Nicholas School Holds 2003 Recognition Ceremony

Commencement Address, Gilbert M. Grosvenor

Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences
Commencement Address -- May 10, 2003 -- 9:00 A.M.
by Gilbert M. Grosvenor
Chairman, National Geographic Society

A few years ago, I began a commencement address, outdoors — much like today but without the tent. I was about four sentences into it when all of a sudden, the entire student body lept to their feet and erupted into wild, spontaneous cheering.

I thought — wow— I really hit the mark! They really were listening! Then I noticed they were all staring skyward, pointing behind me. Following their gaze, I spotted a small airplane trailing a huge banner that said – "Becky, will you marry me!!!"

By the way – afterward -- I met Becky.
She did say "yes."

Thank you, Dean Schlesinger, for that very kind introduction…,

Exhausted faculty,

Overjoyed parents –amazed parents – bankrupt parents

And to each and every graduate — Congratulations and well done!!!

I really enjoy graduations! Everybody's upbeat. Students have successfully completed one project, while at the same time, they are commencing a new one. Everybody is polite to the commencement speaker, although nobody will remember a single word.

Graduations are about ends and beginnings. Today you end your formal education at the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences and begin your exciting life-long journey of learning and discovery. You are ready. Your parents and professors have seen to that.

My advice to you is to savor the satisfaction of today as long as possible. You’ll miss parts of this university more than you know:

After all not every town has a Halloween party in the Duke Forest or a spring banquet with a bluegrass band and a pig roast!

Moreover in the real world you may discover that weekends actually begin on Friday, not Thursday at the Cosmic Cantina!

And I don’t want to scare you but some of you may have to work for people who graduated from UNC Chapel Hill!

But then again the real world pays better – and there is parking!!

But then you will start worrying about those school loans….

Now, I can relate to the parents here today. My son attends a college right down the road.

(Hopefully, he graduates next year and hopefully he’ll find a job. Then my wife and I can afford to travel again!)

As parents we all have two monumental questions about our college kids. #1: Will they really graduate? And, #2: How will "that" major possibly get them a job?

Bill Cosby adds a third concern: he said,
“Commencement is from the root word to go forth — it does not mean to go forth to your parent’s house.”

Luckily, our graduates here are entering the right field, at the right time, for the right reasons — and hopefully at the right salary.

Today, more than ever — people, organizations, companies and governments are focused on quality of life and sustainability for planet Earth's processes and bounties. Clearly, planet Earth needs a major house-cleaning and you're just the ones to do it.

You, because of the unique education you have received here at the Nicholas School, will be at the forefront of these issues.

Young adults with your education are the ones who will bring together the multiple forces necessary to understand very complicated environmental problems – such as: planetary environmental degradation, disappearing biological diversity, global resources depletion, ocean management, evolution of alternate energy sources, implementing sustainable development, and addressing the illusive goal of population stability -- just to name a few. You will lead your generation to stimulate change, and to spiritualize these issues – a monumental task.

But you're up to it.

Years ago when I lived in McLean, Virginia, I was fortunate to have Elliott Richardson as a friend and neighbor. He’s the only man in U.S. history to have held four different cabinet posts, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, and Secretary of Commerce. He was a very bright man.

He told me that by far the toughest assignment he ever undertook was as chief negotiator for the United States at the International Law of the Sea negotiations from 1978-80. Why? Because members of the U.S. Congress were unwilling to resolve the conflict of special interest groups. He could not attain consensus in his own nation -- much less the family of nations.

No, it’s not easy and you won't always prevail. Even the most talented individuals, like Richardson, sometimes fail. And frequently it is unknown people who become planetary heroes.

One who comes to mind is Marion Stoddart. When Marion explored the Nashu River, a 56-mile-long stream in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, in the 1960’s, its only form of life was sludge worms. Outraged, she spent 30 years haranguing industries to treat waste, citizens to monitor water quality, builders to limit riverbank development, and politicians to enact and enforce laws. She succeeded! Today, canoes are back on those waters and kids can safely swim the Nashu River.

My point? Individuals do make a difference. In fact, frequently only individuals can initiate change. Perhaps the next Rachel Carson, Jacques Cousteau, Jane Goodall, Archie Carr, Sylvia Earle or Marion Stoddart, is among our graduates today. Could well be. You start your journey better educated, better prepared and better informed than any of them.

And believe me, you'll need every ounce of energy, every bit of technology, and every scrap of information to cope with today's collossal issues.

Consider just two such issues.

Fresh water.

Terrestrial organisms cannot exist without it.

Water covers 70% of the globe!

So what's the big deal!

Two big deals:
#1: Only 3% is fresh water and two-thirds of all fresh water is locked in glaciers and the polar ice caps. Of the 1% left, much is lost to river run off so that less than 1% of the planet’s fresh water is in the lakes and rivers that serve as our fresh water sources. And much of that is now becoming polluted. And, #2: Fresh water is finite. Indeed there is no more fresh water on planet Earth today than in biblical times. There's simply no more water to share. For 20 years I have preached that! But wait: recently something changed!

Equipped with today’s new technologies scientists, like our graduates today, are focused on new water sources.

According to a recent article in the Washington Post, scientists using new high-tech instruments discovered a vast reservoir in the Qua Rani aquifer lying very deep beneath South America. If recoverable, it could supply 27 gallons of water a day to 5.5 billion people for 200 years. Similar huge, deep aquifers lie under the Earth’s driest countries in Africa, such as Namibia (the driest nation south of the Sahara.)

It will be up to environmentalist like you to answer the tough questions such as–
• What are the consequences of pumping these waters?
• How do you prevent environmental damage during recovery?
• Will pipelines straddle the globe?
• Are the aquifers replenished or — as is more likely the case — are they finite fossil aquifers — like fossil energy?

Water use over the next two decades may well increase by 40%. Sustainable potable water will be one of your greatest challenges and opportunities.

Even today, people in 30 of the planet's 197 countries endure a serious loss of quality of life because of insufficient water. Is salvation within reach? Maybe one of you will find the key.

Another colossal issue for your generation will be energy. You will influence the politics of energy as we enter into the sunset era of fossil energy.

The fate of your children and grandchildren rests with decisions you make initiating a new worldwide energy system. Renewable energies like, solar, wind, hydro, and hydrogen may offer hope. Don't mess it up! The planet cannot tolerate another environmental disaster such as fossil energy extraction and its emissions have caused.

Some believe we are on the dawn of a whole new economy. They believe the use of hydrogen as the energy carrier will change the fundamental nature of our financial markets and our political and social institutions.

If they’re correct, this change may be as revolutionary as the change that coal and steam power brought at the beginning of the industrial age, or that oil brought in the 20th century. Exciting times? You bet, but I guarantee you will have your hands full protecting the environment.

Water and energy are but two huge issues. How about sustainable consumption of renewal resources — such as timber — or something as mundane as maintaining quality recreation facilities that are over-run with people. Or, the granddad of all colossal issues: population stability. Nobody likes to talk about populations

Since Earth Day, 1970 — just 33 years ago —world population has soared from 3.7 billion to 6.3 billion people. And looking forward to 2050, world population will exceed 9 billion.

Today, May 10, 2003, another 250,000 people will be added to planet Earth and tomorrow another 250,000, the next day, and so on.

At this rate, we add another Canada to the Earth’s population every 3 months -- another United States every three years.

This, of course has an enormous impact on the planet. Just think for a moment how many more mouths we have to feed now than in 1970.

Now, couple this population growth with arable land loss.

Since that first Earth Day in 1970, deserts have claimed more arable land than is currently planted in crops in all of China.

And more topsoil has eroded away than India’s entire croplands. The gap between demand for food and the ability to grow food has widened.

Exponential population growth brings urgency to your work. Almost every major environmental issue leads back to population stability. We must achieve stability. To me that’s the greatest challenges we face today. Perhaps the most effective route to population stability is education. If educating third world populations is successful, then planet Earth's problems become manageable.

And you are the managers.

Fortunately at Duke you have received the finest training in this country and you have been taught by the best.

Your professors are on the cutting edge of environmental research.
Just to name a few examples:
• Researching the use of geospatial technologies to protect our children;
• Developing a digital archive of marine mammal, sea turtle and seabird distribution and abundance;
• Researching why species become extinct and how fast they become so, and what that means to the sustainability of life on Earth. Clearly the Nicholas School leads the way.

Fellow parents…if you don't understand all this new jargon, don't worry. Your sons and daughters here today do!

Essentially, they are using modern technologies to protect our children, preserve our plants and animals, and insure that our grandchildren enjoy the same rich biological diversity that we do.

Graduates now it’s your turn! You will play a critical role to play in our country — in our world.

I urge you to lead the next generation of young adults to be better prepared, better informed, and more responsible stewards of the planet.

Everyone in this audience, in fact, everyone you know has confidence that you will translate your knowledge into understanding and caring.

This is a worrisome time. A time when security is utmost in our minds. A time when we all question the value of what we are doing.

I would only remind you that we not only want a secure world, but we also want a healthy, vibrant, living planet.

You’ve been given a priceless gift with your Nicholas School education; now is the to give something back.

We know your individual journey will bring us all closer to harmony with our Earth, to peace with our brothers and sisters, and to a future brighter than we can imagine.

100 years ago this year Theodore Roosevelt said these words and they ring true still, “far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

So, I can’t fly a plane over your head today with a sign that guarantees your future but I can tell you that the degree you have in your hand from the Nicholas School is a banner to fly proudly and a passport to carry with you on life's field.

Thank you and again -- congratulations.