Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
Showing 21-28 of 28 Results
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Edgar Virgüez
Research Engineer
BioEdgar Virgüez is a Research Engineer in the Department of Energy Science & Engineering at Stanford University, where his work advances sustainable, low-carbon energy systems. His findings have resulted in more than 20 peer-reviewed papers with over 750 citations in leading journals, including Energy & Environmental Science and Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T). In recognition of his expertise, Dr. Virgüez serves on the Executive Editorial Board of the Environmental Research: Energy journal, and regularly reviews manuscripts for 14 journals, including Nature Communications and Nature Sustainability.
Beyond his individual scholarship, Dr. Virgüez serves as Managing Director of the $23 million U.S. Department of Energy-funded EARNEST Consortium, a landmark initiative led by Stanford that unites 21 partner institutions across North America. This effort brings together 18 universities, three national laboratories, and two energy-focused research organizations to identify and advance solutions for the future of the U.S. electricity system. Beyond EARNEST, he has collaborated with organizations such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, contributing expertise in life cycle assessment, cost-benefit analysis, and decarbonization strategies for governments and utilities across the Americas.
At the global level, Dr. Virgüez contributes to major energy and climate initiatives. As an Expert Advisor to the Earthshot Prize, founded by Prince William, he reviews nominations in the Fix Our Climate category, assessing their potential for innovation, impact, and scalability toward a $1.25 million award. He also serves as an Expert Reviewer for the Schmidt Sciences Decarbonization and Energy Virtual Institute, evaluating proposals that provide $3–10 million over five years to multi-institutional teams pursuing scalable decarbonization modeling solutions.
For his professional contributions, Dr. Virgüez has received more than 20 awards totaling $34,365 in recognition of his teaching excellence, scholarly achievements, and leadership in higher education. Among his most notable honors, he was recognized by the American Geophysical Union with the Science for Solutions Award (2025), which recognizes “significant contributions in the application and use of the Earth and space sciences to solve societal problems.” As an educator, Dr. Virgüez has taught 17 courses to nearly 600 students, consistently earning outstanding evaluations. His teaching excellence has been recognized with distinctions such as the K. Patricia Cross Future Leader Award (2020) from the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the Graduate School Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (2021) from Duke University.
In 2022, he was elected as a Young Trustee to Duke University’s Board of Trustees, the institution’s highest governing body. During his three-year term, he served on committees for Graduate and Professional Education and Research, External Engagement, Honorary Degrees, and the Young Trustee Nominating Committee, which he chaired for one year. He currently sits on the Climate Commitment Campaign Advocates Board, where he advises the university on the major philanthropic initiative on climate change.
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, along with 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 also completed professional certificates in Australia, the United States, and Colombia, and has received more than $795,000 in scholarships and fellowships from competitive programs sponsored by institutions such as the Sloan Foundation and Procter & Gamble. -
Peter Vitousek
Clifford G. Morrison Professor of Population and Resource Studies and Professor of Earth System Science, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsVitousek's research interests include: evaluating the global cycles of nitrogen and phosphorus, and how they are altered by human activity; understanding how the interaction of land and culture contributed to the sustainability of Hawaiian (and other Pacific) agriculture and society before European contact; and working to make fertilizer applications more efficient and less environmentally damaging (especially in rapidly growing economies)
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Madalina Vlasceanu
Assistant Professor of Environmental Social Sciences
BioMadalina Vlasceanu is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Behavioral Sciences in the Department of Environmental Social Sciences at Stanford University’s Doerr School of Sustainability and the Director of the Climate Cognition Lab. Professor Vlasceanu is also a Faculty Fellow at the Stanford Center for Affective Science, the chair of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology at the United Nations, and a committee member of the Psychology Coalition at the United Nations, and the International Panel on the Information Environment. She obtained a PhD in Psychology and Neuroscience from Princeton University in 2021 and a BA in Psychology and Economics from the University of Rochester in 2016. Prior to Stanford, she was an Assistant Professor of Psychology at New York University. Her research focuses on the cognitive and social processes that give rise to emergent phenomena such as collective beliefs, collective decision-making, and collective action, with direct applications to climate policy. Guided by a theoretical framework of investigation, her research employs a large array of methods including behavioral laboratory experiments, social network analysis, field studies, randomized controlled trials, megastudies, and international many-lab collaborations, with the goal of understanding the processes underlying climate awareness and action at the individual, collective, and system level. Professor Vlasceanu's research is theoretically grounded and focused on applications for practice, incorporates an interdisciplinary perspective, and directly informs policies and practices relevant to climate mitigation and adaptation.
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Katie Vogelheim
Innovation Coach, Graduate School of Business - Center for Entrepreneurial Studies
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.
