The Pilkey Center will house a state-of-the-art molecular biology research laboratory and teaching lab where faculty and students can apply advanced genetic tools and techniques toward understanding marine systems and helping solve problems in the marine environment. It also will house offices and meeting areas.

The 12,000-square-foot center, which is anticipated to open in fall 2013, will be designed with sensitivity to the changing coastal environment.

The Marine Lab has not seen a new research building constructed since the 1970s,” Cindy L. Van Dover, director of the Duke Marine Lab, notes. “The Pilkey Center will give us much-needed room to expand our programs and provide our scientists and students with cutting-edge resources in an environmentally sustainable space.”

President Richard H. Brodhead, Nicholas School of the Environment Dean William L. Chameides, and Van Dover will be among those who will make brief remarks at the ceremony.

A public reception will follow immediately.

The new center is named for Orrin H. Pilkey, James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of Geology Pilkey is a longtime faculty member of the Nicholas School and one of America’s most widely cited coastal geologists.