The Center on Food Security and the Environment is a joint effort of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.
Environment
Environment
FSI scholars approach their research on the environment from regulatory, economic and societal angles. The Center on Food Security and the Environment weighs the connection between climate change and agriculture; the impact of biofuel expansion on land and food supply; how to increase crop yields without expanding agricultural lands; and the trends in aquaculture. FSE’s research spans the globe – from the potential of smallholder irrigation to reduce hunger and improve development in sub-Saharan Africa to the devastation of drought on Iowa farms. David Lobell, a senior fellow at FSI and a recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant, has looked at the impacts of increasing wheat and corn crops in Africa, South Asia, Mexico and the United States; and has studied the effects of extreme heat on the world’s staple crops.
Scholarly Publications
The impact of agricultural interventions can be doubled by using satellite data
October 2019
Feeding a growing population while reducing negative environmental impacts is one of the greatest challenges of the coming decades.
Climatic Constraints on Aggregate Economic Output
May 2019
Efficient responses to climate change require accurate estimates of both aggregate damages and where and to whom they occur.
Sustainable development of the palm oil sector in the Congo Basin
May 2019
Key messages:The Congo Basin is rich in biodiversity and stores an estimated 25%-30% of the worlds tropical forest carbon stocks.
Other Publications
Data Science for Food Security
August 2017
Using agricultural and economic characteristics in African nations as test cases, new research by David Lobell and Marshall Burke demonstrates the use of satellite data to address the long-standing...
The Global Economic Impacts of Climate Change
November 2015
This research brief is based on a paper from the journal Nature, published on-line on October 21, 2015, entitled “Global non-linear effect of temperature on economic production.” The paper, led by...
News
Microsatellite data can help double impact of agricultural interventions
October 2019
Data from microsatellites can be used to detect and double the impact of sustainable interventions in agriculture at large scales, according to a new study led by the University of Michigan.
When Food Insecurity Becomes a National Security Threat: A Conversation with David Beasley
October 2019
More than 820 million people around the world don’t have enough to eat and their hunger affects us all.
Flood, Drought and Political Invasion: A Lament From Rural Iowa
September 2019
This posting, my eighth annual edition, comes again from our mid-sized corn, soybean, and cattle farm in Linn County, Iowa. My wife and I may not be typical owners, but our farming operation is a...
Events
A Conversation with David Beasley: Challenges of 21st Century Humanitarian Response
September 10, 2019
Please join us for a conversation with United Nations World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley, who will discuss "Challenges of 21st Century Humanitarian Response." The conversation...
Roz Naylor discusses Oceans and Food Security at Hopkins Marine Station
April 2, 2019
Massive changes in the global food sector over the next few decades – driven by climate change and other environmental stresses, growing population and income, advances in technology, and shifts in...
Projects
Interdisciplinary Research on Introducing Heat-Tolerant Wheat to Bolster Food Security
The project is supported under the NSF Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability Fellows (SEES Fellows) program, with the goal of helping to enable discoveries needed to inform actions...
English
Analyzing the role of subsidies in growing the Kenyan aquaculture sector
Food insecurity remains a critical issue across much of sub-Saharan Africa. In certain parts of the region, fish is sometimes the most accessible or affordable source of animal protein.
English
Multimedia
Interview with Ertharin Cousin
May 2018
Ertharin Cousin, FSE visiting fellow, sat down with FSE Deputy Director David Lobell prior to her Payne Distinguished Lecture "Food Insecurity: A 21st Century Threat to Global Security and Stability."
Interview with Quentin Grafton
March 2018
Quentin Grafton, Director of the Centre for Water Economics, Environment and Policy at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University, visited FSE to speak about "Insights from the Global Food and Water Nexus." He sat...
Interview: Pamela Ronald
January 2017
Pamela Ronald is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center at the University of California, Davis.
People
Pamela Matson Chester Naramore Dean of the School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences, Richard and Rhoda Goldman Professor of Environmental Studies, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment, FSE Affiliated Faculty Professor, Earth Sciences, Senior Fellow, Stanford Woods Institute 
