Top row, from left: Julia Anderson, Juliana Chang, Zac Espinosa, Alessandro (Sandro) Hall, Tish Johnston; Middle row: Nate Marshall, Catie Mong, Jamie Rodriguez, Amelia Shin-May Traylor, Miranda Vogt; Bottom row: Ignacio Mendez, Karen Huynh, Max Vilgalys, Anthony Ho, Yiyuan Zhang
With spring quarter and commencement behind us, the Center’s interns are heading out to begin their adventures across the West as part of the university’s Cardinal Quarter initiative. This year, we are supporting 15 extraordinary undergraduates, co-terms, and graduate students, who will be spending the summer at national parks, nature conservancies, nongovernmental organizations, state regulatory agencies and research institutes. They range from Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering majors to ardent equestrians and students of Art History and 17th-century poetry.
As the summer goes on, they will share their experiences and perspectives on our Out West student blog, which will also feature dispatches from the Stanford Energy Internships in California and Colorado, a program we cosponsor with the Stanford Precourt Institute for Energy. You can also read more our interns and their interests by clicking the links below. For now, please join us in wishing them an unforgettable summer.
In addition to our 10 interns in the American West, the Center is pleased to sponsor five Stanford Energy Interns in California and Colorado (SEIC). Now in its second year, SEIC places Stanford undergraduate and graduate students in energy-related public service internships through the West. The program seeks to:
Provide Stanford students interested in energy an avenue to participate in a substantive and paid internship with energy-related California government organizations.
Provide California’s agencies with Stanford’s top students and resources.
Promote the spirit of public service to Stanford students and encourage them to consider public policy positions after graduation.
Educate students about the wide range of career opportunities available in state government for energy-related jobs.
Increase connections between Stanford faculty and researchers and California agencies.
In 2017, the Center is proud to sponsor three Stanford undergraduates and two graduate students who will spend the summer exploring the intersection of energy and policy in the West. Learn more about our fellows:
Intern
Topic
Organization
Ignacio Mendez
Undergraduate Internship with Commissioner David Hochschild
This summer, follow our interns’ activities on the Out West student blog. During the summer quarter, Center's interns and Research Assistants will be sending in virtual postcards, snapshots and reports on their work at organizations thoughout the West.
A keystone species slowly disappears from the Yukon; Cuyama Valley, California farmers boycott Big Carrot; a pond turns pink in Maui; environmentalists oppose an Alaskan Arctic oil drilling project; direct-air carbon capture arrives in the Central Valley; pikas return to the Columbia Gorge; and other environmental news from around the American West.
Advisory Council Member Nancy Pfund and colleagues author a new paper exploring the benefits of prescribed burns, highlighting how new technologies in wildfire mitigation, vegetation management, and forestry can help prevent catastrophic fire. The paper also investigates how a variety of innovative funding models could be harnessed to dramatically scale the ability to use prescribed burns safely and effectively in the future.
Every year, the Bill Lane Center awards a $5,000 fellowship to support a journalist illuminating crucial issues about the American West. We are proud to announce Brandon Kapelow as our 2023-2024 Western Media Fellow, and the publication of new work by last year's fellow, Janet Wilson.