Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke

Growing up surrounded by water on Long Island, Devon McKaye, MEM’17, always knew she wanted to work where land and water met.

McKaye found her path at the Nicholas School, where she combined environmental science with a focus on natural hazards and coastal communities. Her Master’s Project became a turning point, shaping her involvement in buyouts, resilience and managed retreat conversations.

Today, McKaye manages a portfolio of resilience projects at Arcadis, supporting clients in Nantucket, Boston and Wilmington in addressing coastal flooding, advancing managed retreat and relocation programs and strengthening internal resilience capacity.

On why she chose Duke after attending an NSOE information session with Karen Kirchof that she discovered “by total chance” while visiting a friend:

"They were talking about science, but also about people—the communities living in these coastal places I found so fascinating. I hadn’t seen that combination anywhere else."

Learn more about McKaye's academic journey and career path: https://sites.nicholas.duke.edu/odar/alumni-qa-devon-mckaye-mem17/

Chandra Christmas-Rouse, T’16, is an urban planner, economic mobility strategist and artist based in Chicago. As the founding principal of Marie Consulting Group, she partners with social change leaders to ensure communities thrive and to transform systems to work for all.

A background in community development and environmental justice informs her design approach to working with community stakeholders in a participatory process to reimagine systems and achieve meaningful change.

Her advice for those who want to follow a similar career path: “Tackling big questions about the world and why it is constructed the way it is can be terrifying. You need to have something that is bigger than your fear to invest in.”

Read the full Q&A with Christmas-Rouse: https://sites.nicholas.duke.edu/odar/alumni-qa-interview-chandra-christmas-rouse-systems-changemaker-and-nicholas-school-undergraduate-alumna/

A group of undergraduate students started their summer in Puerto Rico learning about renewable energy and climate resilience.

In collaboration with community partners Casa Pueblo and Let’s Share the Sun, students helped install solar panels in Adjuntas, learned directly from local community organizers and advocates and explored Puerto Rico’s biodiversity and culture.

Rising junior Grace Agosto reflected, "This trip has reinvigorated my belief in the success and possibility for change with nonprofit work...It has me thinking about what I want to do in my future, as I am now interested in working with organizations like this in communities like Puerto Rico."

From NSOE, Emma Schmaltz and Ginger Sigmon served as staff leads, while faculty leads included Meagan Dunphy-Daly, Luana Lima and Anaís Roque.

Nicholas School researchers are among the Duke faculty and students studying the growing impacts of extreme heat on human health, ecosystems and communities.

Nishad Jayasundara is part of a team studying how rising temperatures may contribute to a mysterious epidemic of kidney disease affecting agricultural communities around the world.

At the Duke Marine Laboratory, researchers are studying how coral reefs respond to heat stress. Their findings show how ecological partnerships can sometimes buffer species from environmental stress.

Extreme Heat Is Rising. What Are Duke Researchers Learning About Its Impacts? | Duke Today Extreme Heat Is Rising. What Are Duke Researchers Learning About Its Impacts? From kidney disease to coral reefs, heat affects our world in complex, interconnected ways Image As temperatures keep creeping up, Duke researchers are investigating how heat affects health, ecosystems, economics and beyon...

In addition to celebrating the Class of 2026, the Nicholas School also honored Emily Klein and Andy Read during the NSOE recognition ceremonies for their lasting impact on our community.

Klein, University Distinguished Service Professor of Earth Sciences, is retiring this year after a long and distinguished career. In her remarks at the undergraduate recognition ceremony, Stanback Dean Lori Bennear noted that Klein “has been many things at once: a rigorous and respected scholar, a dedicated and thoughtful teacher and a generous and steady colleague.”

Read is concluding a decade of service as director of the Duke University Marine Lab.

As Bennear noted in her remarks at the professional student recognition ceremony, Read’s tenure has been defined by “exactly what this moment calls for: resilience in the face of challenge and a clear sense of where we go next.”

Both were presented with plaques crafted from one of Duke’s legacy trees.

The Nicholas School has also established the Emily Klein Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, which will be presented annually beginning in 2027.

What if we could build an offshore wind farm that supports marine life and commercial fisheries? Support structures could be crafted from material that mimics coral, and underwater signaling devices could emit natural sounds and smells, inviting reef-building creatures to settle in and grow.

The field of ecosystem technology makes innovations like these possible. By drawing inspiration from nature, ecotech aims to solve urgent environmental, social and economic challenges beyond the scope of biotechnology.

In the latest issue of Science Advances, a team led by Brian Silliman of the Nicholas School lays out a roadmap for ecotech adoption and expansion.

Introducing Ecotech, Nature’s Innovation Accelerator The field unites principles in biology, engineering and earth sciences to develop scalable solutions to urgent environmental, social and economic challenges.

Celebrated our undergraduate students at the Nicholas School Undergraduate Recognition Ceremony. Congratulations to all our graduating seniors! We can't wait to see what the next chapter has in store.

We celebrated our master’s students at the Professional Student Recognition Ceremony.

Congratulations to all the MEM, MF, DEL-MEM and iMEP graduates!

Cheers to our 2026 Ph.D. grads!

Ahead of Duke University’s 2026 commencement ceremony, the Nicholas School of the Environment will recognize undergraduates during a ceremony on Saturday.

Nicholas School to Honor Undergraduates in Recognition Ceremony Ahead of Duke’s 2026 commencement ceremony, the Nicholas School of the Environment will honor undergraduates on May 9.