Land & water
Site news
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Dozens of faculty members at Stanford are working to transform the way the world grows, distributes, and consumes food, with research and scholarship spanning topics including sustainable food systems, food security, health equity, culture, and diet.
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Stanford researchers have combined machine learning with high-resolution satellite and airplane observations to understand the physics behind large-scale ice movements in Antarctica. The results show that current models are missing key complexity needed to accurately predict the dynamics and mass loss of the Antarctic ice sheet now and in the future.
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Climate change and flagging investment in research and development has U.S. agriculture facing its first productivity slowdown in decades. A new study by researchers at Stanford, Cornell, and the University of Maryland estimates the public sector investment needed to reverse course.
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Interdisciplinary researchers at Stanford’s Center for Turbulence Research are using rapidly advancing tools to solve interdisciplinary problems connected to fluid flow.
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Historic rains filled Greater Los Angeles reservoirs and shallow aquifers nearly to capacity in 2023. But drought conditions persisted in deeper aquifers, according to a new analysis of seismic data from California’s earthquake monitoring network.
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New research shows grain yields critical to India’s food security are dragged down 10% or more in many parts of the country by nitrogen dioxide pollution from power stations that run on coal. Economic losses from crop damages exceed $800 million per year.
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Our list includes a mix of favorites, high-impact stories, and some of our most-read research coverage from the past year.
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Rainy days are becoming less frequent but more intense across much of the planet because of climate change. Even in years with similar rainfall totals, plants fare differently when rain falls in fewer, bigger bursts, a new study shows.
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A new prototype device demonstrates an innovative approach to producing ammonia – a key component of fertilizer – that could transform an industry responsible for about one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions.
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Ermakov combines planetary science and exploration to learn new – and often surprising – details about the structure and evolution of planetary bodies.
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A new study from Stanford researchers shows central California’s vast San Joaquin Valley has sunk at a record pace since 2006. Strategic recharging of aquifers could help slow or stop the sinking.
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Water scarcity threatens the viability of hydropower and agriculture. A new study in the Andes shows sustainable irrigation and reforestation are the best responses.
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In rural Africa, where livelihoods are often tied directly to the land, environmental degradation poses a critical threat to both ecosystems and people’s well-being. New research reveals ways to tackle the dual challenges of land degradation and poverty.
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Assistant Professor of chemical engineering and of civil and environmental engineering William Tarpeh brings his love of problem-solving to his research.
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Stanford researchers have created an open-source tool so other scientists can make ice-penetrating radar systems at a fraction of the cost of current methods. Ice-penetrating radar is a core tool used by glaciologists monitoring how ice sheets contribute to rising sea levels.
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The possibility of detecting a pocket of habitable water under the surface of Europa is just one of the reasons to be excited about NASA's mission, says Dustin Schroeder, an expert in using radar to assess glaciers and a member of Clipper's science team.
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A search for ancient deposits of sandy material expected at continental margins has come up empty. This prominent geological gap hints at poorly understood, powerful, global-scale erosion processes, illustrating profound changes caused by climate upheaval.
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Kabir Peay wants to leverage the relationship between plants and the beneficial fungi that colonize their roots to help ecosystems weather climate change.
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As power grids rely more on renewable energy sources like wind and solar, balancing energy supply and demand becomes more challenging. A new analysis shows how water systems, such as desalination plants and wastewater treatment facilities, could help enhance grid stability and create new revenue streams.
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The shapes and textures of quartz grains speak to the processes that molded and transported them. A new tool from Stanford researchers enables quick, accurate, insightful analysis of this sand, which can be used in geology, geoarchaeology, forensics, and more.
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"I remember daycare trips to coastal parks, and for most of my childhood I fell asleep at night to a sound machine playing the sound of breaking waves. My parents are geologists who really enjoy nature, so we spent a lot of time outdoors. Most families have family portraits hanging on the walls, but we had vials of sand samples clustered along ours."
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Soaring water utility bills force many households to ration water use for essential needs while still falling behind on payments. Stanford scientists offer a new approach to measuring water affordability that could help utilities and government agencies identify and aid those most at risk.
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Stanford researchers and others are assessing an innovative curriculum and infrastructure maintenance program that could provide a blueprint for more effective school-based sanitation and hygiene interventions.
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New research provides the clearest evidence to date that a rapid burst of evolution 540 million years ago could have been caused by a small increase in oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere and shallow ocean waters.
