Trancos (Outdoor House)

Outdoor House pre-assigned residents are expected to meet the following requirements: Note: See Appendix for detailed house activity descriptions.

• Attend 2 house retreats
• Attend 5 house events
• Organize 2 house events

Optional, but strongly encouraged:

• Enroll in OUTDOOR 103 and/or 106
  • Thinking of applying to be an Outdoor House RA in the future? Most of our RAs have taken OUTDOOR 103 and 106.

All Outdoor House community members:

1. contribute to the development and maintenance of the community throughout the year. At a minimum, all contribute to the collective creation of community norms in ways that are meaningful to them. This occurs at the beginning of the year.
2. ensure that all house and event guests adhere to the community norms.
3. strive to create an inclusive and empathetic outdoor community.
4. support house programs and aid in planning and implementation.

We are seeking to build a community that shares a common passion for 1.) developing deep, mutualistic relationships with the natural world and 2.) creating a diverse, inclusive, and sustainable outdoor community at Stanford.

Our leadership is composed of faculty members and students who share a passion for the outdoors and believe that an Outdoor House can be a positive hub for engagement in the topics of sustainability and experiential outdoor education. Faculty will ensure the continuity and longevity of the house by advising student leaders, helping author and review written reports, providing leadership, teaching Natural World themed house/neighborhood led courses, and spending time around the house.

Our team includes faculty who are well known for their work at the confluence of their respective fields and the natural world. 

• Rob Dunbar, the Keck Professor of Earth Science and a Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment. He spent 12 years living in student residences at Rice University and is a strong proponent of intellectual engagement through ResX. Professor Dunbar will support Outdoor House by participating in House leadership, stewarding/enhancing broad and diverse faculty engagement, and maintaining learning goals of the house.
• Roz Naylor, William Wrigley Professor in Earth System Science, Senior Fellow at Stanford Woods Institute and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and the founding Director at the Center on Food Security and the Environment. Roz has deep expertise in conflicts between farming practices and conservation throughout the globe and is also an accomplished outdoors person with a love of outdoor education.
• Margot Gerritsen, Professor of Energy Resources Engineering, School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences, Associate Director, Stanford Data Science, and Bass Fellow in Undergraduate Education. Margot regularly leads educational outings for Stanford alumni and student trips to locations such as Mount Kilimanjaro and Alaska’s North Slope.
• Jorge Ramos, the Executive Director of the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, and a Lecturer in the Department of Biology at Stanford University, provides an important community connection

No. We are seeking to build an inclusive community that celebrates diversity of experience and relationships with the outdoors and intentionally works towards building racial and social equity in natural places of wonderment.

Not at all. Curiosity is our only prerequisite!

You are not able to pre-assign if you are going abroad in Fall quarter. We strongly prefer that pre-assignees commit to living in the house for the whole year in order to support community continuity and a sense of belonging….and amazing stuff is happening every quarter…..we don’t want you to miss out.

Ha, no no no. Coming together as a community can take many forms. Hiking, surfing, and other more “extreme” outdoor activities can be part of your Outdoor House experience, but so can learning to forage on campus, strolling around swampy Lake Lag, or volunteering to restore estuarine habitat around the Bay. There is extensive outdoor recreation experience in our community (held by both students and professional staff), so this community is also a wonderful place to begin your intentional relationship with the outdoors, and learn new ways to challenge your body and mind.

Students who pre-assign to Outdoor House commit to living in an experiential learning community designed to deepen their knowledge and engagement in the natural world. As an upperclass house (sophomores, juniors, seniors, undergrad coterms, transfers), we expect residents to come with a wide range of experience and varied outdoor interests.

We are excited to welcome everyone to this community, from those who are just beginning to explore their relationship with nature, to those who already have deep experience and expertise to bring to the community. Together,  the community has opportunities to learn about various aspects of the natural world, including sustainability, traditional and indigenous knowledge, outdoor adventure, geology, bioregionalism, climate change, environmental social justice, habitat restoration, and much more.

Our community is a collaborative space, bringing together other student communities, faculty, and community organizations who are committed to protecting natural areas, engaging in transformational adventures, and ensuring equitable access to the outdoors for current and future generations. Residents receive support and guidance from their community leaders (RAs, Resident Fellows, and Faculty/Staff) as they craft what they want to gain and contribute to the outdoor community at Stanford and beyond.

An off-campus, once-quarterly, overnight trip organized by the RA team. All residents are strongly encouraged to attend. The goal of these retreats is to build community through the exploration of outdoor activities and to engage in a relevant academic discussion or theme.

Any themed presentation, discussion, meal-time conversation, workshop, or film screening. These events could also take the shape of excursions off-campus to put into practice community values and academic theories.

These events can be centered around academic topics, such as the relationship between diet and climate change, minority voices and participation in the outdoors, indigenous land stewardship and fire mitigation in the West, or the history and cultural significance of Sherpas and mountaineering in Nepal. Engaging faculty to participate and facilitate an academic house event is encouraged.

One-off and recurring events and programming centered around community building and connection. These events should encourage play and well-being on and off campus. Popular social traditions include but are not limited to: special dinners, a campus triathlon, Firepit Fridays, No Bike Race, and Socks and Sandals.