Dean's Message

Welcome to the Nicholas School!
--William L. Chameides

I have always welcomed the surge of excitement that accompanies the start of a new project. The work ahead of you is important and challenging. The goals are ambitious, but the outcome is unknown.

I feel the same excitement as I begin my tenure as the Nicholas School’s new dean.

No other university in the world can match the interdisciplinary breadth of environmental expertise found at Duke—the scope of disciplines involved in the study of the environment here is unrivaled. Collaborations and partnerships stretch across and beyond the university’s campus. And it all emanates from the Nicholas School.

Thanks to the vision of my predecessors, Norm Christensen and Bill Schlesinger, and to the support and guidance of faculty, students, staff, alumni and friends, the school has pioneered an interdisciplinary approach to the environment that removes the artificial walls that formerly, pointlessly separated our labs, our classrooms and the outside world.

The experiment, you might say, has been a success. But there’s still much work left to do.

As a species we are pursuing an unsustainable course. While world populations are rising and consumption is increasing, resources are diminishing. For the sake of our children we must find a more sustainable path. The unique interdisciplinary paradigm developed at Duke can make a major contribution. We need to see that it does.

The first step is strategic: I see at least three issues surrounding sustainability that are critical to address.

Climate and Energy: Global warming is probably the most pressing environmental issue of our generation. If we do not decrease the rate at which greenhouse gas pollutants are spewed into the atmosphere, the consequences could be devastating. Fortunately, and thanks in no small measure to the Nicholas Institute, I think we will soon have domestic and then global policies that will mandate a decrease in greenhouse gas pollution. At that point the real work will begin. Energy will be a major challenge. We must transition from our fossil-fuel dependent infrastructure to one that relies on renewables and low-carbon energy sources. Another challenge relates to adaptation. Regardless of how fast we decrease greenhouse gas pollution, global warming will continue for decades as the climate equilibrates. We will need to adapt to the resulting climate disruptions. And that brings me to the next major issue—ecosystems.

Ecosystem Management and Conservation: The natural world is a wonder and for many of us ecosystems are worth conserving in their own right. But there also is an economic reason. It is estimated that the services ecosystems supply, such as clean water and air, timber, food and fiber, are worth about $30 trillion. Losing those services would be an economic catastrophe. Unfortunately ecosystems are not doing so well. According to the recent Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, an international study involving more than 1,000 experts, 60 percent of the world’s ecosystems already are degraded. Global warming threatens to increase that number. We need to stop the degradation and improve the health of our ecosystems.

Human Health and the Environment: Every year we add myriad new chemicals to the environment. In many cases we have little information on the health and environmental effects of these chemicals. Nanoparticles are a case in point. There is a new technology called nanotechnology that makes use of these tiny particles. Smaller than microbes, nanoparticles have special chemical properties that potentially could revolutionize technologies such as computer chip manufacturing. But there also is the potential for serious problems. Will these particles accumulate in the environment and get into our food supply? And if they do, do they represent a health threat? We don’t yet know, but we need to.

These are grand challenges worthy of a great institution like the Nicholas School; they will require scientific advances but also the formulation of new and innovative policies and their implementation. It is my great fortune that I am now at Duke and will have the opportunity to help meet these challenges.

William L. Chameides is Dean of the Nicholas School.