One of the advantages of attending Duke is that it attracts distinguished people like Dr. Myers, recently honored as one of Time magazine's "heroes of the environment."   Read his background and accomplishments and it is hard not to be impressed. 

I am not a fan of night classes, but I made an exception for Dr. Norman Myers' seminar.  

In the past 5 weeks, the class has touched on some of the biggest sources facing the global environmental predicament.  On a given night, the class may touch on themes as diverse as overpopulation, subsidies, or misconsumption.  For me, it represents a microcosm for what I expected from the MEM program: science is highlighted yet shares the spotlight with policy and economics to pose new answers to old problems.  Unlike all the other courses I am taking this semester, it trumps them all of them in its ability to engage students.  It has been a needed break from Powerpoint presentations delivered in dimmed rooms.  

One other perk of the class is the diversity of students.  Out of 21 students, there are two Phds, an undergraduate, and students from five different countries.