American West Working Group

An empty road at sunrise with telephone poles running alongside it and mountains in the distance

The Bill Lane Center is dedicated to promoting research and scholarly exchanges related to the American West. The American West Working Group, which meets weekly on Fridays at noon, offers an inter- and multi-disciplinary platform for researchers to present and receive feedback on their latest work. To that end, participants are particularly encouraged to share work-in-progress and preliminary findings. Attendees include faculty, students staff and other affiliates.

Email Esther Conrad at esther [at] stanford.edu (esther[at]stanford[dot]edu) for more information.

Stay tuned for our winter 2025/2026 American West Working Group schedule

Fall 2025 American West Working Group Seminar Series (CONCLUDED)

Fridays, 12 - 1:15 p.m. in Y2E2 362 and on Zoom
RSVP for in-person attendance two days prior to each session

DateTitle - click on title to view abstract(s)Speakers
Sept 26Supporting Local Government Fleet Transitions to Zero Emission Vehicles: Assessing Opportunities for Regional Technical AssistanceLouie Loveland, Urban Studies, ‘27 and Sofia Perez-Lanza, Civil & Env, Engineering, ‘27
Oct. 3

Reducing Groundwater Demand in California

1) Strategies for Land Repurposing;

2) Managing Groundwater Demand: Strategies and Findings

  1. Sophie Molins (Economics, ‘25, Public Policy Masters, ‘26)
  2. Andrew Wang (Earth Systems ‘27)
Oct. 10

Building Climate Resilient Water Supplies in California:

1) Scaling Groundwater Recharge;

2) Supply Risks and Decentralized Water Recycling in the Bay Area

  1. Michael Dolan (Earth Systems, ‘28)
  2. Sydney Lowell (Bioengineering, ‘28)
Oct 17

Housing and Climate Risks in Santa Barbara and Marin Counties

  1. Coastal erosion and risks to rental housing in Isla Vista;
  2. Housing and wildfire risks in Santa Barbara and Marin Counties;
  3. Assessing progress in education about wildfire risks in Marin County
  1. William Kousser, (Political Science, ‘27)
  2. Jaden Southern (Earth Systems Coterm, ‘26)
  3. Samuel Cousins (Environmental Systems Engineering/Linguistics, ‘28)
Oct. 24Transitioning California's Affordable Housing Sector to Net-Zero Emissions: Challenges and OpportunitiesMiriam Awan, Earth Systems, ‘26
Oct. 31
  1. Exploring the Armenian Diaspora in the American West Through Short Stories
  2. No (Wo)Man’s Land: Women’s Separatist Communes in Southern Oregon and the Diametric of Community and Isolation
  1. Sosi Day, Learning Design and Technology Masters, ‘26
  2. Eva Jones, Environmental Engineering Coterm, ‘26
Wed Nov. 12 - location is Huang 305
  1. Our Treasure State: Of Fences, Trails, and Stories That Shape Montana's Land
  2. Ghost Towns: Stories From the New West
  1. Isaac Nehring, American Studies, ‘25
  2. Yared Avalos, Public Policy/Iberian and Latin American Cultures, ‘25
Nov. 14
  1. Through the Gateway: Music exploring the cultural, socioeconomic, and environmental transformations of Southeast LA County
  2. transfronterizX: Locating Queerness in the U.S.–Mexico Border Archive
  1. Andrew Nevárez, Public Policy, ‘25
  2. Victor Meza, Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, ‘25