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Eleven scholars from across Stanford University will travel to Belém, Brazil in November 2025 for the United Nations climate summit known as COP30. Discover events, attendees, and expert insights.

Stanford researchers are uncovering the journey of microplastics in our environment and their effects on human health, while developing practical solutions to mitigate their impact.

For the first time, researchers report that Arctic algae can hustle along in -15 C – the lowest-temperature movement ever recorded in complex, living cells. This discovery raises new questions about how algal communities regulate the overall health of the Arctic environment.

Stanford marine biologist Steve Palumbi uses fundamental science to find practical solutions to pressing questions about ocean life and its future. His lab’s work on the effects of heat waves on marine life has implications for the environment, economies, health, and culture.

This year’s Big Ideas for Oceans seed grants support research on seagrass ecosystems, carbon dioxide in seawater, kelp for climate mitigation, and women’s experiences working in fisheries and aquaculture.

Stanford researchers are working to create a unique, interdisciplinary curriculum to help students better understand both the physical and biological ocean systems and the human relationship with them.

Halleh Balch develops nanoscale environmental sensors to probe the molecular mechanisms that underlie ocean-climate interactions and explore paths to improve water security and sustainability. 

Stanford scholars discuss ocean sustainability, high-seas protections, and interdisciplinary science at the One Ocean Science Congress and U.N. Ocean Conference.

A recent study led by Samantha Andrzejaczek and the Barbara Block Lab – in collaboration with researchers from the Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station, CSU Monterey Bay, the California White Shark Project and Montana State University – provides a substantial piece of the great white shark picture, offering the most comprehensive long-term tracking data of white sharks in Central California to date.

Scholars and staff from across the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability share their greatest wonder about the oceans and what drives them to study the sea.

“The fishermen probably know more than any scientist about when the squid move in and how long they stay on the spawning beds,” said William Gilly, a professor at Stanford who has studied the physiology and behavior of squid for more than 40 years.

Steve Palumbi, a Professor of Biology and Oceans at Stanford University, joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to share how researchers are finding ways to help corals survive and thrive as the oceans warm.

The third United Nations Ocean Conference, co-hosted by the governments of France and Costa Rica, will take place from June 9 – 13, 2025 in Nice. The Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions will contribute to events on sustainable blue foods, oceans and human health, women in ocean science, and data systems in small-scale fisheries.

Stanford-led study finds small-scale tree cover in Costa Rica boosts biodiversity while limiting dangerous mosquito species

Whether leading coral restoration efforts at home or doing research on campus, undergraduate student Plengrhambhai “Pleng” Snidvongs Kruesopon is advancing environmental conservation through policy, education, and community action.

Attendees identified ways to optimize, integrate, and scale data collection for advancing human and planetary health.

“I’m hopeful for our harbor seal population,” says Giulio De Leo, a faculty member at Hopkins. “We have good data, great science, a municipality that’s listening, citizen scientists. Altogether, we’re well positioned to understand what’s needed to monitor this population moving forward.”

At time when ocean reserve protections are threatened, new research shows bans on fishing made kelp ecosystems more resilient.

The first inkling of the Café emerged when Stanford biologist, Barbara Block, began satellite‑tagging great whites in the late 1990s, revealing offshore migrations that defied coastal‑only models.

New research shows that when predator species like California sheephead thrive, they keep hungry sea urchins and other grazers from devouring kelp forests struggling to recover from marine heat waves. Scientists estimate kelp forests’ annual exposure to once-rare heat will more than quintuple by 2100. 

“By ending commercial harvests and allowing them time to rebound, their populations are now doing really well” in coastal waters off many regions of Mexico and the U.S., said co-author Michelle María Early Capistrán, a Stanford University researcher who has conducted fieldwork in both countries.

Professor of Oceans Steve Palumbi is part of a committee that advised the National Science Foundation on forward-looking approaches to investing in ocean science research, infrastructure, and workforce development.

Attendees of the third annual Stanford Oceans Conference shared approaches for recognizing and incorporating culture into governance across the Indian Ocean.