Global warming clouds our future. Pollution degrades our air, soil and water. Environmental toxins compromise the health of our children. Misuse threatens the sustainability of our forests, fisheries, wetlands and coasts, and the health of species that live there.

But there is reason for hope.

Through sound science and policy research, we're finding answers to these problems. Airborne lead and acid rain have been dramatically reduced. Industrial water pollution has decreased. Habitats are being preserved.

Faculty members from the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University are part of the effort to help find these answers and establish new environmental practices and policies to safeguard our natural resources for generations to come.

To contact our experts or learn more about what we're doing in states across the nation, click on the state you're interested in.

Grasslands & Praries
Iowa has lost nearly 20 percent of its grassland acreage during the past 20 years. Healthy, well managed grasslands are a vital part of the state’s ecology, and help provide clean water for people and animals; scenic beauty and open spaces for recreation; forage for biomass energy and to produce food and fiber products; jobs in agriculture; healthy habitat for wildlife; protection for highly erodible lands; and opportunities to benefit the global environment by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses.