Karen Casciotti named associate dean for space planning

Professor Karen Casciotti has been named associate dean for space planning at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability starting April 1. She joins other faculty leaders who are helping to guide the school’s faculty affairs, education, and community building.

Casciotti will be part of the team focusing on Integrative Initiatives led by Scott Fendorf that includes newly created positions intended to ensure the school fosters an intentional culture, woven with inclusive, well-developed community values.

“Part of integrating across the school is thinking about how we use space to facilitate interactions among faculty, students, and staff,” Casciotti said. “Who you interact with on a day-to-day, week-to week, month-to-month basis impacts your experience and can impact your scholarship.”

Casciotti, who holds appointments in the Earth System Science and Oceans departments, will initially be looking at the Yang and Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building (Y2E2) and plans for the Hopkins Marine Station. She will also be working toward expanding the shared labs for both current and future faculty, consulting with staff and researchers to find the best paths forward.

Using shared facilities is a model that not only economizes on equipment, but also facilitates interactions between students and faculty, said Casciotti, who co-manages a shared lab with Earth and Planetary Sciences professor Page Chamberlain. The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability already has several shared labs that enable analyses in biochemistry, environmental materials, and more.

Casciotti will be collaborating with Sandy Meyer, director of facilities, planning, and management; Lynn Hildemann, senior associate dean for education; and Fendorf, senior associate dean for integrative initiatives, to meet expanding research and teaching needs in the short term while planning to further enhance them with the school’s future buildings. The school is primarily housed within the Mitchell Earth Sciences Building, Green Earth Sciences Building, Braun Building, and Y2E2. Over time, it will expand to include a new Sustainability Commons anchored by two new buildings along with enhanced spaces in Y2E2 and Green.

“Somewhere between now and the opening of the new Sustainability Commons, there’s a gap where we need to think about how we’re sharing and using existing space to fulfill the needs we have now, as well as needs that will arise before the new buildings are available,” Casciotti said.