Stanford University
Showing 1-6 of 6 Results
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Tiziana Vanorio
Associate Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and, by courtesy, of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsRock Physics, Fossil Energy Exploration, Volcanic and Geothermal Environments and Microseismicity
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Edgar Virgüez
Research Engineer, Energy Science & Engineering
BioEdgar Virgüez is Director of Research at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, Managing Director of the Interdisciplinary Energy Systems Research Group, and a Research Engineer at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. His work bridges research and strategic research leadership, with a focus on building interdisciplinary collaborations that connect rigorous scholarship with real-world impact.
Dr. Virgüez’s research develops data-driven models to inform energy system planning, evaluate environmental and economic impacts, and guide infrastructure investment and technology deployment toward reliable, low-carbon energy systems. He has contributed to more than 50 scholarly publications and research outputs cited over 1,000 times, including work published in Energy & Environmental Science, Nature Cities, PNAS, and Science. He serves on the Editorial Board of Environmental Research: Energy and is a recipient of IOP Publishing’s Editorial Excellence Award. His active scholarly service includes peer review for more than 15 academic journals, including Nature Communications and Nature Sustainability.
Before taking on his current role at the Stanford Woods Institute, Dr. Virgüez served as Managing Director of the $23 million EARNEST Consortium at Stanford, where he oversaw research coordination, governance, and multi-institutional partnerships for a U.S. Department of Energy-funded collaboration spanning 21 universities, national laboratories, and research organizations. The consortium focuses on the future of the U.S. electricity system. He has also led and contributed to research projects for the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank, applying expertise in areas including life-cycle assessment, cost-benefit analysis, and decarbonization strategies.
Dr. Virgüez also contributes his expertise to global energy, climate, and research initiatives. He serves as an Expert Advisor to The Earthshot Prize, assessing climate solutions for innovation, impact, and scalability. He has also provided expert review and advice to organizations including Schmidt Sciences and the International Energy Agency, evaluating research and grant proposals and technical reports focused on energy systems and decarbonization.
His contributions to research, leadership, and education have been recognized through 22 competitive honors, including the American Geophysical Union’s Science for Solutions Award, the K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award, and Duke University’s Graduate School Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. As an educator, he has taught 17 courses, reaching nearly 600 students, while mentoring and supervising students and early-career researchers across institutions and disciplines.
Beyond his research and teaching, he has held leadership roles in university governance. Dr. Virgüez previously served on Duke University’s Board of Trustees, the university’s highest governing body, and currently serves on the Nicholas School of the Environment Board of Visitors and Dean’s Cabinet, as well as Duke’s Climate Commitment Campaign Board.
He earned a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences and Policy, with a Certificate in College Teaching, and an M.A. in Environment, with a Certificate in Geospatial Analysis, from Duke University. He also earned an M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering and dual B.Sc. degrees in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from Universidad de los Andes. His education has been supported by more than $795,000 in competitive scholarships and fellowships.
Across research, education, and institutional leadership, his work is guided by a common purpose: advancing rigorous science, building enduring interdisciplinary collaborations, and strengthening institutions to translate knowledge into impact at scale. -
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 and, by courtesy, of Organizational Development at the Graduate School of Business
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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Oleg Volkov
Sr Res Scientist-Physical, Energy Science & Engineering
BioDr. Volkov has over sixteen years of experience in constrained optimization applied research.
After receiving his M.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering (Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal) and
a Ph.D. degree in Applied Mathematics (University of Montreal), he then worked on industrial
contracts related to the optimal control of phase transition systems and optimal design of porous
media. Subsequently, Dr. Volkov served a one-year fixed term at the rank of an Assistant Professor
in Physics at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. His current research interests include
the implementation and refinement of gradient-based optimization methods in application to hydrocarbon
field development.
