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Events

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Sustainability Accelerator Speaker Series

The Stanford Sustainability Accelerator Speaker Series invites entrepreneurs, policymakers, investors, and others working in sustainability to share their stories about transitioning innovative ideas into scalable solutions.

Upcoming Speakers for the 2024-25 academic year.

Past event recordings

Modern Media & (Mis)Understanding the Energy Transition


David Spence
Rex G. Baker Chair in Natural Resources Law at the University of Texas School of Law

Professor Spence's research and teaching focuses on government regulation of the energy industry, broadly definded to include economic and environmental regulation of the entire energy sector.

Recording from October 14, 2024
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Scaling Sustainability Innovation: Insights from DOE and Beyond - A Conversation with Dr. Steve Chu


Steven Chu
Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology and of Energy Science and Engineering

Professor Chu, shares his unparalleled insights on scaling sustainability innovation as well as key learnings from his experiences at the Department of Energy (DOE) and beyond. His expertise deeply aligns with our mission to accelerate sustainability innovation.

Recording from May 22, 2024
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Book Launch: “Making Climate Tech Work: Policies that Drive Innovation”


Alon Tal
Visiting professor at Stanford University

Alon Tal, assesses which strategies around the world have effectively reduced emissions while accelerating climate tech development and adoption. 

Recording from May 8, 2024
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SynBio Solutions: Advancing Sustainable Pharmaceutical Manufacturing


Christina Smolke 
Co-founder and CEO of Antheia

Christina Smolke, explores the profound impact of synthetic biology on pharmaceutical biomanufacturing and global sustainability.

Recording from April 24, 2024
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Lighting the Way: The d.light Journey from Stanford Class Project to Impacting 150 Million Lives


Nedjip (Ned) Tozun
Co-Founder of d.light

Ned Tozun, co-founder of d.light, shares the transformative journey from a Stanford class project to impacting 150 million lives in Asia and Africa through innovative solar energy solutions.

Recording from March 13, 2024
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Ocean Solutions to Global Climate Challenges: ARPA-E’s Perspective on Ocean-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) at Scale


Simon Freeman 
Program Director 
ARPA-E

Dr. Freeman discusses ARPA-E’s significant investments in ocean farming, carbon capture measurement technologies at sea, and the broader vision for the 2050 blue economy.

Recording from February 27, 2024
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Creating Sustainability Impacts: Journey from Academic Innovation to Entrepreneurship


Yi Cui
Faculty Director 
Stanford Sustainability Accelerator 

Professor Cui delves into the transformative journey from academic research to real-world entrepreneurial solutions in the field of sustainability. This session promises to be a thought-provoking exploration of how academic innovations can create significant, sustainable impacts in our world.

Recording from January 24, 2024
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