A free 1.5-2-hour lecture, panel, and Q&A event on campus highlighting the interwoven history of the establishment of the Duke Forest Teaching and Research Laboratory and the transformation of Trinity College into Duke University – the “university in the forest” – adding context and history to the Centennial Celebrations.
Duke Forest Executive Director Sara Childs will give a presentation about the acquisition of what would become Duke Forest lands at the founding of the university, the decisions that were made by President Few and J.B. Duke to bring Dr. Korstian from Yale to establish the forest and found the first graduate school of forestry in the American South, the story of sourcing the iconic Duke stone, the value of the long-term research plots, the establishment of the Nicholas School, and the current state of the Forest.
A panel of important faculty and leaders will follow to discuss the future of the Duke Forest and how it continues to support the university’s academic mission especially regarding its Climate Commitment and goals for regional partnership. There are also big and challenging questions facing the Forest at this moment regarding its long-term research plots, and management within a changing climate.