Twenty-five research teams have been awarded grants and support from the Sustainability Accelerator at Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. These projects are designed to enhance the understanding of Earth’s systems and build resilience against climate change impacts.
Out of the 25 projects, 12 are focused on climate adaptation. These initiatives aim to boost community and ecosystem resilience, helping them adapt to climate change and mitigate extreme climate-related events such as floods and wildfires. An example is a project evaluating the use of highly reflective white paint on roofs in Indonesia to reduce heat-related deaths.
“The Accelerator is all about impact, speed, and scale, and these are very pressing issues that need quick solutions,” stated Yi Cui, faculty director of the Accelerator. “Even though adaptation is a slow process, we think we really need to put all these minds together to implement these solutions as soon as possible.”
Thirteen additional projects have been chosen under the Accelerator’s “planetary intelligence” initiative. This focus area uses innovative technologies and data-driven insights to improve our understanding of natural and human systems.
“New technologies make it possible to observe, measure, and understand our world with incredible depth,” said Charlotte Pera, executive director of the Accelerator. “We can harness these technologies to help individuals, companies, and policymakers reduce risk, protect human and ecosystem health, and make businesses and communities more resilient.”
Split evenly between digital and hardware-based solutions, such as sensors, these projects aim to bridge gaps in monitoring biodiversity, emissions, and flood impacts. They involve technologies detecting microplastics and providing real-time mapping of dengue risk through AI and satellite imagery.
Among the projects is an effort led by nephrologist Shuchi Anand to develop tools mitigating extreme heat for outdoor workers. Anand and her team are piloting cooling interventions such as a moisture-retaining bandana.
“The Accelerator team has really helped us with finding the right partners and also putting a solutions-focused lens on our research,” Anand said. “As doctors and epidemiologists, we tend to want to evaluate the effects of different factors rather than saying, ‘How do we find a solution to what we know is likely going to be an increasing problem?’”
These interdisciplinary projects involve scholars from over a dozen departments and five schools. “We got people from medicine, psychology, oceans, engineering, and I believe it’s in this intersection of different disciplines where some magic can happen,” said Gemma Guilera, managing director of the Accelerator’s climate adaptation and planetary intelligence efforts.
With the new awards, project teams will receive mentorship, networking, and training, apart from business development assistance. “Tackling the complex challenges of global sustainability demands a deep understanding of both human and natural systems,” Cui noted.
Gretchen Daily, an environmental scientist, leads a project aimed at transforming how we value nature through the Natural Capital Project’s InVEST software. “We need to do more from our end to reduce the gap between the demand we are seeing from decision-makers and the technical expertise needed to generate this information,” said project lead Lisa Mandle.
The improved accessibility of this tool could also benefit other focus areas within the Accelerator. “I’m looking forward to attending the cohort kickoff meeting and learning from the other funded projects,” Mandle added.
Cui holds multiple positions at Stanford, while Daily is the Bing Professor of Environmental Science and co-director of the Natural Capital Project. Both are senior fellows at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.
The details provided in this report originate from a publication by Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.
