Student Ambassadors

Camden Burk is a sophomore planning on studying Earth Systems: Energy, Science and Technology with a minor in Public Policy. His primary academic focus is within the energy transition, and the deployment of clean energy technologies to help combat climate change. He is especially interested in the intersection of clean energy development with other land use considerations such as sustainable agriculture, or conservation goals. Camden has conducted research with the Bill Lane Center on the growth of electric vehicles in Bay Area municipalities, and is currently working on a project studying university climate action plans. Outside of academics, he can most often be found playing trumpet, playing unnecessarily complex board games, or dueling with lightsabers in the Main Quad. 

Kate Esbenshade is a sophomore from Massachusetts majoring in Earth Systems with a focus on Human Environmental Systems. She has a strong interest in environmental policy, particularly in energy (after going on the Bill Lane Center’s Sophomore College program on Energy Policy and Technology!). She has also done research in the intersection of behavioral science and policy and on Carbon Dioxide Removal. Outside of school, you can find Kate spending time in the outdoors, playing ultimate frisbee, and tap dancing!

Solomon Kim is a junior from Glendale, CA interested in applying engineering and policy solutions to the energy space. Solomon is interested in understanding how to streamline government programs aimed at subsidizing energy bills for low-income Americans. Solomon is also interested in expanding energy efficiency programs for Americans. Solomon likes to play sports, especially basketball and is a huge Los Angeles Lakers fan.

Luke McFaul is a sophomore from California studying Earth Systems with a focus on Human Environmental Systems. Luke is interested in energy policy. In particular, he is passionate about policies that decarbonize the grid at a low cost to consumers. Currently, Luke is working on a project to degasify and decarbonize Stanford’s laundry systems and heating. He also helps the class “Understand Energy” develop a web portal. Outside of class, you can find him playing basketball, listening to music, or playing board games.

Bella is a senior studying Public Policy with a concentration in resources, energy, and the environment. She is originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon, in 2016. Bella is passionate about exploring sustainable methods of improving resource adequacy in the West. She is particularly interested in grid enhancement technologies that could allow for greater integration of renewables throughout the Western Interconnection. Outside of class, you can find Bella roaming outdoors, playing trivia, cooking, and jamming out to her favorite playlists.

Isaac Nehring is a sophomore from Helena, Montana, majoring in American Studies with a concentration in "Rural Life and Natural Resources in the American West." Having grown up in the American West, Isaac is particularly interested in the people and cultures of the region and how they interact with natural resources and the landscape, especially in an agricultural context. Isaac has been involved with the Lane Center primarily through Sophomore College and the American West course. He also co-leads “Rural Club” on campus, works at the campus farm, and loves to be outdoors or playing twangy tunes on the guitar in his free time.

Katherine Nolan is a senior from Salt Lake City, Utah. She is majoring in art history with a minor in German studies, but has gravitated toward environmental communication, particularly with regard to the natural and social history of the American West. She is particularly interested in mapping as a tool for communicating about the colonization of the West. 

Katherine is currently working on a capstone project through Stanford’s Interdisciplinary Honors in the Arts program, which will bridge her passion for communication with the natural and social history of the Great Basin–the unique desert environment in which she grew up. The project, called Remnants, is a collection of creative nonfiction stories, each centering around a found object in the basin, asking what it reveals about the history of the American West and the impact of the environment on human history. 

Adria Nyarko (she/her) is a junior from Southeast Michigan and is majoring in Civil Engineering with a focus in Environmental Quality Engineering.  Her minor is African and African American Studies. Professionally, she is interested in water policy and equity, wastewater infrastructure and hydrology, and the intersection of environmental issues, race, and class. While working for the Bill Lane Center, she worked on water rights and governance in counties on the Central Coast. Outside of class, she is an executive board member of the Black Gender Marginalized Collective. You can also find her watching movies, listening to music, and crocheting in her free time.

Caroline Reinhart is a senior majoring in science, technology, and society with a concentration in nature and environment with a minor in data science. She is also a coterminal student in the School of Sustainability. Her passions include water quality issues, environmental justice, and animals! With the Bill Lane Center, she has written for "& the West" and published a piece on water reuse in California. She also works as a research assistant focusing on water politics of the Central Coast and military pollution of former Fort Ord in Monterey County. Additionally, Caroline loves fostering animals, adventuring around the Bay Area, and was a member of Stanford's field hockey team. 

Sze En Tan is a junior studying Earth Systems (with a focus in Human Environmental Systems) and Economics. She was born and raised in Singapore but completed her last two years of high school in a suburb of Chicago. Sze En has a strong interest in the global energy transition and really enjoys the multidisciplinary nature of climate policy. This past summer, she conducted research with the Bill Lane Center on water governance in the Central Coast. Outside of class, you can find her laying on Meyer Green and drinking an iced vanilla latte!

Jas is a sophomore at Stanford University majoring in American Studies, with a focus in the relationship between historical politics and popular culture. Her minor is Film and Media Studies. Professionally, Jas has enjoyed applying her interest in and knowledge about American history and culture as a museum intern at Yellowstone National Park, and as a research intern at the King Papers Project. Outside of school, Jas adores exploring national parks, writing historical fiction screenplays, and daydreaming about meeting Nat Love (look him up if you don't know him!). Jas hopes to apply her interest in history to a future career in academia, archival studies, or museum studies.