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.

Wetlands
Ohio’s wetland areas have declined from about 5 million acres in the 1780s to around 500,000 acres today. Most wetlands were drained to make way for farms, houses, roads and development. Mining, logging and fluctuating water levels have also contributed to the decline. Loss of wetlands has contributed to erosion and water quality problems in many waterways, and to the loss of critical species habitat in many ecosystems, particularly the Great Black Swamp in northwestern Ohio, of which only five percent of the original wetland acreage remains.