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Our faculty share what excites them about the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, including forming new research collaborations, amplifying the global impact of their work, and helping students contribute to a sustainable future.

Yi Cui, director of the Precourt Institute for Energy and professor of materials science & engineering, wants to develop clean, secure, affordable energy for all the people of the world. He describes how the new school's accelerator will help achieve that goal.

Fiorenza Micheli, professor of marine science and co-director of the Center for Ocean Solutions, says that by integrating scholarship, innovation, new ways of training the leaders of tomorrow, and active engagement in policy and technology the new school is poised to have immense impact on sustaining healthy, thriving oceans.

Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, assistant professor of Earth system science, says the school's cross-cutting themes will tackle moonshot projects critical for a sustainable planet, including challenges like helping disadvantaged communities adapt to increasing environmental risks like heat waves, wildfires, floods, or storms. 

David Lobell, professor of Earth system science and director of the Center on Food Security and the Environment, says the new school will allow undergraduate and graduate students to leave Stanford understanding how they can make a meaningful contribution to the sustainability of the world.

Will Tarpeh, assistant professor of chemical engineering, says the new school will help his group translate their work on converting waste into useable products into real world impact, whether that’s in the U.S. or all the way to sub-Saharan Africa.

Ines Azevedo, associate professor of energy resources engineering, says courses and curriculum in the new school will broaden the scope of sustainability to include issues in the dimensions of science for sustainability, engineering for sustainability, economics and policy design for sustainability, and will provide opportunities to have more engagement with communities and decision makers.

Jef Caers, professor of geological sciences, identifies metals that are needed for EVs and other technologies that move the world away from fossil fuels. He says the new school is about how can we positively start to influence other people's lives.

Paula Welander, associate professor of Earth system science, says the school is focusing on all aspects of sustainability, including the science and how scientists can work together to address the problem in a way that is caring for the planet, but also caring for the populations that are most affected.

 

Kate Maher, professor of Earth system science, says the new school will bring together a unique array of disciplines that aren't normally housed together in one academic unit, which will enable a different way of interacting with communities and stakeholders.

Jane Willenbring, associate professor of geological sciences, studies how Earth's surfaces change over time. She says the new school provides opportunities for people to be driven by the actual problems that we experience in the world today.