EcoRAMP Position - [PI-0131-Fendorf-1]
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 Tagline: Developing and deploying wildfire smoke toxin forecasts
Primary Mentor(s): Scott Fendorf (PI), Alexander Honeyman (postdoc), Mark Leone (graduate student)
Project Overview:
Natural climate solutions, such as climate-smart agriculture and wetland restoration, offer opportunities to reduce GHG emissions and sequester C at large scales. A major limitation to the wider deployment of these solutions is a lack of affordable tools for monitoring GHG emissions. Existing instrumentation is expensive and difficult to deploy. Our project seeks to develop automated, scalable, and low-cost instrumentation for researchers around the world to measure CO2 emissions. This ambitious project will require an interdisciplinary team throughout the phases of design, development, and manufacturing. The operational field experience of Earth scientists combined with the technical expertise from engineering will empower our team to produce a functionally useful and technically excellent product. In particular, we are developing a version of a gas measurement tool called a flux chamber, which logs the buildup of gas concentration inside a closed chamber. One significant challenge of existing designs is the very expensive gas analyzer, which costs tens of thousands of dollars. Repurposing low-cost industrial gas sensors, we aim to develop a self-contained flux chamber system for under $100.
The EcoRAMP Student Will Do:
- Externalization - Create a user manual for external users and/or website
- Externalization - Conduct a trial with new users to determine challenges for new users of low-cost sensors
- The student will contribute to at least one of the following three objectives: (1) Engineering prototyping, (2) Field testing, and/or (3) Establishing scalable manufacturing. The work would benefit from students interested in engineering and/or Earth and environmental science. The project will be adapted to the student's skills and interests.
- (1) Engineering prototyping – For an interested student with a background in mechanical/electrical engineering, the student will assist with iterative prototyping and field testing to improve the performance of the flux chamber.
- (2) Field testing - With each refinement of the mechanical prototype, the student will conduct testing of the design at the Stanford Farm. This will interest students interested in learning about environmental measurements
- (3) Contribute to establish scalable manufacturing – The student will contribute engineering expertise to our team's efforts to design a scalable production process
The EcoRAMP Student Will Learn:
- How to externalize a public-good research product that informs public health.
- Hands-on building of sensors (3D printing, for example)
- Collaborating in the space between science, engineering, and scale.
Qualifications/Skills Required:
- Strong quantitative skills (science / engineering)
- Comfortable working with your hands to build things
- Ability to work independently under postdoc guidance
- Very strong communication and time management skills
- Interest in public service through creating a public good for all
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.