Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
Showing 201-300 of 1,378 Results
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Eeshan Chaturvedi
Ph.D. Student in Environment and Resources, admitted Autumn 2022
BioEeshan is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Climate Governance, and its correlations with policy, law, and earth systems. He holds an LLM in Environmental Law and Policy from Stanford Law School and has since worked with various domestic and international organizations on legal and management issues. In academia, he has held positions of Assistant Dean and Professor of Environmental Governance and continues to engage with the various stakeholders in the space.
He enjoys discussions on neuroscience, astrophysics, and geo-politics in his free time. -
Jimmy Chen
Managing Director StorageX Initiative, Precourt Institute for Energy
BioJim Chen leads a number of energy programs at Stanford Energy,
including Stanford’s new Hydrogen Initiative; Stanford’s energy storage initiative,
StorageX; and Stanford’s integrated energy program, Stanford Energy Corporate
Affiliates (SECA). Dr. Chen was also the founding Managing Director of Bits & Watts,
Stanford’s initiative focusing on the grid of the 21st century, launched in 2016.
Dr. Chen is enthusiastic about the global energy transformation and building a more
sustainable society through innovation. At Stanford, Dr. Chen creates and expands
impactful global communities of practice that enable industrial-academic-government
collaboration in energy research and scale-up. Dr. Chen is also a leader in Stanford
Energy’s global events including its regional roundtables and Global Energy
Forum. Finally, Dr. Chen is deeply involved in Stanford’s innovation ecosystem,
advising student groups, start-up companies, and accelerators. Dr. Chen’s research
interests include hydrogen, energy storage, the circular economy, decarbonizing
transportation, and integrated energy systems. Dr. Chen’s teaching roles include
lecturing for Stanford’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and for
Stanford Energy’s Hydrogen Economy Seminar.
Dr. Chen is passionate about global energy entrepreneurship and innovation. He works
with energy agencies around the world promoting global collaboration, accelerating
innovation, and sparking entrepreneurship. He also serves on a number of advisory
councils, including on EPRI and GTI’s Low Carbon Research Initiative’s (LCRI)
technical advisory board.
Dr. Chen came to Stanford University after 25 years in industry, bringing a broad
background in energy and technology, with a specialization in technology and product
development. He has held technical positions at Lawrence Berkeley Labs, GTE Labs,
IBM, and AT&T Bell Labs, as well as technology executive positions at both starts-ups
and Fortune 500 companies, including FormFactor and Eaton.
Dr. Chen received a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and MS from
the University of California, Berkeley — both in materials science and engineering —
and holds a BS from the University of California, Berkeley in electrical engineering. -
Zhenlin Chen
Research Asst - Graduate, Brandt Program
BioZhenlin (Richard) Chen is a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford's Adam Brandt lab, focuses on greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas. His work primarily revolves around evaluating ground sensor technologies for methane detection and quantification ability. His methodological approach blends engineering principles, field data collection, and applied statistics. Chen is exploring AI-driven frameworks, particularly large language models, to refine energy data extraction and enhance the OPGEE model through private data fine-tuning and reinforcement learning. His emphasis remains on domain-specific tasks, aiming for efficiency in terms of latency and cost. He pursued his undergraduate studies in environmental science at Cornell University and holds a master's in Atmosphere and Energy Engineering from Stanford.
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Christopher Chidsey
Associate Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Chidsey group research interest is to build the chemical base for molecular electronics. To accomplish this, we synthesize the molecular and nanoscopic systems, build the analytical tools and develop the theoretical understanding with which to study electron transfer between electrodes and among redox species through insulating molecular bridges
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Ryan Chin
Managing Director, Sustainable Mobility Center, Precourt Institute for Energy
Current Role at StanfordManaging Director, Sustainable Mobility Center (SMC), Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Precourt Institute of Energy
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Brian Chivers
Research Software Engineer, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability - Dean's Office
BioI'm a Software Engineer and Data Scientist who works to help researchers optimize their compute and data needs
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Srabanti Chowdhury
Professor of Electrical Engineering, Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and Professor, by courtesy, of Materials Science and Engineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsWide bandap materials & devices for RF, Power and energy efficient electronics
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Steven Chu
William R. Kenan Jr. Professor, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology and of Energy Science and Engineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsSynthesis, functionalization and applications of nanoparticle bioprobes for molecular cellular in vivo imaging in biology and biomedicine. Linear and nonlinear difference frequency mixing ultrasound imaging. Lithium metal-sulfur batteries, new approaches to electrochemical splitting of water. CO2 reduction, lithium extraction from salt water
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William Chueh
Director, Precourt Institute for Energy, Kimmelman Professor, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, of Energy Science and Engineering, of Photon Science and Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
BioThe availability of low-cost but intermittent renewable electricity (e.g., derived from solar and wind) underscores the grand challenge to store and dispatch energy so that it is available when and where it is needed. Redox-active materials promise the efficient transformation between electrical, chemical, and thermal energy, and are at the heart of carbon-neutral energy cycles. Understanding design rules that govern materials chemistry and architecture holds the key towards rationally optimizing technologies such as batteries, fuel cells, electrolyzers, and novel thermodynamic cycles. Electrochemical and chemical reactions involved in these technologies span diverse length and time scales, ranging from Ångströms to meters and from picoseconds to years. As such, establishing a unified, predictive framework has been a major challenge. The central question unifying our research is: “can we understand and engineer redox reactions at the levels of electrons, ions, molecules, particles and devices using a bottom-up approach?” Our approach integrates novel synthesis, fabrication, characterization, modeling and analytics to understand molecular pathways and interfacial structure, and to bridge fundamentals to energy storage and conversion technologies by establishing new design rules.
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Pedro Cintra
Ph.D. Student in Environmental Social Sciences, admitted Autumn 2025
BioTrained as a physicist until my MSc, in which I worked with neutrino detection of core collapse supernovae, I recently switched fields to apply mathematical and computational models to ecological and social systems :)
On the ecological side, I like working with individual based models for cooperation and foraging strategies from an evolutionary perspective. On the social side, I am currently interested in the evolution of cultural values on groups of humans and polarization of opinions on networks of contacts. -
Jon Claerbout
Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Professor of Geophysics, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsReflection Seismology
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Bruce Clemens
Walter B. Reinhold Professor in the School of Engineering, Emeritus and Academic Secretary to the University
BioClemens studies growth and structure of thin film, interface and nanostructured materials for catalytic, electronic and photovoltaic applications. He and his group investigate phase transitions and kinetics in nanostructured materials, and perform nanoparticle engineering for hydrogen storage and catalysis. Recently he and his collaborators have developed nano-portals for efficient injection of hydrogen into storage media, dual-phase nanoparticles for catalysis, amorphous metal electrodes for semiconductor devices, and a lift-off process for forming free-standing, single-crystal films of compound semiconductors.
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Cora Cliburn
Ph.D. Student in Environmental Social Sciences, admitted Autumn 2026
BioCora Cliburn (she/her) is an environmental social scientist originally from the Galisteo Basin of New Mexico. As a Ph.D. student in Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability, Cora’s work centers applied research on rural water governance and climate adaptation in the American Southwest. She holds an M.S. in Energy and Resources from UC Berkeley and a B.A.H. in Environmental Anthropology from Stanford. Cora’s career has spanned water policy advocacy and education, food security and sustainability, climate action in the arts, and over a decade as a professional dance artist. She welcomes opportunities to connect through environmental research, advocacy, and creative collaboration.
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Collin Closek
Basic Life Research Scientist, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment
BioI am a Staff Scientist at the Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions. My research focuses on optimizing molecular and computational tools to address ecological and evolutionary questions. I have published in the areas of environmental change, ocean health, biodiversity, disease, eDNA, -omics, and aquaculture. I hold a B.S. in Biology from the University of Georgia, began my doctoral studies at the University of California, Merced, and earned my Ph.D. at Penn State. I completed two postdoctoral appointments, first as a joint-postdoctoral researcher at University of Washington's School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and University of Maryland's Institute for Marine and Environmental Technology. Second, I completed advanced collaborative training as a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment in conjunction with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. I enjoy exploring and teaching about the natural world, its diversity, complexities, and the challenges faced by our environment.
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Aaron Cole
Director of Web & Application Services, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability - Dean's Office
Current Role at StanfordDirector of Web & Application Services, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
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Sara Constantino
Assistant Professor of Environmental Social Sciences and Center Fellow, by courtesy, at the Woods Institute for the Environment and at the Stanford Graduate School of Business
BioSara Constantino is an assistant professor at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability in the Department of Environmental Social Sciences and a visiting research scholar at Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs. She is also a faculty affiliate at SPARQ and the Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute. She has an interdisciplinary background at the intersection of economics, psychology, and environmental policy and politics. Her research focuses on understanding the interplay between individual, collective, institutional and ecological factors, including how they shape preferences, decisions, experiences and resilience to extreme events or shocks. In recent and ongoing studies, she is looking at the role of polarization, social norms and governance in stimulating or stifling climate action, including both adaptation and mitigation, and what conditions lead groups mobilize to shape policy and other outcomes. She also works on the impacts and politics of guaranteed income and other cash transfer programs. Prior to starting at Stanford, she was an assistant professor in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and the Department of Psychology at Northeastern University and an associate research scholar at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. Before this, she was a senior research fellow in guaranteed income with the Jain Family Institute, a founding editor at Nature Human Behavior, and a research coordinator with the Institute for Fiscal Studies. She received her bachelor’s degree in economics from McGill University, a master’s degree in economics from University College London, a Ph.D. in cognitive and decision sciences from New York University, and did a postdoc focused on environmental policy, politics and decision-making at Princeton University.
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Dylan Marshall Crain
Ph.D. Student in Energy Resources Engineering, admitted Autumn 2022
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy current research revolves around optimizing the monitoring design of Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) projects in such a way that the posterior (after data assimilation) predictions are as close to reality as can be hoped for.
In CCS projects within the U.S., it is important to have monitoring plan, which can consist of wells with pressure, saturation, salinity, et cetera sensors, seismic lines, or gravimetric above-ground measurements, before any injection has begun into the subsurface. This is due to the permitting requirements that must be satisfied before operations are begun.
Due to this constraint, any monitoring optimization (at least initially) needs to be determined using only a prior (highly uncertain) understanding of the subsurface. This makes the optimization much more challenging. We utilize a prior optimization scheme from a previous student which allows us to optimize a monitoring plan using only prior information to get the minimized, expected uncertainty reduction in the posterior models for a given quantity of interest. This scheme is limited by some Gaussian assumptions. We optimize it using a genetic algorithm.
From this point, with the monitoring plan established, the information gathered from the optimized monitoring scheme (using only monitoring wells at the moment) is used to history match (data assimilate) our understanding of the subsurface. The results can be used to predict the CO2 plume flow and behavior into the future.
This work was initially developed to assist a project in Illinois that is currently seeking Class VI injection well permits in the self-same state in order to begin injecting CO2 produced from two companies paying for the work from the Illinois Geological Survey. -
Craig Criddle
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsCriddle's interests include microbial biotechnology for the circular economy, including recovery of clean water from used water, renewable energy, valuable materials that can replace fossil-carbon derived materials. Current projects include energy-efficient anaerobic wastewater treatment technology, assessment of new treatment trains that yield high quality water; fossil carbon plastics biodegradation, and biotechnology for production of bioplastics that can replace fossil carbon plastics.
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Larry Crowder
Edward Ricketts Provostial Professor, Professor of Oceans, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Professor, by courtesy, of Environmental Social Sciences
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsEcology, conservation, fisheries, protected species, ecosystem-based management
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Yi Cui
Fortinet Founders Professor, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, of Energy Science and Engineering, of Photon Science, Senior Fellow at Woods, at Precourt and Professor, by courtesy, of Chemistry
BioCui studies fundamentals and applications of nanomaterials and develops tools for their understanding. Research Interests: nanotechnology, batteries, electrocatalysis, wearables, 2D materials, environmental technology (water, air, soil), cryogenic electron microscopy.
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Justine Dachille
Understand Energy Program Manager, Precourt Institute for Energy
Current Role at StanfordUnderstand Energy, Program Manager
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Gretchen C. Daily
Bing Professor of Environmental Science and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and, by courtesy, at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsLand use, biodiversity dynamics, ecosystem services
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David Danielson
Affiliate, Energy Science & Engineering
BioDavid T. Danielson became a Precourt energy scholar at Stanford in 2016. With Stuart Macmillan and Joel Moxley, Dave co-teaches the yearlong course "Energy Transformation Collaborative." This project-based course provides a launchpad for the creation and development of transformational energy ventures. Interdisciplinary student teams research, analyze and refine detailed plans for high-impact opportunities in the context of the new energy venture development framework offered in this course.
Since January 2017, Dave has been managing director of Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a $1 billion fund focused on fighting climate change by investing in clean energy innovation.
From 2012 to 2016, Dave was assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy. There, he directed the U.S. government’s innovation strategy in the areas of sustainable transportation, renewable power, energy efficiency and clean-energy manufacturing, investing about $2 billion annually into American clean-energy innovation. He is considered a global expert in the development of next generation clean-energy technologies and the creation of new R&D and organizational models for high-impact clean energy innovation.
Prior to being appointed by President Obama as assistant secretary, Dave was the first hire at DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency– Energy (ARPA-E), a funding agency that focuses on the development of high-risk, high-reward clean-energy technologies. Prior to his government service, he was a clean-energy venture capitalist and, as a PhD student at MIT, was the founder and president of the MIT Energy Club. -
Barnabas Daru
Assistant Professor of Biology and Center Fellow, by courtesy, at the Woods Institute for the Environment
BioBarnabas Daru is an Assistant Professor of Biology. He is interested in the ecology and biogeography of plants across ecological scales. He studied botany in Johannesburg, and was a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard, where he worked on new uses of herbarium specimens for understanding plant ecology and evolution in the Anthropocene, the epoch of profound human impact on Earth. Current research in the Daru lab addresses the role of phylogeny in: 1) understanding how species are distributed, 2) conserving unique communities, and 3) understanding changing distributions in the Anthropocene.
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Reinhold Dauskardt
Ruth G. and William K. Bowes Professor in the School of Engineering
BioDauskardt and his group have worked extensively on integrating new materials into emerging technologies including thin-film structures for nanoscience and energy technologies, high-performance composite and laminates for aerospace, and on biomaterials and soft tissues in bioengineering. His group has pioneered methods for characterizing adhesion and cohesion of thin films used extensively in device technologies. His research on wound healing has concentrated on establishing a biomechanics framework to quantify the mechanical stresses and biologic responses in healing wounds and define how the mechanical environment affects scar formation. Experimental studies are complimented with a range of multiscale computational capabilities. His research includes interaction with researchers nationally and internationally in academia, industry, and clinical practice.
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Jenna Davis
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, of Environmental Social Sciences and Higgins-Magid Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsProfessor Davis’ research and teaching deals broadly with the role that water plays in promoting public health and economic development, with particular emphasis on low- and middle-income countries. Her group conducts applied research that utilizes theory and analytical methods from public and environmental health, engineering, microeconomics, and planning. They have conducted field research in more than 20 countries, most recently including Zambia, Bangladesh, and Kenya.
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Kristen Davis
Associate Professor of Oceans and, by courtesy, of Civil and Environmental Engineering
BioI am an engineer and oceanographer who is interested in studying how physical processes shape coastal waters – combining principles of fluid mechanics, oceanography, and ecology. I use both field observations and numerical tools to examine circulation in the ocean, its natural variability, and influence on marine ecosystems and human-nature interactions. I joined Stanford department of Oceans in 2024. Before that, I was an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Irvine.
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Steven J. Davis
Professor of Earth System Science, Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and Professor, by courtesy, of Energy Science and Engineering
BioSteve Davis is a highly-cited researcher and expert in earth system science, emissions and energy scenarios, climate impacts and solutions, and corporate climate strategy. He is a Professor of Earth System Science in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and leads the Sustainable Solutions Lab, a research group dedicated to quantifying how different human activities are affecting climate and air quality, how those environmental changes in turn jeopardize human wellbeing, and the relative priority of solutions.
Steve was a Contributing Author of two Working Group III chapters in the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), serves on the Scientific Steering Committee of the Global Carbon Project, was the Lead Author of the Mitigation chapter in the U.S. Fifth National Climate Assessment, and is a member of the Technical Council of the Science Based Targets Initiative.
Prior to his science career, Steve worked as a lawyer to venture-backed companies in Silicon Valley, and holds degrees from Stanford University, the University of Virginia School of Law and the University of Florida, where he double-majored in Political Science and Philosophy. -
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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Prof. Ramit Debnath
Affiliate, Earth System Science
BioDr Ramit Debnath is an Associate Professor and Executive Director of the Centre for Human-Inspired AI (CHIA) at the University of Cambridge, UK and a research affiliate at Caltech's Linde Centre for Science Society and Public Policy (LCSSP).
Ramit is an elected member of the DWP Methods Advisory Group (MAG) of the UK Government. He leads the Collective Intelligence and Design Group and climaTRACES Lab at Cambridge, and the Climate and Social Intelligence Lab at Caltech. His research advances computational social science and human-inspired AI methodologies for climate and environmental justice decision-making. Ramit is particularly interested in understanding social tipping mechanisms and its interactions with global climate action. At Stanford, he is co-leading the Stanford-Cambridge Inclusive Ordering Initiative at the Doerr School of Sustainability.
Dr Debnath has a background in electrical engineering and computational social sciences, with a MPhil and a PhD from the University of Cambridge as a Gates Scholar.
Research group website: https://www.collectivedesign.group.cam.ac.uk/
Lab website: https://climatraces.org/
Publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=eyp1rYEAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate -
Jeffrey Decker
Program Director, Precourt Institute for Energy
BioJeff Decker is managing director of the Technology Transition for Defense Program and co-instructor of Hacking for Defense course at Stanford University. Hacking for Defense uses the Lean Startup technique to tackle complex problems critical to the government around national security, energy networks, cyber security, and AI, and develop new technologies with teams of engineers, scientists, MBA’s and policy experts. With the program, Jeff has taught more than 300 students, faculty, and government personnel user-centered design from over 2 dozen colleges and universities, helping them solve more than 75 unique national security challenges for the Defense Department and related industries. Several student teams have gone on to form companies winning Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, gaining venture capital funding, and one team even became a program of record. Jeff’s work and research focuses generally on defense innovation and dual-use technologies, with a focus on developing go-to-defense market strategies for technology startups and fostering defense-industry partnerships. With his Lean Startup experience and expertise with Hacking for Defense, plus his military service, Jeff is a sought-after expert when it comes to national security and solving Defense Department challenges.
Jeff served in the U.S. Army as a 2nd Ranger Battalion light infantry squad leader in Iraq and Afghanistan. Following his service, he earned a MS in International Relations (Laws), and a doctorate in International Relations before conducting national security and international affairs research at the RAND Corporation. -
Iván Deiana
Ph.D. Student in Geophysics, admitted Autumn 2023
BioPh.D. student in Geophysics at Stanford Earth Imaging Project (SEP). Research interests include Geophysical Inverse Problems, Quantitative Interpretation, and Earth Imaging, integrated with HPC and ML.
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Anne Dekas
Associate Professor of Earth System Science and, by courtesy, of Oceans
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsEnvironmental microbiology, deep-sea microbial ecology, marine biogeochemistry
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Mark Denny
John B. and Jean De Nault Professor of Marine Science at the Hopkins Marine Station, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsBiomechanics, ecology, and ecological physiology
