2008 An Environmental Crossroads

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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.

Forests & Grasslands
Of Montana's 93 million acres of land, nearly 23 million acres are forested. Managing these lands for a variety of uses – productive forestry, recreation, scenic beauty, water quality and wildlife conservation, among others – requires a delicate balancing act of ecological and economic concerns, especially on the 17 million acres of publicly owned forests. Montana’s eastern prairies require equally careful management: According to the USDA, 1.1 million acres of these grasslands have been converted to other uses since 1982.

Norm Christensen is an expert on forest ecology and sustainable forest management.
tel: (919) 613-8052 e: normc@duke.edu

Research focus: Community ecology. Disturbance and succession. Sustainable forest ecosystem management. Forest fires.

Christensen's research focuses on the effects of disturbance on structure and function of forest populations, communities and ecosystems. Ongoing studies include an analysis of patterns of forest development following cropland abandonment as these are affected by environment, stand history and plant demographic patterns.

James Clark is an expert on forest biodiversity and on the ecology of forests and grasslands.
tel:(919) 613-8036: e: jimclark@duke.edu

Research focus:Ecology of forests and grasslands, especially how they are affected by global climate change. Statistics and population genetics, as they relate to biodiversity.

Robert Healy is an expert on the management of protected areas and on
land use in rapidly growing urban and exurban areas. He is the author of
the book, “The Lands Nobody Wanted: Policy for National Forests in the
Eastern United States.”
tel: (919) 613-8025: e: healy@duke.edu

Research focus: Management of protected areas in developed and developing countries, especially as related to human populations. Land use in the United States, particularly in rapidly growing urban and exurban areas.