Who we are

faculty

Nicholas School faculty are helping to develop environmentally-friendly energy sources in Kenya; improve nuclear waste disposal in the United States; investigate new devices to exclude dolphins, porpoises and sea turtles from fishing nets; and measure the effects of increased carbon dioxide emissions on trees and soils. More than 50 faculty members hold primary or joint appointments in the school, and a large number of faculty have secondary or adjunct status from other units or institutions.

research divisions

The school is composed of three research divisions, which primarily serve doctoral students, graduate professional students, and undergraduate students:

Marine Science and Conservation, with focal areas in marine ecology, estuarine processes, and coastal geology, is headquartered at the Duke University Marine Laboratory at Beaufort, N.C. Faculty research interests range from studies of the long-line fisheries industry, to monitoring and assessing the post-hurricane health of the Neuse River and Pamlico Sound, to the effects of human activities on marine mammal populations, to applications of social science to environmental policy and management.

Earth and Ocean Sciences, with focal areas in climate change, solid earth processes and surface processes, is headquartered in the Old Chemistry building at Duke. The Faculty at EOS conduct research all over the world, from Hess Deep (-3200m depth) in the Pacific Ocean to the 4000m+ altitudes of the South American Altiplano.

Environmental Sciences and Policy, with focal areas in ecosystem science and management, environmental chemistry and toxicology, aquatic and atmospheric sciences and environmental social sciences, is headquartered in the Levine Science Research Center. Faculty with training in the biological, physical, chemical and social sciences work on applied and basic environmental research problems. The division stresses interdisciplinary approaches to environmental problem solving.

While maintaining a broad range of expertise within its faculty, the school is developing particular areas of strength in the fields of global change science, the problems of coastal marine ecosystems and marine conservation biology, and environmental solutions. Nicholas School faculty frequently are expert witnesses in congressional hearings; invited members of important national committees, such as the National Academy of Sciences; and elected officers in their professional societies. Nicholas School faculty publish regularly in the most prestigious scholarly journals, including Science and Nature.

research

The Nicholas School faculty and graduate students maintain a thriving, worldwide collaborative research program with wide-ranging support from government agencies, corporations and foundations. The school has $22 million in active research grants, $26 million in pending proposals, and $15 million in yearly research expenditures. Some of the larger grants are associated with interdisciplinary centers for projects such as the Duke Wetland Center, the Superfund Basic Research Center and the Free Atmosphere Carbon Enrichment (FACE) project.

Individual research projects include cutting edge toxicogenomics research, deep-sea exploration of Mid-Atlantic mountains, children's environmental health, and the cumulative global impacts of the long-line fishing industry.