The Dish

Photo: Courtesy Dorian Anderson

Biking for Birds: Dorian Anderson, '01, is nearing the end of a yearlong trek around North America to raise money for bird conservation and to promote eco-friendly travel. He is pursuing a greener version of the "big year," a favorite activity of birders that usually involves crisscrossing the continent by plane, car and boat to find as many bird species as one can. Anderson is traveling only by pedal and foot power, "unaided by petroleum, natural gas and electricity," he notes on his blog, bikingforbirds.blogspot.com. At press time, he had spied 572 species, biked 13,450 miles and walked another 394. Through his project, Anderson has raised approximately $26,000 for the Conservation Fund and the American Birding Association.

Photo: Courtesy SIRUM

Make a Difference: Grinnell College named two Stanford alums as winners of its 2014 Grinnell Prize. Adam Kircher, '07, MS '07, and Kiah Williams, '07, MA '07, co-founders and directors of SIRUM (Supporting Initiatives to Redistribute Unused Medicine), were honored in October for their work with the nonprofit company, which began as a class project for Kircher while he was at Stanford. SIRUM works with manufacturers, hospitals, nursing homes and other organizations to match donated unexpired prescription medications with people who cannot afford them. The prize, honoring under-40 innovators in social justice, is accompanied by a $100,000 award.

Photo: U.S. Navy/John F. Williams

Science at Sea: On August 9, the U.S. Navy christened a ship in honor of the late astronaut Sally Ride, '73, MS '75, PhD '78, the first American woman in space. The naming ceremony was held in Anacortes, Wash., where Tam O'Shaughnessy, Ride's life partner and co-founder of Sally Ride Science, a science education company, broke a Champagne bottle against the R/V Sally Ride, the Navy's newest academic research vessel. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where Ride was a professor and a scientist, will take delivery of the ship in April 2015, operating it out of UC-San Diego under an agreement with the Navy.