The Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment incubates and supports strategic research centers and programs designed to tackle major sustainability challenges facing the planet. Through these interdisciplinary initiatives, Woods brings together top scholars from Stanford and other academic institutions and connects them with prominent leaders from government, nongovernmental organizations and business to develop practical solutions to real-world problems.
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Highlights
CENTER FOR OCEAN SOLUTIONS
A collaboration among Stanford University (through the Stanford Woods Institute and the Hopkins Marine Station), the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, advancing knowledge and solutions to ocean challenges.
Larry Crowder, Science Director
CENTER ON FOOD SECURITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
A joint effort with the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies that addresses the challenges of feeding the world's growing population without depleting the planet's natural resources.
Rosamond Naylor, Director
David Lobell, Deputy Director
DISEASE ECOLOGY, HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT
A joint initiative launched in 2015 with Stanford’s Center for Innovation in Global Health, drawing on experts in public health, ecology, engineering, computer science, medicine and the social sciences to discover ecological solutions to humanity’s health challenges and to develop the next generation of planetary health innovators.
Giulio De Leo, Faculty Director
Susanne Sokolow, Executive Director
GLOBAL FRESHWATER INITIATIVE
An interdisciplinary research effort that studies the long-term viability of freshwater supplies for people and the environment, factoring in threats from climate change, shifts in land use, increasing population and decaying infrastructure. The program focuses on developing and water-scarce regions throughout the world.
Steven Gorelick, Faculty Director
NATURAL CAPITAL PROJECT
A joint venture with The Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund and the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment that uses open-source software and other tools to enable decision-makers to quantify nature's values, assess trade-offs associated with alternative land and water use choices, and integrate conservation and human development into land and water use and investment decisions.
Gretchen Daily, Co-Director
Mary Ruckelshaus, Managing Director
OSA & GOLFITO INITIATIVE
An initiative to support sustainable human development and environmental stewardship in Costa Rica's Osa and Golfito region through work with local communities, government, the private sector and nongovernmental organizations.
Rodolfo Dirzo, Faculty Director
William Durham, Faculty Director
Emily Arnold Mest, Associate Director
WATER, HEALTH & DEVELOPMENT
A program aimed at identifying ways to improve and increase the sustainability of water supply and sanitation service delivery, while also enhancing capacity for sustainable water and wastewater management in developing countries.
Jenna Davis, Faculty Director
WATER IN THE WEST
A joint program with Stanford's Bill Lane Center for the American West that develops and promotes solutions to key water management questions in the West, including better groundwater management, more sustainable urban water use, better use of markets and other mechanisms to help western states cope with water scarcity.
Leon Szeptycki, Executive Director
Celebrating Toilets in Rural Mali
Better Sanitation without Subsidies: New research shows childhood stunting diminishes with community-led promotion of latrines. Read more.