We are proud to recognize alumni for their highly significant contributions to addressing today’s sustainability challenges and building awareness about the solutions. Join us in celebrating the 2024 Alumni Award recipients' impact on the Stanford community and worldwide.

Join us as we honor the 2023 recipients of our alumni awards: Jane Woodward, ’83, MBA ’87, 2024 SDSS Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, and Kristen Averyt, PhD ’05, 2024 Early- to Mid-Career Alumni Award recipient.

Jane Woodward, ’83, MBA ’87, is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University where she has taught classes on energy and environment since 1991. She currently serves on the teaching teams for Understand Energy and Stanford Climate Ventures.  Jane also serves on Stanford's Precourt Institute for Energy Advisory Council and has founded and continues to fund multiple sustainable energy education initiatives at the university. Jane is a founder and Managing Partner of WovenEarth Ventures, a US early-stage climate venture fund of funds. Additionally, she is an investor in several early-stage sustainable energy companies and funds, as well as an advisor and director for some of them. Jane is a Founding Partner at MAP Energy, an energy investment firm currently focused on oil and gas royalty interests. In 2016, Jane created The Foster Museum, a 14,000-square-foot art museum in Palo Alto, to share artist-explorer Tony Foster’s powerful exhibitions of watercolor journeys with an intention to inspire connection to the natural world. Jane has a BS in Geology from UC Santa Barbara, and both an MS in Engineering and Petroleum Geology and an MBA from Stanford.

Kristen Averyt, PhD '05, is the Executive Vice President for Science at the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the world’s largest association of Earth and space scientists. She joined AGU in June 2024 after serving in the Executive Office of the President, where she was Director for Drought and Western Resilience at the Council for Environmental Quality. At the White House, she was part of the climate team working on issues related to water resources, drought, and extreme heat. Prior to her time with the Administration, Averyt was Senior Climate Advisor to Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak as well as the State’s First Climate Policy Coordinator (2019–22). Concurrent with these appointments, Averyt was a Research Professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Averyt is passionate about connecting science with policy and decision-making and has worked at this interface throughout her career. Averyt’s research portfolio includes characterizing risks at the energy-water nexus, as well as understanding linkages between climate and western water. Among her awards and honors, she is most proud of receiving the Sierra Nevada Triumphant Award for Environmental Leadership from the Girl Scouts of America. Averyt holds a PhD in Geological and Environmental Sciences from Stanford University. She received a master’s in chemistry from the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, where she studied on a US Fulbright Fellowship. Averyt graduated magna cum laude from the University of Miami with dual bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and marine science.

Event Schedule:

4:00 p.m. Reception and SESUR Poster Presentations

5:00 p.m. Award Ceremony

Alumni: Register here
Students, Faculty, and Staff: Register here