• Archive

November 06, 2009
Video: See You in Copenhagen
In advance of the December 2009 U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen, senior fellows Rob Dunbar and Stephen Schneider discuss the importance of understanding the potential impact of climate change on the ocean.
Read More …

November 06, 2009
Whale Watch: Endangered Designation in Danger
Senior Fellow Stephen Palumbi, director of Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station, discusses the U.S. government's decision to review the endangered species status of humpback whales.
Read More …

November 05, 2009
Stanford Ecologist Paul Ehrlich to Receive Environmental Award in Spain
Instead of pouring tax money into automobile industry bailouts, the government should invest in a new infrastructure to deal with changing climate patterns, says Senior Fellow Paul Ehrlich. Ehrlich spoke to the Stanford Report before leaving for Spain to receive the Ramon Margalef Prize for lifetime achievement in ecology and environmental sciences.
Read More …

November 03, 2009
Great White Sharks Coming Closer to Shore than Thought, Researchers Find
Pacific white sharks spend several months near the northern and central California coast foraging among seals and other prey, according to a study coauthored by Senior Fellow Barbara Block. She and her colleagues found that the sharks likely pass close to populated beaches and have been spotted as far inland as the mouth of the San Francisco Bay.
Read More …

November 03, 2009
Dan Rather Reports: Carbonomics
HDNet correspondent Dan Rather reports on carbon offsets. There are billions to be made from "offsetting" all of the greenhouse gas we put in the atmosphere, but does it work? Rather cites the research of Center Fellow Michael Wara, an assistant professor of law at Stanford.
Read More …

November 02, 2009
Stanford Research Team Receives Funding to Study Energy Efficiency and Human Behavior
The Department of Energy awarded Stanford researchers a grant to develop an interactive software system that encourages energy efficiency. The faculty research team includes Banny Banerjee (mechanical engineering), Martin Fischer (civil and environmental engineering), Abby King (medicine), Scott Klemmer (computer science), and Sam McClure and Gregory Walton (psychology)—recipients of 2008 planning grants from the Woods Institute and Precourt Energy Efficiency Center to develop behavior and public policy research components for a campus-wide initiative on the sustainable built environment.
Read More …

November 02, 2009
Steve Monismith Tracks Water in the San Francisco Estuary
Senior Fellow Steve Monismith discusses the future of San Francisco Bay, the largest estuary on the West Coast of the United States. He says a major driver of water flow in the Bay is the diversion of freshwater for agriculture and drinking. This large-scale diversion changes the distribution of salt in the water, which affects the current and the life cycles of local fish.
Read More …

October 30, 2009
Woods Institute Hosts 2009 Environmental Venture Projects Forum
On Oct. 7, 2009, more than 100 people attended the Woods Institute's Environmental Venture Projects (EVP) Forum at Stanford's Arrillaga Alumni Center. The event featured a panel discussion on the value of interdisciplinary collaboration and presentations by six EVP grant recipients. Faculty also used the forum as an opportunity to discuss EVP proposals for 2010.
Read More …

October 23, 2009
Woods Institute Celebrates Five Years of Influential Environmental Research
More than 450 people filled the Hewlett Teaching Center’s main auditorium on Oct. 21, 2009, to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Woods Institute for the Environment. Co-Directors Jeff Koseff and Buzz Thompson hosted the event, and Stanford President John Hennessy delivered the keynote address lauding “the remarkable range of what has been accomplished in five short years.“
Read More …

October 21, 2009
Carbon Conversation: An Interview with Stephen Schneider
Senior Fellow Stephen Schneider has been in the trenches of the climate change battle since the 1970s and has advised presidents from Nixon to Obama on how to manage the threat posed by global warming. Writer Jessica Lussenhop caught up with him to discuss the 350 concept--which refers to reducing our current carbon dioxide load to the sustainable figure of 350 parts per million--and more.
Read More …

October 20, 2009
Study: Shifting the World to 100% Clean, Renewable Energy by 2030
Wind, water and solar energy resources are sufficiently available to provide all the world's energy. Converting to electricity and hydrogen powered by these sources would reduce world power demand by 30 percent. Materials and costs are not limitations to these conversions, but politics may be, writes Senior Fellow Mark Jacobson in "Scientific American."
Read More …

October 14, 2009
NPR: Do Offsets Really Help Reduce Emissions?
The climate bills pending in Congress are the biggest effort ever to limit greenhouse gases for the U.S. One concession to industry is a system of offsets, by which companies that need to lower their carbon "footprint" can pay to reduce carbon emissions somewhere else. But offsets are seen by critics as a dodge for companies that don't want to clean up at home. Center Fellow Michael Wara comments.
Read More …

October 09, 2009
Slowing Introductions of New Electronic Products Reduces E-Waste
Americans throw away 400 million electronic products each year. Many are shipped overseas to recover precious metals, using processes that pollute the air and water with toxins. Senior Fellow Erica Plambeck says that slowing down the rate of new product introductions could reduce the speed that consumers replace the electronics they’ve purchased and decrease the tons of e-waste accumulating on Earth.
Read More …

October 07, 2009
America's National Parks: Another Idea
Ken Burns has reminded us of Wallace Stegner's dictum that the national parks are "America's best idea." Others have called them "America's best places." But if the parks are our best places, what about all those other places where we live and work and go about our daily rounds? Don't they deserve our respect, too, asks Senior Fellow David M. Kennedy in this Open Forum.
Read More …

October 05, 2009
Mapping the Impact of Salmon Farming in Southern Chile
Chile's once-fledgling salmon aquaculture industry is now the second largest in the world, increasing 24-fold since 1990. But that massive growth has had equally massive environmental and social effects. In 2008, the Woods Institute awarded an Environmental Venture Projects grant to a team of Stanford researchers to study the impact of salmon farming on southern Chile.
Read More …

October 02, 2009
Obama and Copenhagen: A December Return?
Center Fellow Michael Wara, an assistant professor of law at Stanford, and other experts discuss whether President Obama will attend a major climate change meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009. Their comments appear in the New York Times "Dot Earth" blog.
Read More …

September 22, 2009
What's in Store for the Future of Biofuels?
In this radio program, the Natural Capital Project's Erik Nelson, a postdoc at the University of Minnesota, discusses the consequences of biofuel technology on the environment and food production. Click to download an mp3 audio file of the broadcast.
Read More …

September 15, 2009
Chris Field Receives Heinz Award for Environmental Science and Leadership
Christopher Field, a professor of biology and of environmental Earth system science at Stanford University and a senior fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment, has been named a 2009 Heinz Award recipient. The Heinz Family Foundation cited Field "for his leadership and innovation in carbon cycle and climate science."
Read More …

September 15, 2009
Michael Wara Testifies at U.S. Senate Hearing on Cap-and-Trade
On Sept. 15, 2009, Center Fellow Michael Wara, an assistant professor of law at Stanford, appeared at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources exploring potential costs and price volatility in the energy sector resulting from a greenhouse gas trading program.
Read More …

September 09, 2009
Combating Indoor Air Pollution in Bangladesh
About two million children die each year from acute respiratory infections, often as a result of indoor air pollution caused by cooking with organic fuels, such as dung and wood. Stanford researchers, with support from a Woods Institute Environmental Venture Projects grant, are working in Bangladesh to find practical, low-cost incentives that encourage people to use cleaner, safer cookstoves.
Read More …

September 08, 2009
Aquaculture in an Era of Finite Resources
Aquaculture, once a fledgling industry, now accounts for 50 percent of the fish consumed globally, according to a new report by Senior Fellow Rosamond Naylor and an international team of researchers. And while the industry is more efficient than ever, it also is putting a significant strain on marine resources by consuming large amounts of feed made from wild fish harvested from the sea, the authors conclude.
Read More …

September 02, 2009
Major Shifts in California Bird Communities Due to Climate Change
Half of California could be occupied by new bird communities by 2070, according to a study co-authored by Senior Fellow Terry Root. The study found that as the climate changes, bird species are expected to shift their distributions independently, resulting in some combinations of co-occurring species that have not been seen before.
Read More …

August 24, 2009
Bridging the Political Divide across the Gulf of Aqaba
Scientists from the Woods Institute have teamed up with Israeli and Jordanian researchers to protect the Gulf of Aqaba, a strategic waterway whose fragile marine ecosystem is vital to both Israel and Jordan. Participants in the NATO-funded project say they are bridging the Arab-Israeli political divide for the sake of science, peace and environmental conservation.
Read More …

August 21, 2009
Tracing the Source of Coastal Pollution in Hawaii
Scientists Alexandria Boehm and Adina Paytan have been studying ways ro remedy coastal water pollution on Kauai and the Big Island of Hawaii. Their ongoing research was launched as a Woods Institute Environmental Venture Project with funding from the Meade Foundation.
Read More …

August 11, 2009
Global Fisheries Show Potential for Comeback
Five out of 10 global ecosystems once threatened by overfishing are on the mend, according to a study co-authored by Senior Fellow Stephen Palumbi, professor of biology and director of Stanford's Hopkins Marine Center.
Read More …

August 06, 2009
New Era in Ocean Governance
Some experts have argued for ocean zoning, which would divide the ocean into different areas-for example, a commercial fishing zone, a recreation zone, etc. Debates over zoning often center on the biology of ocean species, the geography of fishing-use patterns, and the need for preventing conflicts among competing users. Writing in the Bulletin of Marine Science, Senior Fellows Steve Palmubi and Buzz Thompson expand this discussion to the social and legal aspects of ocean zoning.
Read More …

July 29, 2009
Gretchen Daily Wins $420,000 Award for Finding Ways to Save Biodiversity
Senior Fellow Gretchen Daily has won the International Cosmos Prize, awarded by the Expo ’90 Foundation in Japan. Expo ’90 lauded her as “a researcher who has provided us with a comprehensive picture of the value of biodiversity-based ecosystem services, upon which human society is dependent.” The prize includes a commendation, a medallion and 40 million yen (approximately $420,000).
Read More …

July 24, 2009
Ray Levitt Appointed to New California Infrastructure Commission
Senior Fellow Ray Levitt, professor of civil and environmental engineering, and CEE Consulting Professor Antonio Vives have been appointed to the new California Public Infrastructure Advisory Commission. The commission will assist the state Department of Transportation and regional transportation agencies in developing public-private financing agreements for high-priority infrastructure projects.
Read More …

July 22, 2009
New Publication: Chimpanzee 'AIDS'
In a study in Nature, Center Fellow James Holland Jones and colleagues report that wild chimpanzees in Tanzania appear to die from AIDS-like illness when infected with the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV). Conventional wisdom was that SIV infection in chimps did not result in disease. The study also suggests that SIV may be an intermediate stage in the evolution of the deadly human strain of HIV.
Read More …

July 21, 2009
Bringing Solar Power to Rural Tanzania
This summer, six Stanford undergraduate and graduate students are organizing a "solar empowerment" project in Tanzania, sponsored in part by the Woods Institute for the Environment. Gregory Lee and Amanda Gonzalez, graduate students in Mechanical Engineering and Management Science & Engineering, have constructed a fully functional solar concentrator. The team plans to assess how to adapt their device to best serve the needs of the community, with the hope of bringing cheaper and more convenient electricity to an area where 90% of the population is disconnected from the power grid.
Read More …

July 06, 2009
Big Plans for a Little Butterfly
A team of researchers is proposing reintroducing a vanished butterfly to the hills above Stanford University, a biological experiment with both promise and peril. The research was sponsored by a Woods Institute Environmental Venture Projects grant.
Read More …

June 22, 2009
Pressing the Case for Geoengineering
Senior Fellow David Victor got a spirited reaction to his article about geoengineering in Foreign Affairs a few months ago. "I fielded a lot of hate mail," he said. Victor is a leading voice in the effort to get governments and policymakers to start thinking seriously about the possibility of technological tinkering with the atmosphere, as a weapon of last resort in the battle against global warming.
Read More …

June 18, 2009
Balancing Act: Sustainably Feeding the Crops that Feed the World
Synthetic fertilizers have dramatically increased food production worldwide. But the unintended costs to the environment and human health have led some policymakers to call for general reductions in the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers. In a report published in the June 19 issue of the journal Science, senior fellows Peter Vitousek, Rosamond Naylor and Pamela Matson warn against a "one-size-fits-all" approach to managing fertilizer use.
Read More …

June 04, 2009
Montana Wins a Round in Water Lawsuit
Barton Thompson, Woods Institute co-director, rejected Wyoming's bid to dismiss a lawsuit in which it is accused, by Montana, of taking too much water from rivers shared by the two states. In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court appointed Thompson, a Stanford law professor, as special master to oversee the case.
Read More …

June 04, 2009
Over-Use of Fertilizers May Be Driving Cholera Pandemic
Cholera affects hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. A team of Stanford researchers is investigating a hypothesis that the use of chemical fertilizers might be exacerbating cholera outbreaks in Bangladesh. If the hypothesis turns out to be true, it could lead to changes in how chemical fertilizers are used, the researchers said. Their work is supported by a Woods Institute Environmental Venture Projects grant.
Read More …

June 04, 2009
Relocating Species in the Face of Climate Change
Climate change threatens hundreds of thousands of species with extinction. Now Woods Institute scientists, along with a multidisciplinary research team, are proposing when and how to save some of these vulnerable species by moving them to suitable new habitats.
Read More …

May 28, 2009
Stanford Magazine Launches SAGE, an Online Eco-Advice Column
Get answers to your sustainability questions from SAGE, Sound Advice for Green Earth. Students from environmental communications course IPER 200 answer questions on a wide range of topics, from sustainable winemaking to energy-efficient laptops. SAGE is a joint project of the School of Earth Sciences, the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in the Environment and Resources (E-IPER) and the Woods Institute.
Read More …

May 27, 2009
Woods Institute Awards New Round of Environmental Venture Projects
The Woods Institute has awarded four new Environmental Venture Projects grants for interdisciplinary research aimed at finding practical solutions promoting global sustainability. Four Stanford University faculty teams will receive a total of $791,692 over the next two years to tackle environmental challenges, from the desert grasslands of Australia to the mountain meadows of California.
Read More …

May 26, 2009
Unintended Consequences of the Meat Industry
The worldwide consumption of pork, beef, poultry and other livestock could double by 2020 resulting in significant consequences for the planet. A team of Stanford researchers received a Woods Institute Environmental Venture Projects (EVP) grant to quantitatively evaluate the environmental impact of global meat consumption and find real-world solutions.
Read More …

May 25, 2009
Scientists Hunt for Green Building Materials
Stanford scientists Sarah Billington and Brent Constantz are developing green building materials for the construction industry. Inspired by a Woods Institute Environmental Venture Projects grant, Billington and her colleagues have developed biodegradable wood that can be recycled more efficiently and replenished faster than natural wood. Constantz has launched Calera, a company that produces cement by capturing CO2.
Read More …

May 20, 2009
Stanford Scientists Find Heat-Tolerant Coral Reefs that May Resist Climate Change
More than half of the world's coral reefs could disappear in the next 50 years, in large part because of higher ocean temperatures caused by climate change. But Stanford scientists have found evidence that some coral reefs are adapting and may actually survive global warming. The research is supported by a Woods Institute Environmental Venture Projects grant.
Read More …

May 15, 2009
Stanford Revives an Agrarian Tradition: Walking the Farm
In April, Senior Fellow David M. Kennedy, director of Stanford's Bill Lane Center for the American West, and graduate student Jon Christensen led Stanford undergraduates on a 23.5-mile environmental walk around the perimeter of the 8,200-acre campus. This year's theme was biodiversity, next year will be climate change.
Read More …

May 13, 2009
Scientists Urge World Leaders to Respond Cooperatively to Pacific Ocean Threats
More than 400 scientists have signed a consensus statement on the major threats facing the Pacific Ocean, including overfishing, pollution, habitat destruction and climate change. “This is first time the scientific community has come together in a single voice to express urgency over the environmental crisis facing the Pacific Ocean,” Senior Lecturer Meg Caldwell told the World Ocean Conference in Indonesia on May 13. Caldwell is executive director of the Center for Ocean Solutions, which helped draft the consensus statement.
Read More …

May 07, 2009
Bioelectricity Promises More 'Miles Per Acre' Than Ethanol
Biofuels such as ethanol offer an alternative to petroleum for powering our cars, but growing crops to produce them can compete with food crops for farmland and aggravate the climate change problem. How can we maximize our "miles per acre" from biomass? The best bet is to convert the biomass to electricity rather than ethanol, according to a study co-authored by Woods Institute researchers Chris Field and David Lobell.
Read More …

May 01, 2009
Stanford@SEA to Set Sail across the Pacific
Senior Fellows Barbara Block and Rob Dunbar lead a group of 22 undergraduates on a 37-day sailing trip from Tahiti to Hawaii to heighten their awareness of the vital role the oceans play in supporting life on Earth and regulating the global climate system. The voyage is part of a unique undergraduate program called Stanford@SEA, which allows students to get first-hand experience in marine biology, oceanography, and nautical science.
Read More …

April 30, 2009
Delta Fix a Must, Speaker Warns
Someone must decide how to fix the San Francisco Bay Delta, a decision that will likely involve trade-offs, Senior Fellow Stephen Monismith told alumni and community leaders in Stockton, Calif. A holistic approach is needed to restore the Delta, he said.
Read More …

April 29, 2009
OP-ED: The Worst-Case Scenario
In this essay published in the journal Nature, Senior Fellow Stephen Schneider explores what would happen if the concentration of atmospheric CO2 tripled by the end of the century. Such an "unthinkable" scenario would be catastrophic, Schneider writes, and should be avoided at all costs.
Read More …

April 29, 2009
Native Faces, Facing Future (pdf)
"Ka Wai Ola," published by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, profiles efforts by the Woods Institute's First Nations' Futures Program to strengthen the relationship between Native Hawaiians and the indigenous Maori of New Zealand. Click below to access a pdf of the article, which begins on page 5.
Read More …

April 27, 2009
From Bangalore to the Bay Area
Former Stanford researchers Karen Seto and Margaret O'Mara and a team of geographers, historians, urban planners, and scientists have created dramatic satellite maps documenting the transformation of three of the world's leading high-tech regions: Silicon Valley, California; Shenzhen, China; and Bangalore, India. Their work was initially funded with a Woods Institute Environmental Ventures Project seed grant in 2006.
Read More …

April 17, 2009
Rough Seas: The Impact of Climate Change on Ocean Ecosystems
Experts on marine science, policy, and law came together on April 10, 2009, for a Stanford Law School symposium on managing ocean ecosystems in an uncertain future of climate change. Co-sponsors of the daylong panel discussion included the Woods Institute’s Mel Lane Student Program and the Center for Ocean Solutions.
Read More …

April 15, 2009
Earth Day Pioneer Urges Stanford Students to Make Their Mark
Earth Day co-founder Denis Hayes (Stanford '69) launched the 2009 Stanford Sustainability Festival on April 14 with a speech at Meyer Lawn. Hayes is president and CEO of the Bullitt Foundation, which advocates for environmental sustainability in the Pacific Northwest. He was introduced by Jeff Koseff, co-director of the Woods Institute, which co-sponsored the event with Sustainable Stanford, and Students for a Sustainable Stanford.
Read More …

April 15, 2009
Paradise Found: Paying Ranchers to Restore Hawaii's Great Forests
In 2004, cattle ranchers in Hawaii began weighing the pros and cons of subdividing their grazing lands for real estate development. Despite the lure of quick profits, many ranchers were reluctant to sell. Then a team of Stanford ecologists received a Woods Institute Environmental Venture Projects (EVP) grant to find out if ranchers could increase their cash flow - and hold onto their property - by planting koa, an acacia tree found only in Hawaii. The success of that EVP study helped launch the Natural Capital Project, a unique collaboration of the Woods Institute, The Nature Conservancy, and the World Wildlife Fund.
Read More …

April 03, 2009
Children, Sanitation, and Health
Each year, diarrhea kills an estimated 1.8 million people worldwide. More than 90 percent of the victims are children younger than 5. In 2006, Stanford researchers Jenna Davis, Ali Boehm, and Gary Schoolnik were awarded a Woods Institute Environmental Venture Projects grant to find solutions to the problem of diarrhea-related deaths among children in Africa. The president of Tanzania visited Woods in May 2009.
Read More …

March 24, 2009
Scientists Solve Puzzle of Arsenic-Poisoning Crisis in Asia
Every day, more than 140 million people in southern Asia drink groundwater contaminated with arsenic, resulting in thousands of cancer deaths each year. In 2004, Senior Fellow Scott Fendorf and his Stanford colleagues received a Woods Institute Environmental Venture Projects grant to address the crisis. Their work, which is centered in Cambodia, has resulted in new insights about the cause of the poisoning and how to prevent it.
Read More …

March 23, 2009
NOAA Chief Believes in Science as Social Contract
On March 19, 2009, marine ecologist Jane Lubchenco was confirmed as the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). A member of the Woods Institute Advisory Council, Lubchenco also founded the Leopold Leadership Program now based at Woods. The program trains environmental researchers in communication, policy-making, and leadership skills.
Read More …

March 18, 2009
Research Team Develops Faux Wood That Can Biodegrade
Stanford researchers have developed a synthetic wood substitute that may save trees, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and shrink landfills. The faux lumber is made from a new biodegradable plastic that could one day be used to make building materials and disposable water bottles. The research was supported by a Woods Institute Environmental Venture Projects grant.
Read More …

March 18, 2009
Scientist Testifies on Federal Waiver to Regulate Auto Exhaust
On March 5, Senior Fellow Mark Z. Jacobson testified at an Environmental Protection Agency hearing to reconsider California's application for an EPA waiver that would allow the state to regulate greenhouse gases from motor vehicles.
Read More …

March 18, 2009
The Geoengineering Option: A Last Resort Against Global Warming?
Global warming is accelerating, and although engineering the climate strikes most people as a bad idea, it is time to take it seriously, writes Senior Fellow David Victor in the April 2009 issue of "Foreign Affairs."
Read More …

March 13, 2009
Expert Warns of Tardiness in Going Ahead with Emissions Trading Scheme
In an interview with Australian Broadcasting, Senior Fellow Stephen Schneider urged the Australian government to push ahead with its greenhouse gas-emissions trading scheme.
Read More …

March 13, 2009
Woods Institute Names 19 Leopold Leadership Fellows
Nineteen environmental researchers from across North America have been awarded Leopold Leadership Fellowships for 2009. Based at the Woods Institute, the Leopold Leadership Program annually selects as many as 20 mid-career academic environmental scientists as fellows.
Read More …

March 11, 2009
$10 Million Gift for Environmental Program
Woods Institute Advisory Council member Dan Emmett and his wife, Rae, have endowed the Stanford Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources with a $10 million gift through their Emmett Foundation. In honor of the couple's support, the program has been renamed the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER).
Read More …

March 10, 2009
Earth Video Live: Darwin's Volcano
In this Discovery Channel video, Senior Fellow Steve Palumbi explains how coral atolls of the South Pacific form. The video is one of many "microdocs" Palumbi produced for his Short Attention Span Science website, www.microdocs.org.
Read More …

March 05, 2009
Seven New Species of Deep-Sea Coral Discovered
Senior Fellow Rob Dunbar and colleagues from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Hawaii have identified seven new species of bamboo coral in the deep waters of the northwestern Hawaiian islands.
Read More …

March 03, 2009
U.S. House Subcommittee Hearing: Managing Our Ocean and Wildlife Resources
On March 3, 2009, Woods Co-Director Barton ("Buzz") Thompson testified at an oversight hearing on managing ocean and wildlife resources held by the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans, and Wildlife in Washington, D.C. His testimony focused the institutional needs for protecting these resources in the face of climate change and other emerging challenges.
Read More …

March 02, 2009
Scientists Urged to Step to Plate on Climate Politics
Money and politics, the stuff of social science, now drive global warming, and climate science needs to get with it, a National Research Council report suggests. Senior Fellow Christopher Field's revised projections on climate change are cited.
Read More …

February 26, 2009
Why 2007 I.P.C.C. Report Lacked ‘Embers’
Senior Fellow Stephen Schneider is among several authors of a 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change who regret not pushing harder to include an updated version of the so-called "burning embers" diagram projecting future climate risks.
Read More …

February 26, 2009
Member of UN Environment Panel Warns Greenhouse Emissions Rising at Alarming, Unexpected Rate
Senior Fellow Chris Field, a leading member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is interviewed about his warning that the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is rising more rapidly than expected.
Read More …

February 25, 2009
U.S. Senate Hearing: Update on the Latest Global Warming Science
Senior Fellow Chris Field was one of four witnesses called by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works to testify about the latest scientific findings on global warming. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) chaired the session on Feb. 25, 2009, in Washington, D.C.
Read More …

February 23, 2009
Redesigning the Bay
The predictions for climate change all warn that San Francisco Bay waters will rise about 5 feet higher by the end of this century. What can we do about it? And how do we plan for that? Senior Fellow Steve Monismith comments in this segment of QUEST on KQED-FM (NPR).
Read More …

February 20, 2009
Coasts Catch Fish Farming's Dirty Drift
Stanford engineers Jeffrey Koseff (Woods Institute Co-Director) and Oliver Fringer have created new fluid-dynamics software that simulates the dispersal of potentially harmful fish waste from aquaculture pens into the open ocean.
Read More …

February 18, 2009
Climate Could Cross Critical Threshold by 2100, Expert Warns
Without decisive action by governments, corporations and individuals, global warming in the 21st century is likely to accelerate at a much faster pace and cause more environmental damage than predicted, warns Chris Field, senior fellow at the Woods Institute.
Read More …

February 17, 2009
Nitrogen Fertilizer Warning for China
Woods Senior Fellow Pamela Matson and other researchers warn that the overuse of nitrogen fertilizer in China is poisoning air, soil, and water, adding that farmers could cut their use of the fertilizers without compromising crop yields.
Read More …

February 17, 2009
Biofuels Boom Could Fuel Rainforest Destruction
Farmers across the tropics might raze forests to plant biofuel crops, according to new research by Holly Gibbs, a postdoctoral researcher at the Woods Institute for the Environment.
Read More …

February 15, 2009
Mass Media ‘Screwing Up’ Global Warming Reporting Says Renowned Climatologist
Woods Senior Fellow Stephen Schneider has called out media organizations for the quality of reporting on climate change and other scientific issues.
Read More …

February 02, 2009
Natural Capital Project: Putting a Price on Nature
KQED-FM (NPR, San Francisco) reports on the Natural Capital Project, a collaboration of the Woods Institute, The Nature Conservancy, and the World Wildlife Fund.
Read More …

February 01, 2009
Delivering Groundwater in Southern India
Veena Srinivasan and her Stanford colleagues are finding new ways to improve water delivery in Chennai, India’s fifth-largest urban center. Their research is supported by a Woods Institute Environmental Venture Project grant.
Read More …

February 01, 2009
Return of the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly
A team of Stanford researchers is hoping to reintroduce the bay checkerspot butterfly in the foothills above the main campus. The tiny insect disappeared from Stanford lands in 1998, but reintroduction efforts face legal as well as ecological hurdles.
Read More …

February 01, 2009
Natural Capital Project Featured in Special Report on Ecosystem Services
Researchers at the Woods Institute's Natural Capital Project contributed to a special issue of the journal "Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment" focusing on ecosystem services. Among the articles in the February issue is a report on the Natural Capital Project's InVEST software system.
Read More …

January 21, 2009
Buzz Thompson Receives 2008 Lyman Award
Woods Co-Director Buzz Thompson is recipient of the 2008 Richard W. Lyman Award for exceptional volunteer service to Stanford.
Read More …

January 12, 2009
Stanford Launches Precourt Institute for Energy
On Jan. 12, Stanford launched the Precourt Institute for Energy to find solutions to a wide range of global challenges—from energy efficiency to development of renewable sources. A number of Woods faculty members are expected to participate in the new research institute, which is led by Senior Fellow Lynn Orr.
Read More …

January 10, 2009
Rock Star Science Team
On public radio’s “Living on Earth,” Woods Senior Fellow Steve Schneider discussed Obama’s nominees for White House Science Advisor, Energy Secretary, and director of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
Read More …

January 08, 2009
Tropics Face Food Crisis by 2100
Rapidly warming climate is likely to seriously alter crop yields in the tropics and subtropics by the end of this century and, without adaptation, leave half of the world’s population facing serious food shortages, according to a study co-authored by Woods Senior Fellow Roz Naylor.
Read More …

January 07, 2009
Chris Field Named AAAS Fellow
Senior Fellow Chris Field is among six Stanford scholars named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Read More …

December 05, 2008
Groundwater Sustainability Workshop
On Dec. 5, scholars, policymakers, and other stakeholders attended a Woods Institute workshop on groundwater, “Challenges to, Solutions for, and Research Directions in Aquifer Depletion and Salinization." The daylong discussion focused on developing a research agenda that leads to practical solutions for sustainable groundwater use.
Read More …

December 03, 2008
Ecosystem Services Workshop
On Dec. 3, the Woods Institute and The Nature Conservancy held the Ecosystems Services Workshop, which explored opportunities for integrating ecosystem services values into California’s regulatory and administrative policies.
Read More …

November 11, 2008 - November 12, 2008
Woods Institute and Bill Lane Center Host Workshop on 'Water in the West'
More than 50 researchers, policymakers, business leaders, and NGO representatives attended a workshop on "Water in the West" hosted by the Woods Institute and the Bill Lane Center for the West. The two-day discussion focused on finding practical ways to meet the growing demand for freshwater in the Western United States.
Read More …

November 10, 2008
Traditional Farming Sustains Bird Diversity in India, Study Finds
A remote area of southwest India provides evidence that farming can support species conservation, according to a study co-authored by Senior Fellow Gretchen Daily.
Read More …

October 30, 2008
Natural Capital Project Releases Beta Version of InVEST Software
The Natural Capital Project—a partnership of Woods, The Nature Conservancy, and the World Wildlife Fund—has released a beta version of InVEST, the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs software tool for assessing the impact of land-use decisions on people and biodiversity.
Read More …

October 24, 2008
Woods Co-Director Buzz Thompson to Oversee Federal Interstate Water Case
The U.S. Supreme Court appointed Woods Co-Director Buzz Thompson as special master in a case involving water rights in three Western states.
Read More …

October 13, 2008
Atlantic Tuna Return Thousands Of Miles To Birthplace To Spawn
Senior Fellow, by courtesy, Barbara Block and colleagues have discovered new migratory patterns for Mediterranean and western Atlantic bluefin tuna, which are highly prized in lucrative Asian fish markets.
Read More …

October 10, 2008
Stephen Palumbi Launches ‘Short Attention Span Science Theater’ Website
Senior Fellow Stephen Palumbi, director of Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station, launched the Short Attention Span Science Theater—an interactive website featuring short video segments, called "microdocs," that are designed to make science understandable.
Read More …

October 08, 2008
Video: California Senator Barbara Boxer and Alumnus Jerry Yang Tour the Yang & Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building
Read More …

September 30, 2008
Mel Lane Student Program Grants
In honor of environmental leader and Stanford alumnus Mel Lane, the Woods Institute has established the Mel Lane Student Program Grants, providing funding to Stanford students for group projects on the environment.
Read More …

September 24, 2008
Aboriginal Burning Promotes Grassland Biodiversity in Australia’s Desert
Center Fellow James Holland Jones and colleagues in the Stanford Department of Anthropology co-authored a PNAS paper suggesting that subsistence-related burning promotes biodiversity.
Read More …

September 24, 2008
Chris Field Elected Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group 2
Senior Fellow Chris Field, professor of biology and of environmental Earth system science, was elected co-chair of the Nobel Prize-winning Working Group 2 of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Read More …

September 12, 2008
First Annual Affiliates Meeting Hosted by Woods and Precourt Institutes
The Woods and the Precourt institutes hosted their first annual Affiliates Program meeting with members of the business and venture capital communities. The daylong event featured a panel discussion on the climate and energy policies of the next presidential administration.
Read More …

September 01, 2008
Beyond Carbon: Scientists Worry about Nitrogen’s Effects
New York Times article features pioneering research by Senior Fellow Peter Vitousek on the impact of anthropogenic nitrogen on global change,
Read More …

August 29, 2008
Pacific Ocean Initiative
The Pacific Ocean covers one-third of the planet and hosts complex ecosystems and marine-based economies, yet this vast region is not being managed sustainably. To address this enormous challenge, the Center for Ocean Solutions launched the Pacific Ocean Initiative.
Read More …

August 20, 2008
New Planning Grants to Fund Research on Freshwater Issues
The Woods Institute has awarded five faculty planning grants to develop long-term research programs at Stanford to help solve the world’s urgent demand for freshwater.
Read More …

August 11, 2008
Humans, Nature, and Birds: Science Art from Cave Walls to Computer Screens
A new book co-authored by Senior Fellow Donald Kennedy draws from the 30,000-year sweep of art about nature—using birds as a binding motif—and invites readers to view the images through a science lens.
Read More …

August 09, 2008
Woods Institute/ABC News/Planet Green Survey
A public opinion survey conducted by Woods Senior Fellow Jon Krosnick found that seven in 10 Americans are taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint.
Read More …

July 23, 2008
Leatherback Turtles’ Migration May Be Roadmap to Salvation
New findings on the migration of leatherback turtles in the Pacific could lead to better management of this endangered species, say Woods Senior Fellow Barbara Block and graduate student George Shillinger.
Read More …

July 17, 2008
Balancing Development Against the Price of Paradise Lost
The July 15 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) includes a special feature on ecosystem services, edited by Woods Senior Fellows Gretchen Daily and Pamela Matson.
Read More …

July 15, 2008
2008 Environmental Venture Projects (EVP) Announced
The Woods Institute has awarded five EVP grants for interdisciplinary research aimed at finding practical solutions promoting global sustainability. Five faculty research teams will receive a total of $781,691 over the next two years for projects designed to solve some of the world's most serious sustainability challenges.
Read More …

June 18, 2008
New Planning Grants Will Support Research in the ‘Sustainable Built Environment’
Three interdisciplinary faculty teams will receive $157,000 over 10 months to develop a campus-wide research agenda for the Sustainable Built Environment.
Read More …

June 17, 2008
Sustainability Initiative Expands to Encompass the Environment We Build
Woods Senior Fellow Raymond Levitt helps launch a Stanford research program on the Sustainable Built Environment.
Read More …

June 12, 2008
Gretchen Daily Accepts Sophie Prize in Oslo
Gretchen Daily, Woods senior fellow and chair of the Natural Capital Project, accepted Norway’s prestigious Sophie environmental prize in Oslo.
Read More …

May 29, 2008
Newsweek Energy Forum
The Woods Institute and the Precourt Institute for Energy Efficiency hosted a panel discussion with Newsweek magazine on the role of technology in solving future energy needs.
Read More …

May 28, 2008
FSE Program Seeks Sustainable Solutions to Global Hunger
The Program on Food Security and the Environment, a partnership between the Woods Institute and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, focuses on how to feed the world without wrecking it.
Read More …

May 14, 2008
Donald Kennedy Honored by the Exploratorium
Woods Senior Fellow Donald Kennedy received the Public Understanding of Science Award from the Exploratorium in San Francisco.
Read More …

December 31, 1969

Read More …

---

Woods News Archive

• Current News
• 2008