Latest research

A growing number of projects are dedicated to finding solutions to urgent problems of planetary and human health. (Source: Stanford Medicine)

Scientists have long suspected that the weight of snow and ice in nearby mountains could throw off groundwater assessments tied to elevation changes in California’s Central Valley, but they lacked a way to quantify the effect. A new study demonstrates a solution. (Source: Stanford News)

Stanford’s Felicia Marcus discusses grand-scale climate adaptation projects with experts from three major urban areas: Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and New York City.

The May 25 U.S. Supreme Court decision Sackett v EPA "dramatically shrinks the authority of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers to regulate wetlands," Stanford environmental law expert Deborah Sivas explains. (Source: Stanford Law School)

A new AI-driven analysis finds the most popular U.S. history textbooks used in California and Texas commonly misrepresent the scientific consensus around climate change. 

Water and natural resources expert Buzz Thompson discusses a recent tentative deal to reduce water use by entities drawing from the Colorado River, averting near-term potential disaster and predictions that the river could all but stop. (Source: Stanford Law School)

The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and the Naval Postgraduate School recently convened experts to discuss coastal resilience, water security, and energy security for communities and military installations along the U.S. West Coast.

Hundreds of students participated in the Stanford Geological Survey, a century-long program that brought undergraduates to the field for extended periods to survey and map the geology of parts of California, Nevada, and Utah. (Source: Stanford News)

Giulio De Leo and his collaborators have been testing an unconventional solution to a parasitic disease. (Source: Stanford Magazine)

At 12 points around the globe – including one at Stanford – scientists are working to detect when the Anthropocene began. (Source: Stanford Magazine)

A new tool for designing and managing irrigation for farms advances the implementation of smart agriculture, an approach that leverages data and modern technologies to boost crop yields while conserving natural resources. (Source: Stanford News)

Chris Larson and Eric Harr join Professor William P. Barnett and undergraduate student Ingrid Ackermann to discuss takeaways from a March 2023 conference held at Stanford GSB. This forum was inspired by Pope Francis’ message to build bridges between “unlikely allies” from the private, public, religious, and academic sectors to advance the climate conversation.

A new method for estimating cliff loss over thousands of years in Del Mar, California, may help reveal some of the long-term drivers of coastal cliff loss in the state. (Source: Stanford News)

McGill University's Dror Etzion joins Professor William P. Barnett and undergraduate student Ingrid Ackermann to discuss takeaways from a January 2023 conference held at Stanford GSB. This conference discussed fundamental scholarship on organizations and their role in creating a sustainable future.

New research reveals wastewater injected underground by fossil fuel operators caused a magnitude 5.6 earthquake in November 2022 in the Peace River area of Alberta’s oil sands region. This is the first study to link seismicity in the area to human activity. (Source: Stanford News)

Researchers have developed methods for using wastewater to track the levels of various respiratory viruses in a population. This can provide real-time information about virus circulation in a community. (Source: Stanford News)

Stanford water and sanitation expert Jenna Davis discusses surprising freshwater challenges and potential solutions in the U.S. and abroad. (Source: Stanford Program on Water, Health & Development)