Naval Postgraduate School partners with Stanford to tackle climate change

The Naval Postgraduate School signed an Education Partnership Agreement with Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability on Thursday to tackle climate change and its impacts.

NPS president Vice Admiral Ann E. Rondeau and Dean of the Doerr School of Sustainability Arun Majumdar signed the agreement during a brief ceremony Thursday at NPS. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro presided over the ceremony.

“Bold climate action is a mission imperative for the Department of the Navy and we must harness all of the tools at our disposal in order to make urgently needed change,” explained Del Toro. “This collaboration between the Naval Postgraduate School and Stanford University will bring together two globally recognized hubs of research and innovation, focused on realizing solutions that our Navy and our nation can employ now and in the future.”

Stanford launched the Doerr School of Sustainability in May. The school’s faculty and students collaborate with local and global partners to understand and address sustainability. The school emphasizes the importance of education and partnership in studying the Earth and its processes.

The Doerr School of Sustainability marks Stanford’s first new school in 75 years and comprises multiple academic departments, including the newly established Oceans Department housed in the Hopkins Marine Station in Monterey.

The partnership pairs the Naval Postgraduate School’s defense-expert faculty and operationally experienced students with Stanford’s intellectual and technological leadership.

Under the new partnership, NPS students and faculty will learn and work alongside Stanford students and faculty to research solutions to climate change and energy security issues.

Energy security refers to the continuous and uninterrupted availability of a country’s energy sources at an affordable price.

According to the U.S. Department of State, the energy sector makes up approximately 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing the energy sector’s carbon footprint is crucial to the United States’ commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and a net-zero power sector by 2035.

In the Department of the Navy’s climate strategy, Del Toro listed climate change as “one of the most destabilizing forces of our time.” Climate change’s impact on rising sea levels, recurring flooding, extreme heat, drought and destructive storms threaten and impact Navy and Marine Corps facilities and operations.

Targets and goals included in the Navy’s Climate Action 2030 strategy mention reducing emissions, reducing energy demand, increasing carbon pollution-free electricity and utilizing proper training and equipment needed to operate in a more volatile climate future.