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.

Genetically Modified Organisms
Biotechnology and genetic engineering hold both great promise and great peril for America’s forests, food crops and ecosystems. In the field of forestry alone, the USDA has issued more than 300 permits for trials of genetically engineered trees, raising hopes of healthier, faster-growing tree plantations for wood, pulp and paper, but also raising concerns about gene drift and other unintended consequences. Genetic engineering presents similarly complex pros and cons to scientists working in agriculture, ecology and conservation.