graduate program in environmental sciences and policy
The graduate program in Environment (known as ENV), administered by the division of Environmental Sciences and Policy (ESP), is distinctive in its interdisciplinary approach to research related to natural resources and the environment. The ESP division includes a group of 28 regular-ranked faculty members with training in biological, physical, chemical and social sciences and jointly work on a wide range of applied and basic environmental research problems. Graduate students in ENV are actively engaged in research at the forefront of environmental sciences in collaboration with faculty who are leaders in their respective fields.
Most ENV student interests lie in one of four research areas: Ecosystem Science and Management, which emphasizes conservation biology, landscape ecology, wetland ecology, forest ecology, soil science, biogeochemistry, and watershed hydrology; Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology, which emphasizes the fate and effects of natural and anthropogenic stressors, particularly chemicals, in the environment; Aquatic and Atmospheric Sciences, which concentrates on problems spanning natural divisions of the biosphere- soils, plants, lakes, watersheds, and the atmosphere, and Environmental Social Sciences, which emphasizes the management of natural resources and the environment by individuals and societies.
One attribute of graduate training in ENV is that students may choose to (i) narrow their field by focusing on disciplinary topics, or (ii) integrate multiple themes in their research work. The program strives to encourage such research flexibility by not requiring core course work and instead requiring an identification of tentative faculty mentor(s) at the time of admission and the formation of PhD committees by the second year in the program.
The faculty and ENV PhD student research portfolio in the four themes is highly diverse. According to the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI), the categories of papers published by ENV researchers include Environmental Sciences (27%), ecology (26%), freshwater biology (10%), meteorology and atmospheric sciences (7%), toxicology (6%), biodiversity and conservation (6%), water resources (5%), environmental engineering (4%), forestry (4%), biochemistry and molecular biology (3.5%), and economics (2.1%), among others. Research publications by ENV PhD students range from highly disciplinary journals such as Ecology Letters, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, or Geophysical Research Letters, to interdisciplinary high-impact factor journals such as Science, Nature, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, among others.
These publications are directly responsible for the high ratings the ENV program recently received when compared to other graduate programs. According to the Chronicle for Higher Education, which now bases its graduate program ranking on a faculty productivity index, which is highly affected by student productivity, the ENV graduate program was ranked 4th (out of 375) among U.S. Universities.
Background
The graduate program in ENV was founded in 1991 when Duke University combined its School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the Duke University Marine Laboratory (both formed in 1938). The number of PhD students currently enrolled within the ENV program ranges between 60 and 70, and span nationalities from six continents. Within the last decade, many ENV PhD students received prestigious prizes from the Ecological Society of America (ESA), American Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA), American Geophysical Union (AGU), and numerous other professional societies.
The Inner-Workings of the ENV Program: A Snapshot View
Formal Ph.D. degree requirements include a comprehensive preliminary examination (usually oral but aspects of the exam can be written as dictated by the committee), and the most important requirement - a dissertation document and its successful defense. Over the years, the dissertation chapters have evolved to include a number of manuscripts submitted or published in peer-reviewed journals, with an introduction that ties these manuscripts together, and a conclusion that charts the path forward on this topic.
The average time to earn a PhD degree within the ENV program is about 5.3 years, well below the U.S. national average in Environmental Sciences (about 7.8 years) and in the Physical Sciences (about 6.7 years).
A large number of seminars at Duke University and neighboring institutions (University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University, Wake Forest University, North Carolina Central University) and national labs (e.g. Environmental Protection Agency, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences) provide an intellectual backdrop throughout the stay at the Nicholas School. A number of other activities are also organized by the students such as the graduate student afternoon seminar series (GAS--a ‘freestyle’ seminar run by the graduate students to bounce ideas and assess potential cross-fertilization of knowledge or tools across various areas or disciplines). Other activities include social hours and faculty-student sponsored events.
Duke University has formal arrangements with North Carolina State University and University of North Carolina so that committee members and course offerings (as well as lab/field resources in some cases) are available to ENV students from any of these institutions. These institutions are all housed in the Research Triangle Area (RTA), which has the following kudos piled up to its advantage:
- No. 2 Metro Area Entering Slow Period with Most Positive Momentum, Bizjournals.com, November 2008
- No. 1 Best City for Doing Business (Raleigh-Cary), Inc.com, July 2008
- No. 2 Best City to Live, Work, and Play (Raleigh), Kiplinger’s, July 2008
- No. 5 Recession Proof Area (RTP), Forbes.com, April 2008
- No. 1 Best Place to Live in the United States (Raleigh), MSNBC.com, June 2008
Moreover, according to the Chamber of Commerce here, 96 percent of newcomers who moved to the Triangle area would do so again if faced with same decision.
Ph.D. Placement
About 50% of our graduates are now tenured or hold tenure track positions at major national and international universities (e.g. Boston University, Dartmouth University, Duke University, Indiana University, George Washington University, North Carolina State, University of Alaska, University of California – Irvine/Davis/and others, University of Florida, University of Georgia, University of Kansas, University of Minnesota, University of Oregon, University of Wyoming, etc.….). About 31% hold research positions in government agencies or laboratories (e.g. Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for Atmospheric Research, National Institute for Environmental Health, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Geological Survey, United States Forest Service, etc…).
Booklet for the Graduate Studies Program in Environment (2009-2010) >
For more Environmental Sciences and Policy information visit here >
Contact Information:
Meg Stephens, Administrative Coordinator
(919) 613-8002 (tel)
(919) 613-8061 (fax)
meg.stephens@duke.edu
Physical Address:
Levine Science Research Center A309
Durham, NC 27708-9328, USA
Postal Address:
Levine Science Research Center,
Duke University, Box 90328
Durham, NC 27708-0328, USA
