“Some of our most daunting challenges are environmental ones: How can we build a world that supports sustainable development for our "children's children's children"? Today, between 1 and 2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, resulting in a devastating array of public health problems and disease. At the same time, we are literally changing the face of the planet: Human activities are driving the extinction of species at faster rates than we have ever seen. The world population is expected to grow by several billion people over the next half-century, and the world's energy demands are likely to grow even faster. The challenges before us are critical and enormous…. In recent years, we started asking ourselves: Given the university's great research and education programs, how can Stanford most effectively contribute to addressing these complex problems?” - Stanford President John Hennessy, 2004

Different Disciplines, Common Goals

The Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment began as a grassroots movement on campus led by a group of Stanford faculty members doing environment-related research. They specialized in very different fields – agriculture, biology, earth sciences, economics, engineering and law – but shared a common understanding: modern environmental challenges require solutions that cross disciplines. Working with university leaders, this group envisioned a hub for interdisciplinary research with implications for real-world policy solutions

Their vision began to take shape at the Environmental Forum, an interdisciplinary faculty colloquium started by Roz Naylor in 1992. Meeting on Thursdays twice a month allowed the scholars to learn more about about their colleagues’ research while considering how to harness Stanford’s deep and diverse strengths in the environmental field. In 1995, the Provost office called on these faculty members to form the Provost's Committee for Environmental Science, Policy and Technology, charged with evaluating the benefits of integrating environmental research on campus. The committee was chaired by former university President Donald Kennedy and initially included Marc Feldman, Lawrence Goulder, Jeff Koseff, Perry McCarty, Lynn Orr, Naylor, Joan Roughgarden, Steve Schneider, Buzz Thompson and Peter Vitousek. In subsequent years Paul Ehrlich, Pam Matson, Hal Mooney, Rob Dunbar and Wally Falcon joined the group and Peter Vitousek took over the leadership of the committee. Most of these professors would become the core faculty of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

Soon their collaborations grew into the Center for Environmental Science and Policy (CESP)*, established at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies in 1998 by Falcon and Kennedy. Among this effort’s early achievements: establishing Stanford’s Earth Systems Program, the Goldman Honors Program undergraduate project-focused seminar series (no longer offered), the Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (later renamed in honor of supporters Dan and Rae Emmett) and the online Stanford Environmental Portal.

A major shift took place in 2000 when John Hennessy became president of Stanford and announced plans to assess 21^st century priorities for university investment. That year the Provost’s Committee produced a report calling for a "major initiative" to make Stanford "a national leader in providing solutions for environmental problems." This resulted in the 2003 formation of the campus-wide Initiative on Environment and Sustainability.

“The mission of the initiative is to promote an environmentally sound and sustainable world by identifying current and future environmental problems and challenges," Vitousek said in a presentation to the Faculty Senate. "We will develop creative solutions to these challenges through the integration of science, technology and policy – and effectively communicate our findings beyond Stanford."

Vitousek and his committee members created a blueprint for collaboration between faculty and staff from various schools within the university. As the initiative’s centerpiece, Hennessy created the Stanford Institute for the Environment and appointed Thompson and Koseff its founding faculty directors. Debbie Drake Dunne would become executive director in 2009.

Visionary supporters helped the Institute grow quickly. Many of these early donors would later form the Institute’s advisory council. In 2006, the Institute was formally renamed for Stanford trustee Ward W. Woods, '64, and his wife, Priscilla, whose significant contribution supports innovative environmental programs and collaborative research.

*  While CESP was dissolved in 2007, many of its programs were incorporated into the Stanford Woods Institute and most of its core faculty continued as senior fellows at the Institute, which became the primary hub for campus-wide interdisciplinary environmental research and teaching. Several faculty members retained dual positions as senior fellows at both the Stanford Woods and Freeman Spogli institutes.

A Hub for Environmental Research

In the years since the Ward W. and Priscilla B. Woods Institute for the Environment  – often simply called the Stanford Woods Institute – has grown to become the primary hub for interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability research at Stanford with faculty from each of the university’s seven schools. The Institute’s reach is global, encompassing projects and research on every continent except Antarctica. Its budget has grown from about $1 million to about $20 million and its community has grown from a handful of committed faculty to more than 150 fellows, affiliated faculty and researchers. 

The Stanford Woods Institute’s size and scope has expanded considerably over the years to include research and education in seven focal areas: climate, ecosystem services and conservation, food security, freshwater, oceans, public health and sustainable development.

Similarly, the Stanford Woods Institute’s list of partners has expanded to include globally influential organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Despite the change, the Institute’s mission has remained steadfast – to find solutions to environmental challenges and train the next generation of environmental leaders.

Stanford Woods Institute faculty and scholars are involved with dozens of projects around the world. Their research has led to the development of biodegradable building materials, paradigm-changing wastewater treatment technology and new government policies for drinking water access in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The educational courses, seminars and workshops offered through the Institute have inspired and better prepared hundreds of current and emerging environmental leaders. The Leopold Leadership Program , for example, provides more than 150 scholars from around the U.S. with the skills, approaches and theoretical frameworks for translating their knowledge into action to address the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges. The Mel Lane Student Program Grants  have empowered dozens of Stanford students to realize their visions for environment and sustainability projects that make a measureable impact through action or applied academic research.

The Stanford Woods Institute has more than realized the hopes of its founding faculty members. “The Institute is doing exactly what we set out to do – finding creative new interdisciplinary solutions to the world’s major environmental challenges and training the next generation of environmental leaders,” Thompson said. “Woods has shown how an academic institution can tap into the talents and time of faculty without requiring that they move to new departments, change their affiliations or otherwise reorganize the university,” added Koseff. “This new framework for working across disciplines allows faculty to focus on solutions. It’s really altered the landscape of higher learning, pioneering new ways of appointing faculty, reassessing what scholarship deserves support and redefining what universities are about.”

A Plan for the Future

In 2011 the Stanford Woods Institute launched a major planning process to guide its next phase of development, soliciting input from a broad range of interested parties including faculty, staff and external stakeholders. Based on this process, Woods crafted a five-year strategic plan to advance the development of Stanford’s hub of interdisciplinary research on sustainability and the environment.

Moving forward, the Stanford Woods Institute remains committed to putting ideas into action that will solve the environmental challenges of today and tomorrow.