Food and Water Security

Becoming part of Stanford's new school focused on climate and sustainability in Fall 2022

Solving challenges around agriculture, food policy, and water access.

The challenge of feeding a global population that is expected to reach 11 billion this century looms large. The availability of water—largely used for food production—is also an enormous challenge, made more difficult by the droughts associated with climate change. The School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences is home to much of Stanford’s expertise in this area. With faculty in areas such as sustainable agriculture, land use, economics, geographic analysis, watershed analysis, and ecosystem services and benefits analysis, Stanford brings an innovative and interdisciplinary approach to this tangled but vitally important set of issues.

David Lobell

Associate Professor of Earth System Science

Rosemary Knight

Professor of Geophysics

Steven Gorelick

Professor of Earth System Science

Rosamond Naylor

Economist and Professor of Earth System Science

Scott Fendorf

Professor of Earth System Science

Marshall Burke

Economist and Assistant Professor of Earth System Science

See all faculty

Center on Food Security and the Environment

Soil and Environmental Geochemistry

Lobell Lab

Water Resources and Hydrogeology

Environmental Geophysics Group

How do we manage our freshwater future?

Professor Rosemary Knight explains how amazing new technologies allow us to "see" the groundwater hidden beneath our feet at TEDx Stanford. Watch.

FEED Collaborative

The FEED Collaborative is an academic program in sustainable food system education and innovation at Stanford Earth.

Learning on the Stanford Educational Farm

The farm is Stanford’s home for hands-on learning in sustainable agriculture.

Feeding Nine Billion

Sustainable Agriculture

The Science of Soils

Soil Physics Hydrology

The Water Course

Urban Agriculture in the Developing World

Feed the Change: Redesigning Food Systems

World Food Economy

Food and Security

Human Society and Environmental Change

Grow it, Cook it, Eat it

News related to food and water security

Blue food revolution

Hunger, malnutrition and obesity affect billions of people. A first-of-its-kind comprehensive review of the so-called blue foods sector reveals challenges and opportunities for creating a healthier, more sustainable, equitable and resilient global food system.

Study suggests rising and shifting demand for seafood by 2050

Humanity is likely to consume more fish and shellfish in the coming decades. Preparing for that future requires better data on the types of fish that people eat, sustainable expansion of aquaculture and improved understanding of the local context for the food on our plates.

California Burning: Fire, Drought and Climate Change

Western states are once again in severe drought with water in short supply. And California’s fire season is starting earlier and causing more devastation. Buzz Thompson, one of the country’s leading water law experts, discusses California’s wildfires, drought, water and climate change.

Global warming increased U.S. crop insurance losses by $27 billion in 27 years

Higher temperatures attributed to climate change caused payouts from the nation’s biggest farm support program to increase by $27 billion between 1991 and 2017, according to new estimates from Stanford researchers. Costs are likely to rise even further with the growing intensity and frequency of heat waves and other severe weather events.

Search