Stanford Environmental Portal - Stanford Initiative on the Environment and Sustainability

Stanford Initiative on the Environment and Sustainability

"Stanford has a tremendous amount to offer the world. If we can harness our knowledge and our skills across the sciences, the humanities, engineering, and policy areas, we can help solve some of the greatest societal problems of the century. To ensure that our contributions are useful and used, it is critical that we interact and partner with decision-makers of all kinds, including private and public leaders.
"Pamela Matson, Dean, School of Earth Sciences

Researchers and scholars at Stanford are asking a key question: Can we adequately meet the needs of humanity while protecting and restoring the atmosphere, climate, water, and ecosystems that make our planet habitable?

The answer is yes, but building such a world will be an enormous challenge. That is why Stanford has embarked on the university-wide Initiative on the Environment and Sustainability. The initiative's central goal is to promote environmental sustainability-to help societies learn to meet their resource demands without undermining the ability of our planet to provide for future generations.

The initiative draws on the expertise of all seven schools at Stanford-business, Earth sciences, education, engineering, law, medicine, and humanities and sciences-as well as numerous centers, institutes, and programs across campus.

[Initiative Leaders Jeff Koseff, Buzz Thompson, Pam Matson]

Initiative leaders from left:
Jeff Koseff, Buzz Thompson, Pam Matson

The initiative is led by three outstanding researchers and teachers: Pamela A. Matson, the Chester Naramore Dean of the School of Earth Sciences; and Woods Institute directors Jeffrey R. Koseff, the William Alden Campbell and Martha Campbell Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Barton H. "Buzz" Thompson, the Robert E. Paradise Professor of Natural Resources Law.

Together, Matson, Koseff, and Thompson combine 75 years of research experience in environmental issues. They are passionate in their commitment to solving environmental problems and to mobilizing Stanford's extraordinary resources to do so.

For more information visit the Initiative on the Environment and Sustainability website.