Stanford University
Showing 341-360 of 5,806 Results
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Rodrigo Bello Carvalho
Ph.D. Student in Biology, admitted Autumn 2023
BioI am a field biologist deeply passionate about wildlife ecology and conservation. My academic and professional journey bridges research, fieldwork, and environmental stewardship across some of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems.
My work focuses on understanding the functional role of megafauna (large-bodied vertebrates) in shaping tropical ecosystems through processes such as frugivory, herbivory, and seed dispersal. I am particularly interested in how savanna biodiversity, structure, and functioning respond to the loss of megafauna (defaunation), and how ecological insights can inform restoration and conservation strategies in a rapidly changing world.
I hold a Master’s degree in Biodiversity Conservation and Management from the University of Oxford (2021), and graduated with honors in Biological Sciences (B.Sc., 2017) and Biology Teaching (B.Ed., 2018) from the University of Brasília (UnB). My ecological journey began at UnB’s Ecosystem Ecology Lab (2014–2018) under Prof. Mercedes Bustamante, where I first engaged with savanna ecology in the Cerrado.
Driven by pursuing applied conservation, I worked at the Brasília Zoological Garden Foundation (2018) and taught Science and Biology in Brasília’s private schools (2019), experiences that deepened my belief in connecting ecology and conservation with communities.
At Oxford’s Ecosystems Lab (2020–2021), I studied defaunation and seed dispersal in the Cerrado, working under Dr. Imma Oliveras and Prof. Yadvinder Malhi. I later joined Brazil’s Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) as an environmental analyst and park ranger (2022–2023), where I was based in the Western Brazilian Amazon, engaging in biodiversity monitoring, sustainable management of natural resources, and frontline conservation enforcement of three Conservation Units within the Purus River Basin.
Currently, I am pursuing a PhD in Biology at Stanford University in the Dirzo Lab, where my research explores megafauna-ecosystem interactions across Brazilian and African savannas, with a focus on how defaunation reshapes ecosystems. I also collaborate with UNESP’s Bird Ecology Lab on frugivory, seed dispersal, and ecological restoration in the Atlantic Forest. -
Amanda Bensel
Practitioner Programs Manager, Contingent
Staff, Ethics In SocietyBioAmanda works as Practitioner Programs Manager at the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society where she helps manage courses exploring ethical questions in the technology sector for professionals from across the world. Formerly, she ran leadership development programs for an INGO called the Asia Foundation, advancing grassroots leaders from across Asia through tailored study tours and reflective leadership frameworks. Her professional background spans international development, environmental policy, youth instruction, urban planning and the creative arts. Amanda lived and worked in Nepal for four years, first as a Peace Corps Volunteer and later to lead graduate student field research and research social enterprises. She is a volunteer judge for UC Berkeley's Annual Big Ideas contest, a student innovation competition; is part of the Skyline Garden Alliance, a native plant restoration group in the east bay hills; sits at the Oakland Photo Workshop, a community run galley for the East Bay Photographers Collective; and pursues independent documentary photography and film projects. Every summer she teaches visual art at a youth summer camp for kids in the Sierra Nevadas. She holds a BA in Architecture with a minor in City Planning from the University of California Berkeley, a MA in International Environmental Policy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, and a masterclass certificate for “Visual Storytelling in New Media” from the International Center of Photography. She's an avid cyclist, hiker, artist and vipassana mediator.
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Stacey Bent
Jagdeep & Roshni Singh Professor in the School of Eng, Professor of Energy Science and Eng, Senior Fellow at Precourt & Prof, by courtesy, of Electrical Eng, Materials Sci Eng & Chemistry
BioThe research in the Bent laboratory is focused on understanding and controlling surface and interfacial chemistry and applying this knowledge to a range of problems in semiconductor processing, micro- and nano-electronics, nanotechnology, and sustainable and renewable energy. Much of the research aims to develop a molecular-level understanding in these systems, and hence the group uses of a variety of molecular probes. Systems currently under study in the group include functionalization of semiconductor surfaces, mechanisms and control of atomic layer deposition, molecular layer deposition, nanoscale materials for light absorption, interface engineering in photovoltaics, catalyst and electrocatalyst deposition.
