Colby Loucks, MEM’96, Resource Ecology
Duke helps stop poaching. Colby Loucks and WWF, train Mara Conservancy staff in the use of FLIR thermal night-vision video cameras. The cameras peel back the cover of night and "illuminate" the landscape to help the rangers find and catch poachers. Photo: © James Morgan/WWF US

Chen-Yi, a 1st year PhD - MSC
Chen-Yi, a 1st year PhD student in MSC, was travelling in Iceland where she was exposed to this enormous waterfall, Skógafoss, which "skógur" refers to "forest". "The water will never stop," she said, "how tiny we are?"

Suzanne Ou, Undergraduate, Biology, Env. Sci.
The Dry Tortugas serves as an important nesting ground for a large colony of Sooty Terns. Rebecca investigates the impact of hurricane on the changing landscape and plant communities of the fragile keys as Kara helps her with field work surveying nesting pairs. This analysis is vital to park managers charged with protecting the natural resources of our National Parks. Continued monitoring will be necessary to assess emerging threats to marine resources, such as climate change and increased anthropogenic pressures.

David Rosoff, Alum, MS’90, EPA On Scene Coordinator/Geologist
“I am the EPA On Scene Coordinator/Geologist and my role was lead scientist in evaluating the human health and environmental impacts of the off gassing hydrogen sulfide from the degrading Sargassum seaweed in the Virgin Islands. … Here I am sampling H2S in water, sediment and air in a bay on the eastern end of St. Thomas. Offices and schools have been closed and residences evacuated because of the high levels of H2S in this bay associated with the heavy buildup of seaweed (note the respiratory protection). Kayak was the best way to perform the sampling in this shallow bay and this may be the only photo in existence of someone kayaking in Level C personnel protective equipment.”

Serkan Erdem, MEM - EE
We were in NextEra's Wind Farm in Montezuma, California with the class "California Clean Energy Field Trip" led by Dr. Tim Johnson. Moments before this picture was taken, we had a chance to interact with the supervisor of the facility who gave a detailed presentation regarding their operations. We then went inside a wind turbine and observed it up close. It was one of the best field experiences of my life and I thank Nic School & Dr Johnson for setting up this class. I'm focusing on Energy as a MEM student and being out on the field with professionals while expanding our network in San Francisco was a great way to spend Spring Break.

Chelsea Clifford, PhD - ESP
"How many meters is the nearest alligator to us?" asks Postdoctoral Associate Xiaoli Dong, in Big Cypress National Preserve. Xiaoli braves reptilian perils to study self-organization in karst wetland landscapes.

Binbin Li - 4th year/PhD
We were visiting the snow leopard habitat in Sanjiangyuan, Qinghai, China. While we were exploring an area close to the origin of Yangtze river, the local children were attracted by Dr. Stuart Pimm's exotic look. They followed us and wanted to take a picture with us. Except for the biodiversity, we were so moved by the people here. - photo by Binbin Li, Student

Alex Aines, 1st Year MEM-CEM
Juvenile lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) use the mangroves around Bimini, Bahamas as a nursery and though they frequent the waters in this area, there is still a lot we do not know about them. Here, I am releasing a deceptively strong juvenile lemon shark back into the open ocean after conducting behavioral trials on it. These trials are for a PhD project on personality types in lemon sharks, a project I assisted with while working at Bimini Biological Field Station as a research intern over the summer. Bahamas Research Permit MAF/FIS/17.