Summer-Autumn 2018 Newsletter
 
From June through Fall quarter, E-IPER students continued with their courses and ongoing research activities, with many students conducting fieldwork over the summer months. This year's graduates celebrated at Commencement and have moved on to new career challenges. Our alumni continue to visit and keep us up to date throughout the year, offering their perspectives on their own professional fields and on interdisciplinary approaches to environmental problem solving.
 
In this issue:
 
News Features News
 
   
School of Earth Energy and Environmental Sciences
Diploma Ceremony
 
 
The E-IPER 2018 Commencement Ceremony -Photo by Ann Marie Pettigrew  
 
The School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences graduating students,  faculty, friends and family gathered for the Stanford Earth diploma ceremony on Sunday June 17, 2018. A bagpiper led the faculty into the ceremony and Dean Stephan Graham opened with welcoming remarks and awards.

Nicole Ardoin, E-IPER Acting Faculty Director, introduced PhD graduates, who were hooded by one or both of their faculty advisors. PhD recipients included: Christa Anderson, hooded by Chris Field; Elinor Benami, hooded by Roz Naylor; Laura Bloomfield, hooded by James Jones; Rebecca Niemiec, hooded by Greg Asner and Nicole Ardoin; Tannis Thorlakson, hooded by Roz Naylor; and Jennifer Wang, hooded by Nicole Ardoin.
 
Joint MS graduates, introduced by E-IPER Associate Director Susannah Barsom, included Miles Muller, Ruth Adu-Daako, Natalie Bodington, Himanshu Gupta, Naga Kataru, Maria Maguina Ramirez, Carlos Marinetti, Dramane Meite, Rashmi Nalla and Stephanie Young. Joint MS graduates Sudarshan Bhatija, Petra Chirathivat, Max Evans, and Wendy Hua were unable to attend the ceremony.
 
PhD recipient  Jennifer Wang  was recognized with the E-IPER Extraordinary Service Award, given to honor an EIPER student who goes above and beyond to support E-IPER and Stanford. In her time here, Dr. Wang taught numerous classes, mentored E-IPER students and others across campus and served on numerous program, school, and university committees. Congratulations, Dr. Jennifer Wang!
 
 
 
CollaborationNew York, New York MS-MBA Alumni GatheringNewYork 
   
 
For the fourth time, E-IPER co-hosted an alumni networking event in partnership with Cornell's  Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise ,  Duke's Center for Energy, Development, and the Global Environment , MIT's  Sustainability Initiative ,  Michigan's  Erb Institute , and  Yale's Center for Business and the Environment .   
 
E-IPER MS-MBA alumni gather at the Yale Club in New York.  
 
Held on June 28th and hosted at the Yale Club in New York City, E-IPER MS-MBA alumni, along with other sustainability minded Stanford MBA alumni, participated in speed networking activities with alumni from the other schools, and enjoyed the opportunity to meet fellow Stanford MBAs.  E-IPER is continuing to develop PhD and MS alumni connections across the country, so if you would like support for an alumni event in your city, please get in touch with E-IPER Associate Director Sue Barsom.


 

 
WelcomeWelcome, Maile Yee
 
 
This autumn, Student Services Officer, Maile Yee joined the E-IPER team.  Maile comes to us from Stanford's interdisciplinary program in International Relations and has extensive experience in managing an academic program and working with students to ensure a smooth completion of their degree programs. When not a work, she enjoys traveling near and far, attempting to build-up her baking skills, and spending time with family and friends.


 

 
E-IPER got another perfect weekend for the annual October retreat at the environmental education center at NatureBridge, in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
 
PhD and Joint MS students at the annual NatureBridge retreat. Photo Credit: Anjana Richards

At this year's event, 45 E-IPER PhD and Joint MS students enjoyed a variety of activities together, including hiking, volleyball (with some extreme modification to the rules), art projects, discussions of current research interests and collaboration opportunities, as well as breakout discussions of E-IPER policies and procedures. The Studen t Liaison Committee (StuCom), facilitated by Assistant Director Ann Marie Pettigrew, crafted the weekend program with the aim of deepening the sense of community within E-IPER.
 
Friday evening wrapped up with the traditional--and possibly smaller than usual-- campfire, with guitar players and a handful of remarkable singers leading the rest of the group in song. Seeing and hearing these students singing together was a sure indication that StuCom had the right formula for community building.
 
 
   

 
Kristen Green (PhD 3rd) and Savannah Fletcher (MS-JD 2018) as part of their 
E-IPER Collaboration Grant, created a short documentary in collaboration with the Native Village of Kotzebue, Alaska, University of Alaska Fairbanks and the U.S. National Park Service.  Respect the Land (Kamaksrił̣iq Nunam Irrusianik) illustrates, through story, how nine values of the Iñupiaq guide their approaches to harvesting. The film highlights ways that indigenous knowledge and western science can work together in the management of subsistence resources. 
 
 Kristen Green recording in Kotzebue. 
Over 40 Iñupiaq subsistence harvesters discussed their approaches to subsistence hunting and harvesting during an extensive interview process. The university team visited Kotzebue and neighboring villages several times to film, conduct interviews, and partner with community members in creation of the documentary. The film was developed as part of a multi-year research project focused on climate change impacts on people's access to subsistence resources, and ways in which indigenous knowledge can better inform resource management in Western Arctic National Parklands. Financial support for the film was provided by the National Park Service, Stanford University, and University of Alaska Fairbanks. The film can be viewed here.
  
 
 
   
Alumni Spotlight Spotlight

 
Alumni Spotlight:  
Ken Alston
 
 


Ken Alston (MS-MBA 2012) serves as the Investment Manager of the California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF), based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The F und was launched in 2004 as a mission-driven non-profit organization focused on making investments in clean energy startups. In the beginning they focused on California, with some early investments in Tesla and BrightSource Energy. Ken is satisfied that they continue to have an important impact, particularly on the entrepreneurial, innovative component of the environment and resources space.
 
"I am drawn to the fact, however, that this organization was at the forefront of helping to establish cleantech as a category for venture capital. Today, we have a global focus and are working to develop new, innovative funding mechanisms for startups and projects in clean energy, toward a goal to create a global 100% clean energy economy."
 
Before CalCEF, Ken worked at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). While at the DOE, he and his colleagues conducted studies indicated there is a dearth of capital to support early-stage cleantech startups. This work led to the co-founding of the DOE's Clean Energy Investment Center in 2015 , which focused on how public money could catalyze private sector investment in clean energy.
 
Ken's work at CalCEF addresses the same funding gap. In 2017 they launched CalSEED, a new program that funded nearly 50 startups in its first two cohorts. Ken explains that CalSEED provides non-dilutive funding to entrepreneurs who are just getting their ideas off the ground-moving from idea to prototype-an early stage that traditional venture capital or angel investors generally avoid. CalCEF is also focused on building out ecosystems of resources to support cleantech entrepreneurs-making connections to investors, mentors, and corporate partners, and providing access to legal or financial resources. All told, CalCEF has partnerships with more than 70 organizations in over 20 countries.
 
Ken says that his interdisciplinary training has been important in his work in startups, the policy world, and now in investing: "I think often of what one mentor of mine, Dan Reicher (Director of the Stanford Steyer-Taylor Center) mentioned when I was in E-IPER-that the energy space is a three-legged stool requiring an appreciation of policy, finance and technology. That has certainly been my experience. I feel that I have been able to add a unique perspective because of my appreciation for each, from my MBA and MS in Environment and Resources background."
 
While he was in the E-IPER program, Ken focused on expanding his understanding of science, engineering and policy perspectives on energy. His capstone project was on the integration of wind energy in Brazil, which has continued to grow as an important renewable energy market. During his graduate studies, he also tried his hand in the startup world: first at an early-stage battery materials startup, and later working on an energy efficiency startup idea with other E-IPER and Stanford graduate students.
 
After four years on what he terms "an exciting detour from the Bay Area," including a White House internship at the National Economic Council, and work as an advisor on financing clean energy to Energy Secretary Steven Chu and his successor, Dr. Ernie Moniz, Ken, is excited to be in California again, this time in San Francisco. And he says that while he grew up in the DC area, and will always enjoy visits to his family there, "I feel like it [San Francisco] is a new dimension to living in the Bay Area that I wanted to try but did not fully explore while at Stanford."   
Apart from work, Ken loves to travel and be active. He spent this past Labor Day weekend in Alaska. Seeing the glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park, he says, "served as a visceral reminder of the importance of our work to limit the effects of climate change." He is also a regular visitor back to campus to hike the Dish. A committed runner, Ken ran his first half marathon this year!
   
 
Ken's advice to E-IPER students:
 
There are many different pathways into jobs in the clean energy/environmental space--much more so than when I was in the E-IPER program. Lean on alumni, try a lot of things out as a student, and remember that your first job out of school will not define you or your path, but is rather just the first step on a long and exciting journey.
 
 
Student News StudentNews

Cody Evans (MS-MBA 2nd) was featured in the Stanford News for his work on
tax law benefits to low-income communities.
         
Becky Niemiec (PhD 2018) organized two conservation workshops at the Hawaii Conservation Conference in July.

Attending the Hawaii Conservation Conference were (from left) Becky Niemiec (PhD 2018), Kika Santana (PhD 3), Nicole Ardoin (Acting Faculty Director), Kirsten Oleson (PhD2007), and Mehana Blaich Vaughan (PhD 2013), along with Kirsten's daughter, Bix. 
 
 
Julia Osterman (MS-MBA 2nd) and her Design for Extreme Affordability colleages were featured this Summer in the GSB School News.

 
Students and Alumni check in at the October kick-off event for Stanford Alumni in Food and Agriculture.

Manuel Waenke  (MS-MBA 3rd) has founded the  Stanford Alumni in Food and Agriculture  group, which hosted an inaugural event at the O'Donohue Family Stanford Educational Farm in
October. 
 
With 70 students and alumni in attendance at the event, and over 200 people expressing interest in the organization, they are off to a strong start!
 

   



Alumni News AlumniNews

Marilyn Cornelius (PhD 2013) now has a daily video series, Mornings with Marilyn, in which she discusses a variety of subjects, including positivity, mindfulness, leadership, virtues such as kindness, ways to handle rejection, and what justice means in daily life. In addition to these 2-to-8-minute topical videos, she produces a guided meditation each week. 
 
Nicholas Flanders (MS-MBA 2016) remains CEO and co-founder of Opus 12, a startup company that makes devices that convert CO2, water, and renewable energy into chemical building blocks for products like jet fuels and plastics.  Recently,
Opus 12 won an R&D 100 Special Recognition Award, and were honored by the Tech Museum in San Jose at their annual Tech for Global Good Celebration; the story of Opus 12 and the other honorees will be featured at the museum for the next year.
 
Emily Grubert (PhD 2017) has a new appointment as Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (with a courtesy appointment in Public Policy) at the Georgia Institute of Technology starting in January, 2019.
Kevin Hettrich (MS-MBA 2012),  VP of Business Operations for QuantumScape Corporation, sent us this feature about his company JD from

A.R. Siders, Mike Hooper and Andrew Perlstein
E-IPER alumni Mike Hooper (PhD 2010), Andrew Perlstein (PhD 2012), and A.R. Siders (PhD 2018) gathered at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where Hooper is an Associate Professor of Urban Planning, to review student thesis proposals on a range of development and environmental justice topics. Andrew is currently a Legislative Assistant on Capitol Hill, and Siders is an Environmental Fellow at the Harvard University Center for the Environment.

Greer Mackebee (MS-JD 2015) is now an Associate at Amis, Patel & Brewer, LLP, a Washington, DC, law firm focusing on the clean energy and sustainability sectors. Greer is working primarily on the development and financing of utility-scale renewable energy projects, as well as on distributed energy production, energy efficiency, energy storage, waste stream management, and controlled environment agriculture.     
   
Tom Mercer (MS-MBA 2010) is now VP of Product for Remix , a startup that is trying to help cities plan the future of transit and transportation in their communities.

Narasimha Rao (PhD 2011) is  joining the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies as an Assistant Professor in Energy Systems in January, 2019. He will continue to work at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) each summer.
 
Veena Srinivasan (PhD 2008) was a ppointed to the Prince Claus Chair for 2018-2020 and was nominated as the UN-Water Strategic Advisory Group Member for Monitoring SDG6 for 2018-2020.
 
Aaron Strong (PhD 2016) is now an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Hamilton College.
 
Awards & Honors AwardsANDHonors
 
Kate Brauman (PhD 2010) was named an AAAS Leshner Public Engagement Fellow this year, in the food and water security cohort.
 
Caroline Ferguson (PhD 2nd) and Rebecca Miller (PhD 2nd) have been awarded the Haas Center for Public Service Graduate Public Service (GPS) Fellowship. The one-year program recognizes Stanford graduate students who want to explore and prepare for engagement in public scholarship and service. Caroline and Rebecca are the most recent additions to a tradition of E-IPER participation in the program.

Miyuki Hino (PhD 4th) and Philip Womble (PhD-JD 5th) were awarded Switzer Fellowships for 2018.
 
Hajin Kim (PhD-JD 5th) received the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society PhD Fellowship .
 
Fran Moore (PhD 2015) is the recipient of a 2018  Hellman Fellowship , awarded annually in support of junior faculty research.
 
Kim Nicholas (PhD 2009) was granted three years of funding from the Swedish Research Council Formas to study " the takeoff of staying on the ground ," investigating individual, social and political narratives of flying less for the climate.
 
Valerie Shen (MS-MBA 2nd) was named a  Siebel Scholar , joining the ranks of leaders who directly influence the technologies, policies, and economic and social decisions that will shape the future.
 
As of September, 2018, Veena Srinivasan (PhD 2008) will hold the Prince Claus Chair at Utrecht University for her research into sustainable and inclusive food production in Asian delta regions. Veena has also been nominated as the UN-Water Strategic Advisory Group Member for Monitoring SDG6 for 2018-2020.

Philip Womble (PhD-JD 5th) was awarded the Babbitt Center 
for Land and Water Policy Dissertation Fellowship.

                   
Publications & Presentations publicationsANDpresentations

Travis Brandon (JD-MS 2008) published " Reforming the Extra-Record Evidence Rule in Arbitrary and Capricious Review of Informal Agency Actions: A New Procedural Approach" in Lewis & Clark Law Review, Vol. 21, pg. 981 (2018).  
 
Cassandra Brooks (PhD 2017) and colleagues had a commentary in Nature last summer: Antarctic fisheries: factor climate change into their management . 
Cassandra also co-authored another study, "China's changing position towards marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean: Implications for future Antarctic governance" in Marine Policy.
 
Rachael Garrett (PhD 2013)  and colleagues co-authored several papers:      
  Nationwide shift to grass-fed beef requires larger cattle population."
in Environmental research Letters.
" Middle-range theories of land system change , " in Global Environmental Change.
 
Miyuki Hino (PhD 4th), Elinor Benami (PhD 2018) and Nina Brooks (PhD 4th) published "Machine learning for environmental monitoring" in Nature Sustainability.
 
Michael Hooper (PhD 2010), published a study of subconscious influences on perceptions of urban density. One aspect of the research involved subliminally exposing subjects to a fart spray before they looked at pictures of different density scenarios. The paper, entitled "Flatulence, filth and urban form: Do hygiene primes influence perceptions of urban density?" in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.     
 
Noa Lincoln  (PhD 2014) co-edited a special issue of Sustainability, on Biocultural Restoration of Hawaii .  This issue included the largest collection of native Hawaiian authors ever, and had over 50% female authorship.  Noa also co-authored four papers as part of the special issue:
"I ke ēwe 'āina o ke kupuna: Hawaiian ancestral crops in perspective." 
Noa and colleagues also published:
 
Justin Mankin (PhD 2015) shared two publications with us:
 
Fran Moore (PhD 2015) presented a paper titled " Rapidly Adjusting Perceptions of Temperature in a Changing Climate " at the National Bureau of Economic Research Summer Institute in Cambridge, MA in July. Fran and her co-authors use tweets about "Weather" to show that people's idea of "normal" temperatures appears to shift relatively rapidly with continued exposure to unusual weather as a result of climate change.
 
Lauren Oakes (PhD 2015) published her first book,   In Search of the Canary Tree ( Basic Books, Hachette Book, Inc. ). Lauren is in the midst of a book tour, going into 2019, so if you have interest in co-hosting an event in your community, please reach out to her.
 
 
 
Kim Nicholas (PhD 2009) and colleagues published:
" Measuring what works: quantifying greenhouse gas emission reductions of behavioural interventions to reduce driving, meat consumption, and household energy use ," in Environmental Research Letters, and " Climate change: uncertain future for favourite wines ," in Nature Climate Change showing that the limited diversity of grape varieties in production limits the possibility of adaption in place. 
 
Nik Sawe (PhD 2016) published " Adapting neuroeconomics for environmental and energy policy" in Behavioural Public Policy.
 
Andy Stock (PhD 2018) and colleagues have the following publications:
 
A.R. Siders (PhD 2018) published "Social justice implications in US managed coastal retreat," in Climatic Change.
 
 
Nicola Ulibarri (PhD 2015) and colleagues published three papers:
" Frontiers in Socio-Environmental Research: Components, Connections, Scale, and Context ," in Ecology and Society, which Nicola suggests may be of particular interest for E-IPER students, as the authors highlight big questions/gaps in the field (both theoretical and methodological).
 
Philip Womble (PhD-JD 5th) and colleagues published " Indigenous communities, groundwater opportunities" in the Science Policy Forum.

Upcoming Events UpcomingEvents 

 
E-IPER Workshop:  Using NVivo for Qualitative Environmental Data Analysis in a Changing Climate
     January 13 and 14, 2019
Thank you to our major contributors for this issue:
Susannah Barsom, Autumn Bordner, Kristen Green, Gabriela Magana, Ann Marie Pettigrew, Anjana Richards, and Mehana Blaich Vaughn
Edited by:
The E-IPER staff
 
Thanks to all of you for continuing to support E-IPER!