Bio

The Fletcher lab aims to advance water resources management to promote resilient and equitable responses to a changing world. Our research integrates methods from hydrology, policy analysis, and data science to inform decision-making around critical environmental challenges. Recent and planned projects include: adaptive and modular water infrastructure planning under uncertainty; resilient and sustainable drought planning; and integrating equity and justice measures into water resource systems analysis.

Academic Appointments

Honors & Awards

  • 1st Place Doctoral Thesis, Academic Achievement Award, American Water Works Association (2019)
  • Editor’s Choice Paper, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management (2018)
  • Best Presentation, Technology Management and Policy Consortium (2017)
  • Outstanding Student Paper Award, AGU (2017)
  • Outstanding Student Paper Award, AGU (2016)
  • Graduate Research Fellowship, National Science Foundation (2015)
  • Best Thesis, MIT Technology and Policy Program (2012)

Professional Education

  • BA, University of Pennsylvania, Physics; Economics (2010)
  • MS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy (2012)
  • PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems (2018)

Contact

  • Academic
    sfletcher@stanford.edu
    University - Faculty Department: Civil and Environmental Engineering Position: Asst Professor
    University - Faculty Department: Woods Institute Position: Center Fellow

Additional Info

Links

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

The Fletcher lab aims to advance water resources management to promote resilient and equitable responses to a changing world. We study water resources and climate change adaptation from a socio-technical systems perspective. Research integrates methods from hydrology, policy analysis, and data science to inform decision-making around critical environmental challenges. Recent and planned projects include: adaptive and modular water infrastructure planning under uncertainty; resilient and sustainable drought planning; integrated climate mitigation and adaptation planning; and integrating equity and justice measures into water resource systems analysis.

2024-25 Courses

Stanford Advisees

All Publications

  • Multi-scale planning model for robust urban drought response ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS Zaniolo, M., Fletcher, S., Mauter, M. S. 2023; 18 (5)

    View details for DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/acceb5

    View details for Web of Science ID 000980294700001

  • Equity in Water Resources Planning: A Path Forward for Decision Support Modelers JOURNAL OF WATER RESOURCES PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT Fletcher, S., Hadjimichael, A., Quinn, J., Osman, K., Giuliani, M., Gold, D., Figueroa, A., Gordon, B. 2022; 148 (7)

    View details for DOI 10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0001573

    View details for Web of Science ID 000796073900005

  • Multicriteria, Multiresolution Modeling of Suburban Residential Landscape Alternatives: Water-Efficient Villas in the Arid Middle East JOURNAL OF URBAN PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT Birge, D., Fletcher, S., Siddiqi, A., Al Sumaiti, A., Wescoat, J. L. 2022; 148 (2)

    View details for DOI 10.1061/(ASCE)UP.1943-5444.0000803

    View details for Web of Science ID 000782624000033

  • Spatiotemporal monsoon characteristics and maize yields in West Africa ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS Shiu, J., Fletcher, S., Entekhabi, D. 2021; 3 (12)

    View details for DOI 10.1088/2515-7620/ac3776

    View details for Web of Science ID 000730998900001

  • Joint inference of CFC lifetimes and banks suggests previously unidentified emissions. Nature communications Lickley, M., Fletcher, S., Rigby, M., Solomon, S. 2021; 12 (1): 2920

    Abstract

    Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are harmful ozone depleting substances and greenhouse gases. CFC production was phased-out under the Montreal Protocol, however recent studies suggest new and unexpected emissions of CFC-11. Quantifying CFC emissions requires accurate estimates of both atmospheric lifetimes and ongoing emissions from old equipment (i.e. 'banks'). In a Bayesian framework we simultaneously infer lifetimes, banks and emissions of CFC-11, 12 and 113 using available constraints. We find lifetimes of all three gases are likely shorter than currently recommended values, suggesting that best estimates of inferred emissions are larger than recent evaluations. Our analysis indicates that bank emissions are decreasing faster than total emissions, and we estimate new, unexpected emissions during 2014-2016 were 23.2, 18.3, and 7.8 Gg/yr for CFC-11, 12 and 113, respectively. While recent studies have focused on unexpected CFC-11 emissions, our results call for further investigation of potential sources of emissions of CFC-12 and CFC-113, along with CFC-11.

    View details for DOI 10.1038/s41467-021-23229-2

    View details for PubMedID 34006851

  • The COVID-19 lockdowns: a window into the Earth System NATURE REVIEWS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT Diffenbaugh, N. S., Field, C. B., Appel, E. A., Azevedo, I. L., Baldocchi, D. D., Burke, M., Burney, J. A., Ciais, P., Davis, S. J., Fiore, A. M., Fletcher, S. M., Hertel, T. W., Horton, D. E., Hsiang, S. M., Jackson, R. B., Jin, X., Levi, M., Lobell, D. B., McKinley, G. A., Moore, F. C., Montgomery, A., Nadeau, K. C., Pataki, D. E., Randerson, J. T., Reichstein, M., Schnell, J. L., Seneviratne, S., Singh, D., Steiner, A. L., Wong-Parodi, G. 2020; 1 (9): 470-481

    View details for DOI 10.1038/s43017-020-0079-1

    View details for Web of Science ID 000649448400008

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3289-2237