Rate My Professor Steven Gorelick

Steven M. Gorelick is the Cyrus F. Tolman Professor in the Department of Earth System Science at Stanford University, where he has been on the faculty since 1988. He also serves as a Senior Fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and directs the Global Freshwater Initiative. Gorelick earned a BA from New College in 1975, an MS in Hydrology (hydrogeology) from Stanford University in 1977, and a PhD in Hydrology (hydrogeology) from Stanford University in 1981. Prior to joining the Stanford faculty, he worked as a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey from 1981 to 1988.

Gorelick’s research focuses on groundwater management, water security, water resources vulnerability in developing regions, optimal remediation design, hydrogeophysics, ecohydrology, groundwater solute transport processes, and global oil supply and demand. He has held numerous visiting appointments, including positions at ETH Zurich, the University of Cambridge, CSIRO in Australia, and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research. Gorelick is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, and the Geological Society of America. His honors include the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Science, Technology and Innovation (2022-23), the Alexander von Humboldt Award (2021-22), the Excellence in Teaching Award from Stanford’s School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences (2018), the James B. Macelwane Medal from the American Geophysical Union (1990), and the M. King Hubbert Science Award from the National Ground Water Association (2004). He has authored or co-authored extensively cited publications and books, including Oil Panic and the Global Crisis: Predictions and Myths (2011). Gorelick has served on numerous advisory committees, editorial boards, and as chair of university research committees at Stanford.