Stanford University
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

FUNDING FOR UNDERGRADUATES IN INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
The Mentoring Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Program from the Woods Institute for the Environment provides full- and part-time student a $7500 stipend to Stanford undergraduates to conduct interdisciplinary environmental research during the summer term. Students with financial need are eligible for an additional need-based supplement of up to $1500. Stanford faculty members must apply on behalf of undergraduates, and the Woods Institute invites faculty from all departments to apply. Fund priority goes to proposals submitted by Stanford Woods Institute affiliated faculty and by faculty who identify a student in their application. Students wishing to initiate a project must approach a faculty member who is willing to apply on the student's behalf. For more information, visit https://woods.stanford.edu/educating-leaders/education-leadership-programs/mentoring-undergraduates-interdisciplinary-research

STANFORD EARTH SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
The 15-year-old Stanford Earth Summer Undergraduate Research Program is a 10-week summer research program for Stanford undergraduates from any area of study who want to learn more about environmental science and the planet we live on. Students find a project - or propose one of their own - and work with a faculty member from the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences (Stanford Earth) in the lab or in the field (or remotely) through the summer. Students present their work at a fall scientific symposium. The stipend in 2022 will be $7500 for 10 weeks of full time effort. There is also a needs-based supplement of up to $1500 based on financial need record. For more information, visit https://earth.stanford.edu/faculty-research/sesur

RISING ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS PROGRAM
The Stanford Woods Institute is working to develop the next generation of environmental leaders through its Rising Environmental Leaders Program. This year-round program, initiated in 2011, helps graduate students and postdoctoral scholars hone their leadership and communications skills to maximize the impact of their research. Participants also are extended professional development and networking opportunities including introductions to global leaders from government, NGOs, think tanks and business to: 1) complement students' formal education with hands-on, experiential learning; (2) provide knowledge on opportunities to maximize research impact; (3) build a network of peers and partners; and (4) provide exposure to career tracks outside academia. Additionally, fellows in Stanford's Rising Environmental Leaders Program get crash course on linking science to policy at DC Bootcamp. Stanford’s emerging experts on the environment and sustainability recently returned from D.C. Bootcamp, an intense week of panel discussions, meetings, and tours providing an insiders’ look at the intersections of science and policymaking. For more information, visit https://woods.stanford.edu/educating-leaders/education-leadership-programs/rising-environmental-leaders-program and https://woods.stanford.edu/news/future-environmental-leaders-go-inside-beltway-spring-break

The Ward W. and Priscilla B. Woods Institute for the Environment harnesses the expertise and imagination of leading academics and decision-makers to create practical solutions for people and the planet. The Institute played a critical role in Stanford’s Initiative on the Environment and Sustainability, and is one of just a few campus Institutes with the ability to appoint faculty fellows. Faculty interested in conducting sustainability research can become fellows at the Woods Institute either in addition to departmental status or as an exclusive appointment. Visit: http://woods.stanford.edu/

In addition, the Woods Institute manages a special research grant program for sustainability projects. Environmental Venture Projects (EVP) are seed grants awarded annually to Stanford faculty for innovative research that focuses on finding solutions to key environmental and sustainability challenges, such as protecting endangered species in California or delivering clean drinking water in Africa. To catalyze transformative environmental and sustainability research around the world, the Stanford Woods Institute has awarded millions of dollars in EVP seed grants to interdisciplinary faculty research teams from all seven of Stanford’s schools and its departments. As of 2022, the EVP program provides seed grants from $10,000 to $200,000, for up to two years, for interdisciplinary research projects that seek to identify solutions to pressing problems of the environment and sustainability. Research projects are evaluated for their intellectual merit, potential to solve critical problems, the integration of the disciplinary strengths of the team and the project’s potential to secure additional funding. The program also provides grants for $50,000 or less, for more discrete research needs in line with the priorities and guidelines of the EVP program, are also encouraged. For more information, please visit: https://woods.stanford.edu/research/funding-opportunities/environmental-venture-projects

In addition, Stanford faculty members and their students, postdocs and technicians are engaged in the six key areas of energy research deemed priorities by the Precourt Institute for Energy: Renewable Energy, Fossil & Nuclear Energy, Energy Storage & Grid Modernization, End/Use Efficiency, Environmental Impacts, and Policy & Economics. Faculty seed grants are awarded for research proposals in these areas with a strong potential for high impact on energy supply and use. These “proof of concept” awards bridge theory to early experiments and analyses. Seed grants are awarded each year by the Precourt Institute for Energy, the Precourt Energy Efficiency Center, the TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy, and the Natural Gas Initiative. The Global Climate and Energy Project also provides funding for exploratory research. As one example of the funding available, the Precourt Pioneering Projects will be funded to a level of $450,000 for two years. For more information, please visit: https://energy.stanford.edu/research/seed-grants

Since 1990, Stanford has allowed selected Interdisciplinary Institutes on campus to make their own faculty appointments and promotions. The university states, “While reaffirming the value of coupling academic appointments in policy centers and institutes to faculty appointments in existing academic departments, it was recognized that interdisciplinary policy centers may have needs not met by regular professorial appointments in existing departments.” These Interdisciplinary Institutes include the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, the Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford, the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, the Woods Institute for the Environment and the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. Each of these institutes can appoint Senior Fellows and Center Fellows, both of which are members of the Academic Council, regardless of any other appointments. These fellows can be faculty in their own department or can be completely appointed by that institute, giving institutes the freedom to promote anyone without university restrictions. The faculty handbook articulates how departments and institutes should carry out appointment and promotion processes that give a fair review and evaluation of interdisciplinary faculty. Relevant excerpts from the faculty handbook can be found at: https://facultyhandbook.stanford.edu/2-appointments-reappointments-and-promotions-professoriate

The library collections include a number of databases and resources with a sustainability focus. Examples include:

Climate and environmental database systems [electronic resource]
Imprint: Boston : Kluwer Academic, c1997.
Creators/Contributors: Lautenschlager, Michael, 1953-, Reinke, Manfred, 1952-, International Workshop on Climate and Environmental Database Systems (2nd : 1995 : Hamburg, Germany)
Summary: Climate and environmental data may be separated into two classes, large amounts of well-structured data and smaller amounts of less structured data. The large amounts are produced by numerical climate models and by satellites, handling data in the order of magnitude of 100 Tbytes for the climate modelling sites and 1000 Tbytes for the recording and processing of satellite data. Smaller amounts of poorly structured data are the environmental data, which come mainly from observations and measurements. Present-day problems in data management are connected with a variety of data types. This volume addresses the state of the art, practical experience, and future perspectives for climate and environmental database systems, and may be used as a text for a graduate level course on the subject or as a reference for researchers or practitioners in industry.

DATA OBSERVATION NETWORK FOR EARTH (DataONE)
Contributor: University of New Mexico, publisher.
Summary: Data Observation Network for Earth (DataONE) is the foundation of new innovative environmental science through a distributed framework and sustainable cyberinfrastructure that meets the needs of science and society for open, persistent, robust, and secure access to well-described and easily discovered Earth observational data. Supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (Phase 1 Grant #ACI-0830944, Phase 2 Grant #ACI-1430508) as one of the initial DataNets, DataONE will ensure the preservation, access, use and reuse of multi-scale, multi-discipline, and multi-national science data via three primary cyberinfrastucture elements and a broad education and outreach program. Includes also DataONE: Best Practices and the data search interface ONEMercury.

GREENFILE [electronic resource]
Contributor: EBSCO Industries
Summary: GreenFILE offers well-researched but accessible information covering all aspects of human impact on the environment. Its collection of scholarly, government and general-interest titles include content on the environmental effects of individuals, corporations and local/national governments, and what can be done on each level to minimize negative impact. Topics covered include global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more. GreenFILE is multidisciplinary by nature and draws on the connections between the environment and a variety of disciplines such as agriculture, education, law, health and technology.