Interim leadership announced for new school’s Sustainability Accelerator

Michael Wara has been appointed interim director for policy engagement in the new school’s Sustainability Accelerator, which will draw expertise from across the university and outside partners to co-create and scale solutions for urgent global climate and sustainability challenges.

For the past five years, Wara has served as Director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program and a senior research scholar at Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, where he provides fact-based, bipartisan, technical and legal assistance to policymakers engaged in the development of novel climate and energy law and regulation. Wara will continue his cross-campus work on wildfire, building decarbonization and broader issues in energy and climate policy at the Sustainability Accelerator. Prior to joining Woods, Wara was an Associate Professor at Stanford Law School and an Associate in Holland & Knight’s Government Practice.

As interim director for policy engagement, Wara will create new opportunities for interested faculty and graduate students to work with external partners to develop policies focused on climate and sustainability. 

When it is fully formed, the Sustainability Accelerator will offer convening space, equipment and expert staff, and will provide specialized training and project funding to generate solutions to the problems of sustainability at the community, national and international level.

Kathryn “Kam” Moler, transition dean of the new school, will lead a search for a permanent executive director for technology, as well as a permanent executive director for policy in the Sustainability Accelerator.

This spring, Wara will be leading a series of hour-long conversations about academic-to-policy engagement for interested Stanford community members. The series will cover issues such as engagement with state, local and federal regulators and legislators; working with community groups and tribes; and strategies for integrating external policy stakeholders into research. Information about these Sustainability Accelerator events including registration will be available on the new school website.