Cities & infrastructure

California has rolled out plans to protect plant and animal life across 30 percent of the state’s most critical land and water by 2030. Biologists Elizabeth Hadly and Mary Ruckelshaus and environmental law expert Deborah Sivas discuss keys to its success, potential impacts, legal precedents, and more. (Source: Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment)

Stanford researchers worked with chili farmers in India for more than four years to develop a solar-powered technology to improve the quality, quantity, and profitability of dried agricultural produce. A new study addresses not only technical challenges, but also barriers to adoption. (Source: Precourt Institute for Energy)

The world of climate promises and carbon offsets is “like the Wild West, where anything goes,” says Stefan Reichelstein. (Source: Insights by Stanford Business)

Using AI to analyze satellite images, researchers say it’s possible to spot illegal deforestation and forced labor in the Amazon rainforest. (Source: Stanford HAI)

Recent rapid growth in climate philanthropy risks redundancy, waste, and friendly fire, according to Laurence Tubiana of the European Climate Foundation and Christie Ulman of the California-based Sequoia Climate Fund. (Source: Stanford Social Innovation Review)

Officials in Wyoming, a state containing almost all of two national parks, want sole authority to manage species like elk, wolves and grizzlies. Can state agencies ensure conservation when hunters pay the bills and ranchers determine wildlife policy? (Source: The Bill Lane Center for the American West)

A new modeling approach combines machine learning and human insights to map the regions and ports most at risk for illicit practices, like forced labor or illegal catch, and identifies opportunities for mitigating such risks. (Source: Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions)

Analysis presents a first-of-its-kind framework to design the most efficient mix of urban buildings along with integrated systems to supply power and water services. The approach could significantly reduce costs and pollution compared to traditional systems. (Source: Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment)

With a growing fleet of electric vehicles on the road, power grid planners depend on accurate estimates of charging patterns to calculate demand. Researchers have created a new model framework for long-term planning that captures real drivers’ charging patterns and accounts for uncertainty. (Source: Precourt Institute for Energy)

A civil engineer is finding ways to model informal settlements in tropical regions, and using these models to help find universal solutions for extreme heat. (Source: Stanford Engineering)

Using autonomous drones and machine-learning models, geophysicist Dustin Schroeder and a multidisciplinary team are working to quickly and efficiently collect ice sheet data that can improve our understanding of melt rates. (Source: Stanford HAI)

A cellphone-sized device automatically adjusts a home's power use up or down to save the consumer money and increase the resiliency of the electric grid. (Source: SLAC)

To keep tourism revenue flowing, a new method uses NASA satellite data and social media posts to show the benefits of investing in nature – and the roads to get to it. (Source: Natural Capital Project)

New research shows how AI can identify proposed hydropower plants that are likely to be particularly detrimental to the environment, and reveals the forgone environmental and energy benefits of uncoordinated dam planning in the Amazon basin. (Source: Natural Capital Project)

Samuel Appenteng speaks to Grit & Growth about Joissam Ghana, a company that works with local communities to bring clean water to rural areas in West Africa. (Source: Stanford Graduate School of Business)

By changing the genome of both commercial crops and soil bacteria, a bioengineer thinks it may be possible to help plants survive droughts by retaining more water during a dry spell, or growing deeper roots to reach soil that hasn’t dried out yet. (Source: Stanford Engineering Magazine)

Despite persistent efforts by the U.S. government to eradicate Indigenous farming and ranching practices, they are regaining currency in an American West stressed by drought, diminishing resources and climate change. (Source: Bill Lane Center for the American West)