Kate Maher
Kate is a Professor of Earth System Science in the Doerr School of Sustainability at Stanford University. Kate received her B.A. from Dartmouth College in Environmental Earth Science, her M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from U.C. Berkeley, and her Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences from U.C. Prior to arriving at Stanford in 2007, she was a Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, CA. Kate’s research is examines the carbon cycle through multiple lenses, from the history of atmospheric carbon dioxide to strategies for safely storing carbon today. By combining computer models with field and laboratory measurements, her research combines chemical, physical and biological processes to quantify carbon cycling through and among
earth systems. This research brought her to RMBL in 2015, where she has led studies on carbon and water fluxes in soils and riparian zones. More recently, Kate’s research has focused on the science of nature-based climate solutions, ranging from managed aquifer recharge to engineered carbon removal. Kate is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and was awarded the James B. Macelwane Medal in 2015. At Stanford, Kate is a faculty director for the interdisciplinary program in Design (BS, MS) within the Hasso Plattner Institute for Design, where she oversees the Design for Climate track. She is also an advisor to the Earth Systems BS/MS and Sustainability Science and Practice MS programs. For her participation in undergraduate research, she was awarded the Cox medal for mentoring of undergraduate research and continues to teach a course in research preparation for undergraduates.