FSE director Roz Naylor will give the opening plenary lecture at the 2nd International Conference on Global Food Security on October 12, 2015 at Cornell University. Naylor is William Wrigley Professor in Earth System Science, and senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford. 

In addition to Naylor's lecture on "Food security in a commodity-driven world," several FSE researchers will give talks and poster sessions during the five-day conference, including professors Marshall Burke and Eric Lambin, visiting scholar Jennifer Burney, postdoctoral scholar Meha Jain, and doctoral candidate Elsa Ordway.

Speaking at the Stanford Center at Peking University (SCPKU) on September 22, Condoleezza Rice, the Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business; the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution; and a professor of Political Science at Stanford University, said that technology and education are key drivers in achieving sustainable urban development and cited opportunities for China and other developing countries to harness this innovation and mobilize human potential.

Rice’s remarks were part of her keynote address during SCPKU’s inaugural Lee Shau Kee World Leaders Forum.  Welcome remarks were given by Jean C. Oi, the Lee Shau Kee Director of SCPKU and Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), and Peking University (PKU) Prof. Min Weifang and former PKU Chairman.  Michael McFaul, Director and FSI Senior Fellow and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, introduced Rice who highlighted the opportunities of technology and innovation as well as the governance challenges they can bring.

“If we remember technology is the application of knowledge to a problem, we can begin to address some of the problems of governing with the application of technology.” Rice said. “It is really a question of whether we can marry human potential and technological possibilities to solve our problems. Human potential is key to innovation, and in that regard, the most urgent tasks are around education.”

Rice spoke before an audience of 150 government and academic leaders, scholars, and students at SCPKU.  Following her keynote address, she participated in a roundtable discussion with policy and thought leaders. The discussion was chaired by Karl Eikenberry, Director of the U.S.-Asia Security Initiative at Stanford’s Asia-Pacific Research Center and former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan.  Panelists also included Dr. Wang Yiming, Deputy Director General and Senior Research Fellow at China’s State Council Development and Research Center, and Prof. Tong Zhu, Dean of the College of Environmental Science and Engineering at PKU.

“This was a unique opportunity to convene thought leaders on a topic of significant importance to China and the world,” said  Prof. Oi.  “China’s urbanization has been one of the most rapid in history. Technology innovation can help address the challenges of urban governance where people’s lives have changed in one generation.”

Four FSE affiliates are among the recipients of new Environmental Venture Projects (EVP) research grants from the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. The Stanford Woods Institute's EVP seed grant program has spurred cross-disciplinary faculty collaborations that have addressed global environmental and sustainability challenges since 2004. 

FSE director Roz Naylor, deputy director David Lobell, and faculty affiliates Marshall Burke and Eran Bendavid will work on several projects over the next two years aimed at finding solutions to these problems.

Naylor will lead a team in modeling the environmental effects of ocean aquaculture on coastal fisheries in China. Naylor is also part of a team that won a grant to study the benefits of marine protected areas in the Adriatic Sea. A team led by Marshall Burke, and including FSE deputy director David Lobell and faculty affiliate Eran Bendavid, will investigate the links between climate change, nutrition and global health. 

Read more about the 2015 EVP recipients.

A research team led by FSE director Rosamond Naylor has won a $400,000 multi-year grant to study how to create sustainable palm oil supply chains that promote economic growth and environmental sustainability in Indonesia and West Africa. 

Palm oil has become one of the world’s fastest growing and most valuable agricultural commodities. Global production of palm oil doubled in both volume and area each decade between 1970 and 2010, and is expected to double again by 2025. The windfall profits from this rapid expansion have come at a cost of tropical deforestation, biodiversity loss and rising greenhouse gas emissions, and in many cases the economic benefits have bypassed local smallholder farmers. 

Naylor and her team of Stanford faculty, scholars and students will undertake the three-year project with funding from the Stanford Global Development and Poverty Initiative (GDP), launched in Spring 2014. GDP aims to transform Stanford’s capacity to speak to the challenges of poverty and development. This year, GDP awarded more than $2 million to 13 faculty research teams from across the university. 

The new project marks the first venture that connects Stanford’s expertise in sustainability with the Graduate School of Business’ experience in value chain innovations. The team will conduct an evaluation of value chain opportunities for sustainable palm oil production, build corporate partnerships to improve smallholder incomes, and engage in policy advising. 

GDP is a joint initiative of the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies (SEED) and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI). SEED is housed within the Stanford Graduate School of Business. 

Rosamond Naylor is William Wrigley Professor of Earth System Science and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and at FSI.