Spring 2025 Newsletter: Director's Letter
Our Center was founded with a vision of a more food secure world, and with a premise that rigorous science on policy-relevant questions is critical. The last few months have been challenging on both fronts - with a continued lack of progress on global hunger and constant assaults on scientific inquiry, including the recent cancellation of one of the most important surveys in nutrition and global health. The headwinds we face are strong, but so is our will to continue working for long-term progress.
At Stanford, we continue to enjoy the strong support of our University leadership and the tireless efforts of our many excellent students and staff. Below you will find some summaries of our recent research outputs of the past six months. With this letter, I wanted to highlight two non-research related items.
First, in October we had a celebration in memory of our dear colleague and friend, Wally Falcon. We recorded a portion of the proceedings, where you can see photos of Wally and hear tales of how he shaped the lives of so many. Thanks to all who participated or sent in tributes to help make it a wonderful day. It was remarkable that even the 5+ hours we had together was not enough to hear everyone’s stories of what a kind, insightful, and funny person he was. And, as I think Wally would want me to point out, most of it was even true!
Second, we’re excited this year to welcome three new faculty affiliates to FSE: Jennifer Burney, Steven Davis, and Solomon Hsiang. All three are recent hires in the Doerr School of Sustainability: Our affiliates are members of the faculty who are active in several Center activities: selection and supervision of FSE postdocs, participation in FSE group meetings and volunteer events, hosting of outside speakers on relevant topics, and convening of occasional workshops. FSE in turn provides the administrative and financial support for these activities, and as an extra sweetener we invite them to participate in our March Madness pool. You can read a bit more about Jen, Steve, and Sol below.
Best,
David Lobell
Jen:
“"Food security is central to a sustainable future. Our food systems are straining the planet, and still hundreds of millions of people don't have enough to eat on a daily basis. FSE is a really unique group that brings together people who are thinking about all parts of this problem, are being ambitious and rigorous about potential solutions, and are motivated to end hunger forever."
Steve:
“I’m mostly interested in research that assesses options for reducing the GHG emissions from (and environmental burdens of) the global food system, including trade-offs, priorities, and key uncertainties. But I’m also glad to think about land use more generally, as well as climate impacts, international trade and innovation, and economic development. Stanford is distinguished by a visionary commitment to build a community of extraordinary researchers who are dedicated to policy-relevant and solutions-oriented scientific research. it’s why I think it’s a singular place to work on things like food security and the environment.”
Sol:
“I am super excited to be working with such an amazing group to understand how climate change will transform the global food supply, and what kind of adaptations we need to sustain global food security. Stanford is probably the best place in the world to work on this question, with FSE bringing together so many folks that are at the forefront of their fields putting their heads together on this.”