Nature & Nurture | Giving

Explorers Gift Club Helps Celebrate Duke Forest Anniversary

As part of the Nicholas School's annual recognition program for its Environmental Explorers Gift Club ($1,000+ donors), the Annual Fund and Alumni Affairs staff organized a unique celebration in April marking the 75th anniversary of the Duke Forest.

Led by manager of Duke Forest Judson Edeburn, the group was able to visit several research sites including those of Emily Bernhardt, assistant professor of environmental sciences and policy, who is reseaching the recovery of biogeochemical function in degraded stream ecosystems; James Clark, H.L. Blomquist Professor of Biology, who is working on the development of a wireless sensor network to measure environmental change; and Robert Jackson, professor of biology and environmental sciences and director of the Center for Global Change, who is working at the Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) site on creating a forest of the future.

The day ended with dinner in the forest, with founding dean of the Nicholas School and professor of ecology Norman L. Christensen Jr. presenting a history of Duke Forest.