To understand marine ecosystems, we must understand many things, from the intimate biology of its benthic and pelagic species, to the interactions of individuals, populations, and species with one another and with their changing environment.  Yet this is not enough.  To this we must also add an understanding of how humans interact with marine ecosystems and how these interactions can and should be managed through policy and governance to achieve stewardship and a balance between conservation and exploitation.

In this context, faculty at the Marine Lab focus on education, research, and service to understand marine systems, including the human component, and to develop approaches for marine conservation and restoration.  We study the biology of marine species, address global-scale marine issues, and use advanced technologies, analysis, and modeling that allow science and policy to be evaluated across space, time, and disciplines. Scientific endeavors highlight organisms and populations, ecosystems, and human affairs. We emphasize acquisition of basic knowledge to understand and manage ecological systems. This emphasis includes scientific discovery and problem solving within the context of human interactions with the environment identified through physical, biological, and social science studies, and can be found throughout the teaching and research activities at the Marine Lab.

Highlights of our education programs include a residential undergraduate program open to Duke and non-Duke students, a Master’s Program in Coastal Environmental Management and a PhD Program in Marine Science and Conservation.  Students find academic and co-curricular resources in Beaufort scaled to match those of the Durham campus and that rival those of the best marine laboratories throughout the world.  The Marine Lab is a ‘full-service’ campus with a curriculum that inspires curiosity, discovery, learning, and problem solving and that is responsive to needs of students in natural science, social science, engineering, and other fields.  In pursuit of excellence, the curriculum includes Beaufort Signature field components in the US and abroad that decisively distinguish the Duke University Marine Lab curriculum from all others. These courses are designed to place students outside of their cultural comfort zones and to immerse them in marine systems elsewhere in the world.  We engage students in the process of science and prepare them for problem solving, regardless of discipline, and for global leadership roles.

Cindy Van Dover, Marine Lab Director.