Cities & society
Site news
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A new study clarifies the importance of nature for mental health in urban settings and provides low-cost recommendations for improving public health in cities.
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The Environmental Law Clinic’s case for the Pit River Tribe culminated in the designation of Medicine Lake Highlands as a national monument, reflecting decades of commitment from students and tribal advocates.
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Four hundred experts in policy, academia, business, and science met to explore greater collaboration between the U.S. and Southeast Asia to fulfill the fast-growing region’s competing promises of economic growth and greater sustainability.
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Centuries ago, Pliny the Elder marveled at the transformation of volcanic ash. Today, researchers are reinventing cement by harnessing volcanic chemistry to create more sustainable building materials.
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The latest awards enable development and implementation of cross-disciplinary projects tackling real-world sustainability challenges in food and agriculture, industry, water, electricity, and biology.
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From affordable housing in the Bay Area to Indigenous land rights in the Klamath River watershed, environmental scientist Sibyl Diver’s work depends on building lasting relationships.
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How can air quality policies adapt to the new world of pollution trends shaped by wildfire smoke? Learn about the growing problem of air polluted by wildfire smoke, and what the data show about policies that can make a difference.
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Stanford researchers are working to create a unique, interdisciplinary curriculum to help students better understand both the physical and biological ocean systems and the human relationship with them.
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Erin Mordecai, a senior fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment, studies mosquitos to understand how climate change is affecting the spread of infectious diseases and uses mathematical modeling to predict future outbreaks.
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At a recent event, the Natural Capital Project at Stanford hosted leaders innovating new ways to close the gap between nature’s impact on our lives and how we invest in it.
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A new paper shows that countries' natural gas exports discourage investments in renewables like wind and solar, delaying their transition to clean energy.
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Halleh Balch develops nanoscale environmental sensors to probe the molecular mechanisms that underlie ocean-climate interactions and explore paths to improve water security and sustainability.
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Information technology leader Nandan Nilekani discussed how to increase financial inclusion and create a sustainable digital economy in a recent Dean’s Lecture Series event.
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Discover thought-provoking reads on climate, culture, and the planet – handpicked by Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability faculty.
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During an event at Stanford, the vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives at Apple and former Environmental Protection Agency head Lisa P. Jackson discussed her efforts to reduce climate impacts and create ripple effects throughout industry.
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Two Stanford assistant professors will lead interdisciplinary projects on environment and health with seed funding from the Center for Human and Planetary Health’s Early-Career Research Awards.
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A new water market model for the Colorado River basin could improve water security and restore ecosystems amid intensifying shortages.
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A sweeping new analysis finds that rising global temperatures will dampen the world’s capacity to produce food from most staple crops, even after accounting for economic development and adaptation by farmers.
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Passionate about “social-ecological leadership,” master’s student Fatoumata Barrie is working to bring more voices into sustainability conversations.
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Stanford research shows that large, efficient scavengers are disappearing globally, allowing carrion to persist longer and creating opportunities for disease-carrying species like rodents to proliferate.
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A new study finds that while many Americans misjudge the relative climate impact of dozens of behaviors, they readily commit to higher-impact choices when they get more information. Willingness to engage in actions promoting larger-scale change falls off, however, if interventions focus solely on individual behavior.
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Diego Gutierrez, Earth Systems ’25, looks to the ground beneath us to understand how equitable food systems can lift up communities.
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Stanford-led sustainability research offers tangible benefits for human health. Scientists are developing new techniques to enhance air and water quality, improve disease monitoring, mitigate risks from extreme weather and severe storms, and more.
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Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe joined Woods Institute director Chris Field for a wide-ranging discussion on the state of climate progress and public engagement. Hayhoe argues that most people already care about climate change – they just need help seeing how it impacts their lives directly.
