Mission

The growth of the world’s population is at an unprecedented level.

This growth profoundly affects our environment, the pressure on natural resources, and the capacity of many nations to achieve sustainable socioeconomic development. The problem that we face is how to stimulate economic development to meet rapidly expanding human needs while ensuring that we do not destroy the natural resources and environment on which all life ultimately depends.

A new kind of scholar is required to address the many components that contribute to this enormous endeavor, one familiar with global issues through the perspectives of population biology, economics, and social and medical sciences. The search for new approaches to these complex problems demands interdisciplinary cooperation and new modes of collaboration and communication.

Stanford University’s response to the concerns about population-related global issues, and the research and educational needs pertaining to them, is the creation of the Morrison Institute for Population and Resource Studies (MIPRS), led by Director Marcus W. Feldman, Burnet C. and Mildred Finley Wohlford Professor of Biological Sciences. This interdisciplinary program brings together faculty members and courses in numerous departments and programs: Chemistry, Human Biology, Biological Sciences, Genetics, Mathematics, Civil Engineering, the Hoover Institution, the Food Research Institute, the Public Policy Program, Statistics, Anthropology, Economics, Sociology, the Medical School, and the Center for Conservation Biology.