Giving Features

Funded by five endowments and the Nicholas School’s Annual Fund, the Nicholas Scholars program awards scholarships covering up to two-thirds of tuition to as many as 15 of the most highly qualified Master of Environmental Management (MEM) or Master of Forestry (MF) applicants each year.

A matching gift program that runs through June of this year lets Nicholas School donors double the support they provide for cutting-edge research on the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.

In the ten years since the Nicholas School ventured into the world of high-tech innovation and impact investing, efforts have funded numerous student-led start-ups and created new internship and networking opportunities for students.

The Nicholas School received a $20 million gift earlier this year to strengthen faculty research and teaching aimed at finding solutions to climate change and other pressing environmental challenges confronting society.

The state-of-the-art R/V Shearwater made its maiden research voyage on a ten-day trip around South Florida, the Dry Tortugas and Gulf of Mexico.

In 2017, Duke University received an $11 million-dollar gift from the Grainger Family Descendants Fund to support the construction and operation of a new research vessel for the Duke University Marine Lab.

When companies provide opportunities for Nicholas students to help with business challenges, everyone wins

Thanks to a $20 million gift, the Nicholas School’s Environment Hall has been named Grainger Hall and — equally important — critical support will reach every corner of Duke Environment

A $1 million gift has allowed the Nicholas School to establish a research laboratory in environmental exposomics, an emerging scientific field that assesses the cumulative effects of environmental contaminants on human health.

Michael and Annie Falk, whose $1 million gift has established the Nicholas School’s Michael and Annie Falk Foundation Environmental Exposomics Laboratory, hosted an educational event at their home in Palm Beach, Fla. earlier this year to introduce guests to the lab and its mission.