“I’m excited to figure out how my skills and background will help me do good in the world, and I want to feel challenged, like there’s always something new, something I can learn from,” said Victoria Mao, ’17, who earned a bachelor’s in Energy Resources Engineering.
“It’s not the most well-known major, but the reason I chose it is because I was interested in the more technical aspects of energy. I want to use engineering as this bridging language between policy, people, and industry.” Mao participated in an internship with City of Palo Alto Utilities after she graduated from Stanford, helping the utilities company set up a publicly available database to evaluate Palo Alto’s programs for energy efficiency.
In the long run, she hopes to find better ways of educating people about the realities of our energy system, and build common ground on highly politicized topics. “People say renewable energy is the next big thing, and it has more job growth than any other industry, but in some populations, that is not really an option. If there is some way to promote energy alternatives that is more beneficial, that’s what I hope for. I think the skills of an engineering background are essential to this conversation.”
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Paul Segall, professor of geophysics, and six other Stanford faculty members are among the 250 new members elected to the Academy, which recognizes exceptional scholars from across disciplines who advance knowledge and apply it to the problems of society.
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A new study co-authored by a Stanford Earth researcher looks at what climate change will mean for global yields of corn, or maize, the most widely grown crop in the world. The study shows dramatic increases in the variability of annual corn yields, which could lead to price hikes and global shortages.
