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91��������’s Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab led a team of researchers that mapped the population density of North Atlantic right whales worldwide to predict and help avoid harmful, even fatal, exposure to commercial fishing and vessel strikes.

Marine Protected Areas must be flexible and responsive, not absolute

The vast size of the ocean makes tracking human activity there challenging, but a new study provides a startling glimpse of how extensive this activity has become in recent years and how much of it occurs outside of public monitoring.

Juliet Wong is a global-change biologist, specifically interested in how climate change affects marine ecosystems and their organisms, working to predict biological responses for improved resilience to adverse environmental events. Wong presented “Organismal Responses to Climate Change in the Sea” at the recent faculty research symposium, describing several ongoing studies on coastal marine invertebrates.

As rising global temperatures push Arctic icecaps into retreat, large and small sea creatures and the commercial fishing boats that follow them are migrating northward.

In recent years, “30 by 30” has become a rallying cry in international marine conservation. It’s the idea that to safeguard marine biodiversity and limit environmental damage caused by future sea-floor mining and other industrial-scale human activities, we need to place at least 30% of the world’s oceans within marine protected areas (MPAs) by 2030.

Analysis indicates ingested microplastics migrate into whales’ fat and organs

Greg Merrill, a PhD student in the University Program in Ecology, recently shared insights into his research focus, the Nowacek Lab, the impacts of his research and what he has learned working in the lab.

Brianna Elliott, a PhD student in the Marine Science and Conservation program, recently shared insights into her research focus, the Read Lab, the impacts of her research and the most rewarding part of her research experience.

Researchers at 91��������’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Pratt School of Engineering are co-leading a new National Science Foundation-funded project that aims to boost economic development and climate resilience in coastal North Carolina through nature-based scientific and technological innovations.

The Duke Plastic Pollution Working Group is working to find solutions, through innovative technologies, practices and policies that can help curb plastic waste, reduce its harmful impacts, and make Earth a greener, healthier home for us all.

The Illuminating Hidden Harvests Report culminates a collaborative research effort led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 91�������� and WorldFish examining the multifaceted contributions of small-scale fisheries to sustainable development.

Duke scholars and students were among more than 800 experts who contributed to global study calling for policymakers to consider contributions of small fisheries

Climate change and rapid economic development have placed increased pressures on many coastal communities in recent years. Now, a new international study shows there is also a third force—the unintended consequences of conservation measures enacted with little or no consideration of local rights and needs—that can compound the harm. The study’s authors call the combined effects of these three forces a “triple exposure.”

Sand mining happens on every inhabited continent and at nearly every conceivable scale. Some of it is legal; much of it is not. A new book from 91�������� Press, “Vanishing Sands: Losing Beaches to Mining,” casts light on the shadowy world of sand mining through case studies that illuminate its disastrous impacts and a concluding chapter that proposes common-sense solutions.