EcoRAMP Position - [CA-0169-Micheli-2]
Applications are open until the due date: 9:00 AM PST December 1, 2025 for Winter Quarter
The Ecopreneurial Research for Accelerating Market Pathways (EcoRAMP) program offers an experiential learning opportunity for Stanford undergraduates to work with a research team on an active Sustainability Accelerator project. Throughout the engagement, the student will learn about both the development of sustainable solutions and the approaches for their externalization for real-world impact. At the end of the quarter, the student will deliver a short presentation highlighting their key learnings. This program is funded by Stanford Ecopreneurship and the Stanford Sustainability Accelerator.
Project: Enabling coastal climate adaptation for food security and marine biodiversity conservation
Mentor: Prof. Fiorenza Micheli
Co-Mentors: Dr. Nur Arafeh-Dalmau and Dr. Carolina Olguin-Jacobson
Project Overview:
Coastal communities face increasing climate-related extreme events, yet many lack the resources and tools to track changes and implement adaptive measures. This project will develop technology and a monitoring network to map floating kelp ecosystems and identify climate refugia. These ecosystems support biodiversity, food, livelihoods, sequester carbon, protect coastlines from flooding and storm damage, mitigate pollution and support local economies and cultures but are vulnerable to climate extremes and a suite of anthropogenic stressors. The project will empower Indigenous and coastal communities, along with policymakers in the US and Latin America, by providing knowledge and regenerative strategies to manage and protect coastal ecosystems and ecosystem services in the face of climate variability and extremes. The project seeks to directly benefit at least 50 indigenous and local fishing communities from the US and Latin America.
The EcoRAMP Student Will Do:
The student will support a sub-component of the project based on their skills and interests, with responsibilities potentially including:
- Project and partner coordination, including scheduling meetings, summarizing partner priorities, updates and agreed research and action plans, and supporting strong communication throughout the project team and partner network (~ 50% time, up to 5 hrs/week).
- Supporting the project scaling plan and user/partner discovery, with the support and mentorship of the Accelerator Team and the Ecopreneurship Team (50% time, up to 5 hrs/week). Specifically, the student will contribute to an initial Scaling Plan, including: (a) initial hypotheses to barriers to scale; (b) state of the art and differentiating features; (c) engagement plan with the next scale level, identifying target communities and countries; (d) engagement plan with external stakeholders.
The EcoRAMP Student Will Learn:
- Key concepts in coastal climate adaptation, marine biodiversity conservation, and the blue economy.
- The role of kelp forest ecosystems in supporting biodiversity, food security, carbon sequestration, and coastal protection.
- How to listen, gather insights, build relationships, reach out to, understand the needs, priorities, and challenges of coastal communities, policymakers, and NGO partners.
- How to design and implement scaling strategies, including identifying barriers, differentiating features, and market or policy opportunities.
- Practical experience in project coordination and communication within a multidisciplinary, international research network.
Qualifications/Skills Required:
There are no required qualifications for this position; the main requirement is an interest and passion for oceans and/or ocean-based climate solutions, but the candidates would be an especially good fit if at least one of the qualifications below applies:
- Experience with project coordination and good organizational skills
- Coursework or research in ocean or climate sciences
- Experience working on interdisciplinary, collaborative teams
Time Commitment and Compensation:
- By participating in EcoRAMP, you commit 10 hours per week per quarter. We are looking for anticipated engagement across multiple quarters through Spring 2026.
- The student will receive a $2,000 stipend per quarter. Please note: stipends, prizes, or awards to students who are receiving other forms of financial aid for any purpose are a form of financial assistance and may require adjustment to your scholarship eligibility and /or adjustment to your overall cost of attendance. The Financial Aid Office has the responsibility to determine if these funds can be applied to meet your Student Responsibility and if other adjustments are necessary. Please contact the Financial Aid office before applying to ensure you are fully informed before making any decisions about your experiential learning opportunity.
Eligibility:
- Stanford Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors are eligible for this position. Note: co-terms who are in their first 4 years or 12 quarters of attendance and have not conferred their undergraduate degree are considered undergraduate students and are eligible for this position.