Treehugger.com is an international media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability issues into mainstream discourse. Contributor Blythe Copeland offers the following about Duke’s program:

“Students at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences choose from undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral degrees in concentrations that include environmental studies and policy, earth and ocean sciences, and environmental law. The University also maintains a hands-on Marine Laboratory in Beaufort, NC, where courses on biology, science and nature writing, and marine policy take place in the Gold LEED-certified conservation center. Doctoral candidates have three research areas to pick from: marine science and conservation, which includes marine ecology and coastal geology; earth and ocean sciences, comprising climate change and solid earth processes; and environmental studies and policy, which focuses on ecosystem science and aquatic and atmospheric sciences.”

Located on Piver’s Island at the head of the Beaufort Inlet, the Ocean Conservation Center provides state-of-the-art teaching facilities for Duke’s Marine Lab, while identifying and demonstrating innovative, environmentally sound design and construction technology. Completed in 2006 as Duke’s only Gold LEED-certified building, the Center features photovoltaic cells, geothermal heating and cooling, and recycled and local materials wherever possible. The building was featured as a case study in Environmental Design + Construction magazine in June of this year.

Treehugger’s complete list of Best College Environmental Programs in the U.S. can be seen at www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/10-of-the-best-college-environmental-programs-in-the-us.php. For more information on Duke’s program, go to www.nicholas.duke.edu/marinelab/facilities/repass.

For more information on Frank Harmon Architecture PA, visit www.frankharmon.com.

Located on Piver’s Island at the head of the Beaufort Inlet, the OSTC will provide state-of-the-art teaching facilities for Duke’s Marine Lab, while identifying and demonstrating innovative, environmentally sound design and construction technology.  According to Harmon, the OSTC will serve as a “beacon for sustainability, incorporating the built with the natural environment” in the context of Piver’s Island, the Rachel Carson Estuarine Research Reserve, Gallants Channel, the Cape Lookout National Seashore, Beaufort Inlet, and the historic town of Beaufort.

The new building will include three primary spaces: laboratories, a lecture hall, and a commons overlooking Beaufort Channel. Harmon’s angular design responds to the site along the edge of Piver’s Island, where it will enjoy southwest breezes blowing in from the channel and create an open, inner courtyard for the campus. The channel side of the 5000-square-foot building will feature a large, wooden porch just outside of the glass-enclosed common area, which will provide panoramic views of the natural surroundings. Building materials will include wood, wood shingles, glass, and cement panels.

To obtain a gold LEED® rating, the building will feature photovoltaic cells, geothermal heating and cooling, cisterns to collect rainwater for landscaping needs, and recycled materials will be used wherever possible. The wood-shingled exterior will complement the coastal context, according to Harmon. Landscaping will include a large new dune, which will direct the wind over the building, rather than directly at it, and protect other landscaping features.

Duke Marine Lab, whose resident faculty reflects expertise in oceanography, marine biology, ecology, physiology, biochemistry, cultural anthropology and marine policy, offers a year-round curriculum for undergraduate, professional masters and doctoral students as well as a full range of research, residential and teaching facilities.

The Lab was founded in 1931 as a summer field station for the university’s zoology and botany departments at Duke University. It has become a year-round facility used by scientists and educators from throughout the world. In 1991, the Marine Lab joined Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, the first School specifically created to address environmental problems from a multidisciplinary perspective.

The public is invited to monitor the progress of the OSTC’s construction via a live “web cam” accessible on Harmon’s website, www.frankharmon.com: click on “current” projects, then Ocean Science Teaching Center and the link at the bottom of the page.

Frank Harmon is an award-winning architect whose firm was recently named “Top Firm Of The Year” by Residential Architect magazine.