Stanford University
Showing 841-850 of 1,354 Results
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Reginald Mitchell
Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Emeritus
BioProfessor Mitchell's primary area of research is concerned with characterizing the physical and chemical processes that occur during the combustion and gasification of pulverized coal and biomass. Coals of interest range in rank from lignite to bituminous and biomass materials include yard waste, field and seed crop residues, lumber mill waste, fruit and nut crop residues, and municipal solid waste. Experimental and modeling studies are concerned with char reactivity to oxygen, carbon dioxide and steam, carbon deactivation during conversion, and char particle surface area evolution and mode of conversion during mass loss.
Mitchell’s most recent research has been focused on topics that will enable the development of coal and biomass conversion technologies that facilitate CO2 capture. Recent studies have involved characterizing coal and biomass conversion rates in supercritical water environments, acquiring the understanding needed to develop chemical looping combustion technology for applications to coals and biomass materials, and developing fuel cells that use coal or biomass as the fuel source. Studies concerned with characterizing coal/biomass blends during combustion and gasification processes are also underway.
Professor Mitchell retired from Stanford University in July 2020, after having served over 29 years as a professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department. -
Diana Moanga
Lecturer, Earth Systems Program
BioDiana A. Moanga, PhD, is a Lecturer in the Earth Systems Program at Stanford University’s Doerr School of Sustainability. She teaches courses in geographic information science (GIS), remote sensing, spatial analysis, and geospatial data science, including Fundamentals of Geographic Information Science, Advanced Concepts in Geographic Information Science, and Remote Sensing of Land, Biology and Global Change, and mentors undergraduate and graduate students through independent research.
Her teaching emphasizes applied, problem-based learning that connects geospatial methods to real-world environmental and societal questions. She designs GIS coursework around place-based analyses, spatial problem solving, cartographic communication, and independent student projects, with the goal of helping students move beyond learning software to understanding how spatial thinking can be used to investigate complex problems. In 2025, she received the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability’s Excellence in Teaching Award in recognition of her contributions to teaching, curriculum innovation, and student learning. Her approach to GIS education was also featured by Esri in the 2026 article, Making GIS Click: Lessons from a Stanford Classroom.
Dr. Moanga’s research spans coastal resilience, land system science, conservation, and coupled human–environment systems, with particular expertise in GIS, remote sensing, and spatial analysis. Her work examines how environmental and anthropogenic pressures reshape landscapes and coastal systems, including land-use and land-cover change, wildfire, flooding and coastal hazards, ecosystem services, and nature-based approaches to resilience. Across this work, she is particularly interested in developing spatial methods and decision-support frameworks that translate complex environmental data into information that can support conservation, planning, and climate resilience.
She earned her PhD in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from the University of California, Berkeley in 2020. Her doctoral research used geospatial methods to examine land-use and land-cover change across California, including the effects of conservation management on coastal lands, agricultural transitions in the Central Valley, and wildfire activity under changing climate conditions. She earned her MS in Marine Affairs and Policy and BA in Marine Affairs from the University of Miami, where her research included harmful algal blooms, coastal zone management, and coral conservation.
Before joining the Earth Systems faculty in 2023, Dr. Moanga was a postdoctoral researcher in Stanford’s Department of Earth System Science and at Florida International University’s Sea Level Solutions Center. -
J. Moldowan
Professor (Research) of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOrganic geochemistry; study of molecular fossils (biomarkers) and their use in petroleum system analysis, reservoir characterization, environmental monitoring, molecular paleontology, global change, petroleum biodegradation in reservoir. Studies of thermal cracking of petroleum by deep burial or catalytic alteration in deep source rocks and reservoirs by using diamondoids. Applications to unconventional petroleun exploration and development.
