Address: \u00a0Institute at Brown for Environment and Society<\/span> My interests lie at the intersection between the natural sciences and human society, and revolve around the societal transition to a more sustainable future. As Brown’s inaugural Associate Provost for Sustainability, I guided Brown\u2019s decarbonization and other sustainability efforts while working to enhance research and teaching in this space. I also worked to leverage the work we do here on campus to build sustainability solutions beyond our campus. I co-chaired the committee tasked with implementing and continually iterating on Brown\u2019s Strategic Sustainability Plan<\/a><\/span>. As Acacia Professor in the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society<\/a><\/span>, as well as Ecology, Evolutionary and Organismal Biology<\/a><\/span>, I work with students and postdocs interested in topics ranging from the biogeochemistry of soybean production in the Amazon to the potential for carbon storage through enhanced rock weathering to the best path to lower emissions from Brown\u2019s dining services. I believe that every student, indeed every person, can play a role in rising to the sustainability challenges that threaten our future, and that by focusing on solutions, not just on the problems, we can succeed in making the world a better place.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I grew up in New York City, but developed a love for the outdoors in places like Vermont and New Brunswick, Canada.\u00a0 After graduating from an international high school associated with the U.N., I went to Amherst College, where I majored in history and wrote my senior thesis on the history of Vermont during its fourteen years as an independent republic (1777-1791).\u00a0 During that time, I got hooked by geology, because it taught me to look at the natural world in a fundamentally different way than I ever had.\u00a0 After graduating, I wasn\u2019t sure what I wanted to do next, since I was really interested in many different things, and I took time off to teach skiing while I decided.\u00a0 I went back to get a M.S. in geology from the University of Montana in 1997, and spent the next three years teaching earth science in New York.\u00a0 Finally I came across what would become my true intellectual passion, understanding the way the earth\u2019s living systems function, and in 2000 I went back to get my Ph.D. in Ecology from Stanford University, where I worked on landscape and ecosystem development in the Hawaiian Islands.\u00a0 I hadn\u2019t completely left my geologic roots, however, as my post-doc (also at Stanford) was in the Geological and Environmental Sciences Department integrating tectonic geomorphology into my understanding of how ecosystems develop.\u00a0 I started at Brown in 2007, and spent the first 15 years of my career focused on tropical rainforests, agroecosystems and restoration. But I became more and more focused on rising to the threat of climate change and other sustainability challenges, and decided to change paths to focus on institutional and regional solutions. In 2018 I was proud to be appointed as the university’s, and the country’s, first Associate Provost for Sustainability. In this role I guided the university’s sustainability efforts, worked to integrate those efforts into our research and teaching missions, and to share what we learned with the broader community in order to advance solutions.<\/span> Acacia Professor of Ecology, Evolutionary and Organismal Biology and Environment and Society Office: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a085 Waterman St –\u00a0Room 208 Address: \u00a0Institute at Brown for Environment and Society \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Box 1951 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Brown University \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"template-full-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/porderlab.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/porderlab.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/porderlab.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/porderlab.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/porderlab.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/porderlab.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1353,"href":"https:\/\/porderlab.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14\/revisions\/1353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/porderlab.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Box 1951 <\/span>
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Brown University<\/span>
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Providence RI 02912<\/span>
\n Phone: \u00a0 \u00a0 401-863-6356<\/span>
\n Email: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0stephen_porder@brown.edu<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/porderlab.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PorderHeadshot1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span>A bit about my interests<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\nMy path to sustainability solutions science<\/span><\/h4>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"