Environmental Social Sciences

The Department of Environmental Social Sciences (ESoS) is the newest department within the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Recognizing that the world's most pressing sustainability challenges stem from human choices, ESoS operates on the premise that the solutions to these crises must also come from understanding, predicting, and changing human behavior and institutions.

The department comprises a rapidly growing community of scholars with diverse disciplinary backgrounds, spanning economics, political science, sociology, psychology, history, anthropology, geography, law, decision science, and the learning sciences. United by a shared mission to align human systems with planetary boundaries, ESoS faculty conduct research to investigate the root causes of humanity's environmental challenges; design and evaluate effective public policies, business strategies, and behavioral interventions; and train future scholars and leaders to drive systemic change.

Academic Programs and Pathways

ESoS is building cutting-edge academic pathways designed to equip students with rigorous qualitative and quantitative social science methodologies:

• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Environmental Social Sciences: A premier, research-intensive doctoral program. Ph.D. candidates engage in deep disciplinary and interdisciplinary training, preparing for careers in academia, policy design, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector.

• Undergraduate and Master's Contributions: While the department focuses primarily on graduate-level training, its faculty teach and advise students within the school's broader interdisciplinary programs, including the Earth Systems Program opens in a new tab and E-IPER opens in a new tab.

Core Research Areas and Collaborations

Research within the department is organized around two broad, collaborative areas of inquiry that integrate diverse social science disciplines:

• Global Environmental Policy (GEP): Drawing heavily from economics, political science, data science, and international relations, GEP faculty focus on the design, evaluation, and implementation of institutions and policies. Research in this area seeks to identify which policy, technological, or institutional approaches are economically optimal, politically feasible, and socially equitable to jointly improve environmental and human outcomes.

• Environmental Behavioral Science (EBS): Bridging sociology, psychology, history, anthropology, geography, law, decision science, and the learning sciences, EBS faculty study human behavior, human ecology, and social institutions. This area of inquiry explores how individuals, communities, and organizations perceive environmental risks and how behavioral interventions can scale up sustainability efforts.