Duke University Marine Laboratory

Duke Marine Lab circa 1981

The main campus of Duke University is not in close proximity to the ocean, but with the Marine Laboratory campus, the University is able to conduct hands-on oceanographic studies.

The site for the laboratory was selected in the early 1930s, with the first building completed by 1938.[5] The original intention of the facility was to be a summer training facility and research facility for the university.[6]

By 1963, the facility had reached national recognition for its resources. At the time 75% of students and 40% of researchers came from other universities than Duke.[7]

Sylvia Earle, a renowned oceanographer[8] and pioneer of Jacques Cousteau's AquaLung Scuba device, received her M.S. and Ph.D. from Duke in 1956 and 1966, and has a connection to the Marine Laboratory.[9]

In 1990, the laboratory assumed much of the research of Fairleigh Dickinson University's West Indies Laboratory for Underwater Research in St. Croix, Virgin Islands after Hurricane Hugo damaged the St. Croix facility.[10][11]

Cindy Lee Van Dover was named the first female-director of the center in 2007. She has initially worked at the laboratory in the 1970s.[12]

On June 5, 2017, the Marine Laboratory participated in a green-illumination protest with other buildings at Duke in support of the Paris Climate Accords along with similar actions at Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Columbia, and MIT.[13]

Since its inception in 1938, the campus has expanded significantly to include wet and dry laboratories[14] as well as a fleet of research ships.

Duke University shares Piver's Island with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), whichhas a 60,000 square foot marine laboratory.[27] The current director of the National Laboratory is also an alum of Duke University.[28] Duke has partnerships with other universities for marine research, such as Wittenberg University,[29] Franklin and Marshall College,[30] and Marquette University,[4] for use of the Marine Laboratory for students.

The research originating from the laboratory has often been published in scientific journals, such as Policy Studies Journal,[31] Ecology Letters,[32] Marine Turtle,[33] and Conservation Biology.[34]

Recently, the laboratory's research about the effect of plastic on sea coral has gained national media coverage.[35] Other notable research includes the interaction of light pollution and marine life[36] and studies of whale migration patterns.[37]

In 2017, the Marine Laboratory was featured in television series Xploration Station[38] with Philippe Cousteau Jr., the grandson of oceanographer Jacques Cousteau.

• Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station
• University of Hawaii's Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB)
• University of New England's Marine Biology Program
• University of New Hampshire's Marine Biology Program
• University of Tampa's Marine Biology Program