The Log | School News
Duke Marine Lab Dedicates Ocean Conservation Center
The Nicholas School dedicated its new 5,600-square-foot Marguerite Kent Repass Ocean Conservation Center at the Duke Marine Laboratory campus in Beaufort, N.C., in a festive outdoor November ceremony.
The Repass Center is the first new academic building constructed at the Marine Lab in 30 years and is the lab’s first “green”building. It uses geothermal pumps for heating and cooling, solar panels for hot water, and photovoltaic rooftop panels to convert sunlight into electricity. Local building materials, such as yellow southern pine and Atlantic white cedar, and recycled wood are used throughout the structure.
Other eco-friendly features include natural daylight in all spaces, fresh-air ventilation, deep overhangs to provide shade, native landscape and permeable sidewalks, and a zinc roof designed to last 100 years.
The center houses a teaching laboratory, a 48-seat lecture hall equipped with state-of-theart teleconferencing and videoconferencing facilities to connect to other classrooms and research labs worldwide, and a large, glass-enclosed commons area containing art and sculpture, with views of the Rachel Carson Research Reserve, Beaufort Inlet and Shackleford Banks.
A $2.3 million gift from Randy Repass, chairman of West Marine Inc.of Watsonville,Calif., and his wife, Sally-Christine Rodgers, helped fund the center and create a University Professorship in Marine Conservation Technology at the Marine Lab.The new center is named in honor of Repass’mother.
During the dedication ceremony, both Repass and Rodgers made remarks expressing the urgent need for action to preserve the marine environment, and they cited the lifelong inspiration that Marguerite Kent Repass has been to marine conservation.The elder Mrs. Repass was in attendance and helped cut the ribbon for the new building.
The center was designed by Raleigh architect Frank Harmon to meet the highest standards for energy and environmental efficiency adopted by the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program. A grant from the Wallace Genetic Foundation made it possible to design the Repass Center to LEED certification standards.
“The Repass Center represents a major first step in our long-term initiative to make our Beaufort campus a model for environmental sustainability, and it significantly enhances our capabilities for collaborative research, outreach and education,” said Marine Lab Director Cindy L.Van Dover.
William H. Schlesinger, dean of the Nicholas School, said,“Thanks to the vision and generosity of Randy Repass, Sally-Christine Rodgers and the Wallace Genetic Foundation, and to the leadership of Michael Orbach, former director of the Marine Lab who continues to play an integral part in the Repass Center’s development,we have been able to construct a state-of-the-art facility that benefits both our students and our environment.”
photo captions: Cindy Van Dover and Michael Orbach; Marguerite Kent Repass cuts ribbon; Repass Center’s glass-enclosed commons area