The student experience
Meet our students
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Stanford students are getting a head start on careers with education and leadership programs offered by the Woods Institute for the Environment. We talk with Anushka Vijay, a senior who built both academic knowledge and practical experience through the Environmental and Policy Internship (EPIC) program.
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Stanford students are getting a head start on careers with education and leadership programs offered by the Woods Institute for the Environment. Izabella Smolnicka-Dos Santos integrated academic insight with real-world applications as a Forum for Undergraduate Environmental Leadership (FUEL) fellow focused on sustainability of agriculture and dairy in California.
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A Stanford team has designed a dual-phase fuel cell to help people generate energy in the aftermath of a flood. On Feb. 13, the group will compete in the 2026 Global Sustainability Challenge’s regional finals for the Americas.
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From July to September 2025, Energy Science & Engineering PhD student Pietro Bosoni participated in a hybrid internship at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), a workforce development program run by the U.S. Department of Energy.
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From July to September 2025, fourth-year Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD student Mateus Gheorghe de Castro Ribeiro participated in a hybrid internship at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), a workforce development program run by the U.S. Department of Energy.
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For Earth Systems master’s student Tom Ramsay, an internship focused on assessing the natural capital of wetlands in Uruguay inspired new interests and career ambitions.
Course close-ups
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For their final project in a natural capital course, students Megan Chen and Zoe Rehnborg created a “zine” on the many values of public parks.
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EARTHSYS 177: Environmental Storytelling teaches students to translate research into stories that reach beyond Stanford’s campus – starting with a farm 25 miles away in Fremont.
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Diego Gutierrez, Earth Systems '25, is betting on a humble legume to help rebuild the island's fragile food system – starting in backyard farms.
Members of the Sustainability Student Advisory Council that was active in 2024. (Image credit: Cayden Gu/Ethography)
Research, internships & professional development
We offer programs to support success in both your personal and professional life.
Professional development and internships
No matter what discipline you are in or career goals you have, we want to prepare our undergraduate and graduate students for the future.
Learn about professional development and internshipsEcopreneurship
Building on Stanford’s strengths in both sustainability and entrepreneurship, Stanford Ecopreneurship programs take aspiring sustainability entrepreneurs (or “ecopreneurs”) from idea to launch.
Learn about ecopreneurshipUndergraduate research
Stanford undergraduates from any area of study who want to learn more about environmental science and our planet can work on research with a faculty member in the lab or in the field.
Learn more about undergraduate research opportunitiesStanford Woods Institute for the Environment
Education and leadership programs focus on skills, knowledge, and networks to move ideas into action and support informed decision-making.
Learn more about Stanford Woods InstitutePrecourt Institute for Energy
Student offerings include energy courses, experiential learning opportunities, and events, in addition to mentoring and advising.
Learn more about Precourt InstituteDiscover labs and facilities
Cutting-edge tools to understand our planet.
Explore resources available to studentsExplore our campus
Located 35 miles south of San Francisco and 20 miles north of San Jose on the ancestral land of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, Stanford University’s 8,180-acre campus sits at the heart of Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Peninsula.
Take a virtual tour
Hopkins Marine Station
Visit our educational farm
Beyond campus
Our scholars and students conduct research or engage in field learning on all seven continents and oceans. Opportunities for hands-on learning and research experience outside the classroom range from two-day field courses to a quarter-long field course in social and biophysical systems in Hawaii.
Sustainability Commons
The people and programs in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability will be brought together in a new Sustainability Commons, located on the west side of campus. The Commons will be anchored by two new flagship buildings that will follow Stanford’s history of creating sustainable, LEED Platinum-certified buildings. The Commons will also include the existing Green Earth Sciences Research Building and the Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building (Y2E2). A promenade will connect the academic buildings, rooftop garden, and multiple outdoor gathering spaces.
Sustainable living at Stanford
Sustainability is a core value and way of life at Stanford and the university’s Residential & Dining Enterprises.
Learn about Stanford’s commitment to being a living lab for sustainability solutions
Explore Energy HouseRoble Living Laboratory for Sustainability at Stanford