky
Professor (Research) of Electrical Engineering, Emeritus
BioProfessor Kazovsky and his research group are investigating green energy-efficient networks. The focus of their research is on access and in-building networks and on hybrid optical / wireless networks. Prof. Kazovsky's research group is also conducting research on next-generation Internet architectures and novel zero-energy photonic components.
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Madolyn Kelm
Ph.D. Student in Oceans, admitted Summer 2024
BioMadolyn Kelm is a Ph.D. student in Oceans at Stanford University, specializing in the biophysical interactions of kelp aquaculture in Southern California. Her research aims to optimize farming productivity through predictive modeling. Currently, she is working on validating the MacroAlgae Cultivation MODeling System (MACMODS) through the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to advance sustainable kelp farming practices.
With a unique interdisciplinary background, Madolyn integrates biological and physical dynamics to drive focused coastal ocean research. Committed to addressing the impacts of climate change on coastal ecosystems, she aspires to become a professor and contribute to fostering diversity in STEM. -
Makoto Kelp
Postdoctoral Scholar, Earth System Science
BioNOAA Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellow (2023-2025)
Ph.D. - Harvard Univerity (2023)
B.A. - Reed College (2016) -
Amanda Helen Kennard
Assistant Professor of Political Science, by courtesy, of Environmental Social Sciences and Center Fellow, by courtesy, at the Woods Institute for the Environment
BioAmanda Kennard is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. She studies the politics of climate change and global governance, employing game theory and a range of quantitative methods. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Politics at Princeton University, an M.S. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and a B.A. from New York University.
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Julie Kennedy
Professor (Teaching) of Earth System Science, Emerita
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsResearch
For the past 21 years I have been active in designing and running the school's interdisciplinary environmental science and policy undergraduate major, the Earth Systems Program. I have specific interest in interdisciplinary teaching and learning, and in the effective communication of complex interdisciplinary problem descriptions, analysis methods, and solutions to expert and non-expert audiences. I advise and work on research projects with undergraduate and master's level students whose interests include ecology, energy, land systems management, ocean science and policy, sustainability, environmental education, and science communication.
Teaching
I teach classes in interdisciplinary problem analysis and in critical reading and review of environmental literature. I also am one of a number of faculty who co-teach the Earth Systems gateway course, Introduction to Earth Systems.
Professional Activities
My professional activities center on undergraduate education. I have been active for decades on Stanford committees that examine standards and policies, the review of general education requirements, undergraduate advising programs, student mental health, and student diversity. -
Tae Wook (Elliot) Kim
Sr Res Scientist-Physical
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsEnhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods for unconventional reservoirs; Characterization of reservoirs core including unconventional core (permeability/porosity/wettability), crude oil, and production fluid; Oil Shale (Source rock) maturation under triaxial conditions; Breakdown pressure for hydraulic fracturing on shale formation; Geotechnical properties of shale (Young’s modulus and Poisson ratio); Geological CO2 sequestration; Geospatial data analysis with GIS S/W; CO2 capture & separation process
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Abby C. King
David and Susan Heckerman Professor and Professor of Epidemiology & Population Health and of Medicine (Stanford Prevention Research Center)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy interests include applications of behavioral theory and social ecological approaches to achieve large scale changes impacting chronic disease prevention and control; expanding the reach and translation of evidence-based interventions through state-of-the-art technologies; exploring social and physical environmental influences on health; applying community participatory research perspectives to address health disparities; and policy-level approaches to health promotion/disease prevention.
