The Marine Laboratory > Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment

The u Conn A Dream Whose Time Has Come

tudents weighing a spring semester at the Marine Lab will have more to consider when packing for their trip to Beaufort come next spring.

They may need to factor the weather in Bermuda into the equation.

The Nicholas School of the Environment Marine Lab will be offering spring term '97 students some options that they have not had in the past. The "Beaufort Experience" will be teaming up with the "Bermuda Experience" at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research to offer prospective students three distinctive program options.

The first option will be for those who want the traditional spring term offered solely at the Marine Laboratory in Beaufort. This curriculum has always been and will remain a strong attraction for students interested in what the Marine Lab has to offer. In addition, the Marine Lab will now offer a program in conjunction with the Bermuda Biological Station for Research. This curriculum will be taught in two seven week sessions. One group of students will take courses at the Marine Lab in Beaufort while the other group will take courses at the Biological Station in Bermuda. There will be a one week spring break after which the groups will switch.

"We'll be teaching half of our curriculum in the first seven weeks and the other half in the second seven weeks. The student will have a choice of the traditional program or the split program starting in either place first," noted

The Bermuda Biological Station for Research

Dr. Joseph Ramus, Director of the Marine Lab.

"We hope to offer a transect cruise aboard one of the institution's research vessels during the week in between." continued Dr. Ramus. This cruise would take place aboard either the R/V Cape Hatteras or the R/V Seabird.

"This would add yet another dimension to an otherwise unique program. This is just the beginning. We want it to become a continuum between Beaufort and Bermuda: a transect from the Southeast coastal plain estuary to the continental shelf to the Sargasso Sea to a coral island in the middle of the Sargasso Sea . The program will include not only the natural history but policy and management." added Dr. Ramus.

Dr. Fred Lipshultz, director of under­graduate courses at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Inc. noted the similari­ties between the two institutions. "We are very similar to the Marine Lab in a number

Spring 1996 THE BEAUFORT EXPERIENCE Page 1

of ways. We offer dorms, labs and teaching space to students as well as visiting researchers. We have similar sized research vessels. The size of our operations in terms of staff, faculty, and budget are nearly identical. Our styles are similar. One difference is that we presently only offer courses in the summer." commented Dr. Lipshultz.

"This is much in keeping with the recommendations made by the workshop on the roles of coastal laboratories in the implementation of the nations emerging priorities for research in the coastal zone, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Southern

Association of Marine Laboratories and others in October of 1995." noted Dr. Ramus. "This conference pointed to a need for networking among marine stations," he continued.

Dr. David McClay, who has a long time familiarity with both the Beaufort and the Bermuda experiences adds, "It has been a long standing dream of mine to link the two experiences together. Beaufort and Bermuda are two very different ecosystems. For a developmental biologist they offer a rich diversity of experimental material. The transect across between Beaufort and Bermuda offers tremendous differences in oceanic systems. The distinction between tropical reef and temperate estuary are striking. For students to combine the two would provide such a rich contrast in marine environments that it would be a professorial dream. To provide this opportunity to Duke students would be magnificent."

For further information contact: Helen Nearing e-mail: hnearing@mail.duke.edu >

AAAAAAA················································································· ················· I $20 illion ift

Nicholas School of the Environment Eyes the Future In one of the largest gifts ever to

support environmental education and research, the family of Boston business executive Peter M. Nicholas is giving $20 million to the School of the Environment, Duke President Nannerl 0. Keohane announced Thursday, December 7, 1995. Officials said the gift will provide $10 million in endowment to help the School pay for its wing of the $80 million Levine Science Research Center, which opened last year and is the University's premier facility for interdisciplinary research and education in the sciences, engineering and medicine. The gift also will provide $6 million to endow four new professorships, $2 million to endow a fellows-in-residence program, and $2 million in unrestricted endowment. Peter Nicholas, the Chair­man, President, CEO and founder of Boston Scientific Corp., a leading producer of scientific and medical equipment, is a 1964 graduate of Duke and a member of the University's Board ofTrustees.

Nicholas said the gift is, "first and foremost, a vote of confidence in Duke University. But it is also an expression of confidence in the leadership of the School of the Environment, and its ability to employ resources wisely and realize the potential to the University of a school based on the interdisciplinary approach to science."

As a businessman, Nicholas said the interdisciplinary approach offers special promise. "It is in many ways the embodi­ment of what a modern business does. It represents an effort to build bridges between disciplines; to address problem solving and decision making in what I believe is an important new way," he said. "It represents also an effort by the School of the Environment to develop a more aggressive program to enroll organizations and enterprises outside the University in research collaborations with faculty. My family and I found that a very forward­looking and compelling way of solving environmental problems, which are very real to all of us." Keohane said the combi­nation of strengths and insights of different fields of knowledge provides the most effective way to approach complex

Photo by Chris Hildreth Peter and Virginia Nicholas at their home in Boston

scientific problems. "Our School of the Environment serves as the exemplar of this multidisciplinary approach to scholarship and learning, and reaches to virtually every school of the University to help address issues from the broadest perspective," she said. "The Nicholas family's ties to Dlflke span two generations. Their involvement in the scientific and business worlds has given them a strong appreciation of the value of applying multiple perspectives to challenging problems. Their marvelous gift provides a resounding vote of confidence for Duke's efforts in a field that affects all life on our planet," Keohane said.

At its founding, Duke's School of the Environment incorporated both the existing School of Forestry and Environ­mental Studies and the Duke Marine Laboratory into a foundation for an entirely new professional school at Duke. The new school continues to be the site for Duke's programs in forestry and marine science, but it also serves as the home for a broader array of programs focused on all aspects of the environment. Duke officials said this broad focus, which includes

Spring 1996 THE BEAUFORT EXPERIENCE Page 2

natural sciences, public policy and economics, makes the school unique among U.S. institutions devoted to the study of the environment. "This wonder­ful gift represents an endorsement not only of the School of the Environment, but of Duke, from a family with very close ties to the University," said Dean Norman L. Christensen. "We are grateful for the Nicholas family's investment in us and for their trust. Their gift will provide the financial base on which we can build to solidify and enhance the School's position at the top of a small group of excellent environmental programs in the United States and beyond."

(Story taken from Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment Web site) >

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After five years and a couple of relocations, David Brown successfully defended his dissertation, titled "Identification and Partial Characterization of Halogenated Aromatic Hydrocarbon Binding Proteins in the Hardshell Clam, Mercenaria mercenaria," in November 1995. Con­gratulations Dr. Brown.

Celia Bonaventura and Robert Henkens were married December 30, 1995. They returned from a honeymoon in the West Indies to set up their new home in Beaufort overlooking the North River.

Nearshore Processes Group News: Graduate students Mason Cox and Rebecca Beavers presented papers on their research at the 1995 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America in New Orleans in November. Mason and Peter Howd presented papers at the 1995 Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco in December. Rebecca received a Grant in Aid of Research through Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society to support her research entitled, "Geologic Signature of Storm Events on the Inner Shelf and Outer Surf Zone." The funds for these awards come from the Alexander Bach Fund in the endowment for the National Academy of Sciences. Mason defended his MS theses "Geologic Control of Nearshore Wave Energy: Wimble Shoals, NC" on March 5. Chad Nelsen will present some of the findings of his CEM Masters Project at the Coastal Society Meetings this July in Seattle.

Dan Rittschof is giving the keynote address in the natural products section (tided "Settlement and Metamorphosis of Marine Invertebrate Larvae") at the Marine

Biological Association in Plymouth, England this July. He gave a seminar at HKUST (Hong Kong) in February entitled, "Marine Chemical Ecology: One View."

Congratulations to Alex Elkan (CEM '96) and Marshall Hayes (CEM '95) for being selected Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellows for 1996. This national competitive fellowship sponsored by Sea Grant provides 24 fellows with a $30,000 stipend plus travel expenses. Alex will be working for the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and Marshall will be working for the House of Representatives Committee on Resources, Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Oceans.

Michael Orbach has recently been · elected President of the Coastal Society, a national professional society dedicated to coastal issues. The Society's annual meeting will be in Seattle this July. Dr. Orbach and several CEM students have been heavily involved with the current North Carolina hog farming discussion. Associate Dean John Sigmon serves as an advisor to North Carolina's ex-congress­man Tim Valentine, co-chair of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Agricultural Animal Waste. John formed a special seminar this semester for this purpose in which CEM students Jennee Colton, Raphael Herz, and Bubba Scales are participating. In addition, Mike moderated a "Hog Summit" organized by a consor­tium of environmental groups and attended by over 400 people in New Bern on February 29 and March 1. Raphael will assist the Coastal Federation in the production of the proceedings from that meeting.

Big News on the oceanography front. The Duke team will be involved in the South­ern Ocean project mounted by the US Joint Global Ocean Flux Study. The study is headed by Walker 0. Smith (Duke Ph.D., 1977) and Bob Anderson of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. The

Spring 1996 THE BEAUFORT EXPERIENCE Page 3

Duke team for this study will include Zachary Johnson (Ph.D. candidate, Botany Dept.), Lisa Bordon (computer technician), Richard and Elaine Barber, and Mike Hiscock (research technician). The cruises start in October 1996 on the US Icebreaker, PALMER. In all, ten cruises are scheduled, six on the PALMER working out of the US base at McMurdo, and four on the R/V THOMP­SON working out of Christ Church, New Zealand. The project lasts through 1998 with cruises concentrated during austral summer.

Tracy Andacht attended the Xth Developmental Biology of Sea Urchins meeting held in Woods Hole, Massachu­setts, March 6-10. She presented some of her thesis work in a poster titled, "Possible Mechanism for the Inhibition of Fertiliza­tion Envelope Elevation by Nickel Chloride in the Sea Urchin, Lytechinus variegatus (Lamarck)".

Kathy Reinsel and Jim Welch pre­sented at the 1996 Benthic Ecology Meetings in Columbia, SC in March. Kathy gave a poster on the effects of fiddler crab foraging on meiofaunal migration within sediments. Jim talked about natural chemical cues that may induce settlement in blue crab megalope.

Michelle Duval gave a talk on the effects of sinus gland peptide on blood glucose levels in fiddler crabs at the American Society of Zoologist Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. in December of 1995.

J. Kevin Craig started his Ph.D. with Larry Crowder in the fall of'95. Kevin did his masters degree in fisheries at the University ofWashington. He joins the Marine Lab with his wife, Tara, and a two year old daughter, Taylor.

Kathryn Boekman Howd and Peter Howd are pleased to announce the newest member of the Marine Lab family, Christopher Duncan Howd. Christopher

cont. on page 7

Marine Lab Adds New Department

Bobby Daniels aboard RV Susan Hudson

"Our goal is to maximize safety, efficiency, and utility

of our research and educational vessels.

It makes good sense to put them under the

supervision of persons experienced in

managing vessels. "

The Marine Lab is, once again, experienc­ing growing pains. These growing pains are being hardest felt in the maintenance and ship operations areas. "There's a major effort to bring the Marine Lab's facilities up to modern day scientific standards, to attract modern students and science," noted Dr. John Sigmon, Associate Dean for the Nicholas School of the Environ­ment. "The maintenance department of the Marine Lab had its hands full with this task. Just when they'd get going on a job someone would need a boat lesson, an outboard motor would break down, or one of the crew would have to take off for the afternoon and act as mate on the RIV Susan Hudson. They needed to be able to focus their efforts on the 'on island' facilities critical to the success of the lab," he continued.

To solve this problem the Marine Lab has formed a new department: Marine Operations. Their task is to look after all matters dealing with the operations of all vessels. This ranges from the RIV Cape Hatteras to the fleet of lab canoes and everything in between.

"Our goal is to maximize safety, efficiency, and utility of our research and educational vessels. It makes good sense to put them under the supervision of persons experienced in managing vessels," added Sigmon.

Dr. Joe Ramus notes, "This is a logical continuation of the vertical extension of ~he Marine Lab organization. It represents a step in the evolution of the Lab. Twenty years ago we didn't need this. We ran a wooden fishing boat. Now the technical requirements are much greater and so is the demand to operate them in a cost effective way."

"It's not that the old way was bad, it's just time for a change. This offers relief to the maintenance crew so they can do what they do best, focus their skills without the interruption of haphazard ship schedule interruptions," Ramus added.

The new department is comprised of the staff of the Duke I UN C Oceanographic Consortium, the ships crew of the Cape Hatteras, and the captain of the Susan Hudson. Tim Boynton will serve as technical services and dive officer for the Susan Hudson. (All of the oceanography department is within the new Marine Operations section with some being dedicated to the Cape Hatteras, some to the

Spring 1996 THE BEAUFORT EXPERIENCE Page 4

Susan Hudson with interplay between the two crew when needed.) This group is charged with the operation, scheduling and maintenance of all of the Marine Lab's vessels including the Cape Hatteras, the Susan Hudson, the fleet of small power boats, and all canoes. In short, nearly everything that floats and is used for science and education at the Marine Lab comes under their jurisdiction.

"The ship's crew had an enormous amount of expertise to add to the program," said Ramus.

"The lay-up of the Cape Hatteras acted as a catalyst to move the Lab to form this new department. The chips were all there, they just needed to be put into place," noted Marine Superintendent Quentin Lewis. "If the Hatteras hadn't been laid up there wouldn't have been this large block of time available to start this program in the way that is has gone," he added.

"This was a good way to integrate

Marine Operations Personnel

oceanography and the rest of the island, to provide security for the soft money people in these up and down times," added Sigmon.

One of the priorities of this operation is to expand the Hudson program.

"The Susan Hudson could be more effectively utilized without adversely affecting it's Duke mission. Aside from generating more revenue, this will also generate good will and the opportunity for future cooperative research," noted Sigmon.

"The original idea of the Susan Hudson was to have a fast boat which could pick its days and do the work. We're trying to expand that idea into the marginal days. We'll be working on a number of ideas which may include adding sets of hydraulic, hull mounted stabilizers, Hxed trim tabs to increase planing and centerline mounted fuel tanks to increase stability. Basically we're shooting for a faster and more

Photo by David Taylor

comfortable boat." cites Lewis. By advertising in "Sea Technology"

magazine, the Hudson program has landed a US Navy contract which will bring Hve to six days of sea time off the New River Inlet. Users of the Cape Hatteras have also been inquiring about potential use of the Hudson.

Small boat use is also increasing. By discounting rates for daily and weekly use, placing engines on the boats instead of housing them in the motor rooms, use of the small boat fleet has already increased. This should bring in more business, more logged hours, and more income to the small vessel program at the lab.

A level of professionalism has now been added to the vessel operations program which should increase the use and efficiency of future Marine Operations and provide smooth sailing for all oceanographic teaching and research programs, large or small at the Marine Lab.);;>-

Spring 1996 THE BEAUFORT EXPERIENCE Page 5

Crew at work aboard Hudson

Marine Operations Personel

Quentin Lewis - Manager/Marine Superintendent

Larry Morris - Assistant Manager/ Marine Superintendent

Karen Ashley - Staff Assistant

Cape Hatteras Crew Dick Ogus - Master

Dale Murphy - Chief Mate Lewis/Morris - Second Mate

John Nelson - Bosun Bobby Daniels - Able Seaman

Steve Dixon - Able Seaman Mark Smith - Chief Engineer

Mitchell Dixon - Assistant Engineer Bob Lipscomb - Chief Steward Donny Baber - Cook/Messman

Jon Borden- Technician Dwight Arrants - Technician

Susan Hudson Crew Lanier Mitchum - Master Mate- to be determined

Tim Boynton - Technical Support

Duke I UNC Oceanographic Consortium

Dr. Richard T. Barber - Director Dr. Joseph Ustach - Executive officer

for further information contact: Karen Ashley at (919) 504-7583

e-mail: karena@duncoc.ml.duke.edu

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Christopher "Kit" Dahl (Spring '78) Chis was an undergraduate in the spring of '78 as well as for a number of summer terms. He is working on a Ph.D. in geography at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, and he hopes to start his dissertation field work in the middle of this year on the Micronesia island of Pohnpei, investigating property relations. Kit worked as an extension agent for Sea Grant Hawaii for the Federated States of Micronesia and lived on Pohnpei for about five years before going to Hawaii to pursue a degree. Prior to this he obtained an MS in marine affairs from the School of Marine Mfairs at the University of Washington in 1986.

Sandra Elizabeth Guggino (ML '75-'78, Ph.D. Duke '80) was at the Marine Lab from 1975-1978 in John Gutknecht's lab as a graduate student in the Physiology and Pharmacology Department from which she graduated in 1980. She is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine,Gasteroenterology at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Mary­land. She writes, "My son Brian and I

BEAUFORT Experience Newsletter of the Duke Univeristy

Nicholas Schoolof the Environment Marine laboraloJYt Beaufort NChHp://

www.env.duke.edu/marinelab/marine.html ema!'l: scotty@mail. duke.edu

collected sea shells and driftwood which we made into hangings for our family at Christmas. We spent many a year carolling by flashlight with the Marine Lab crowd. I miss walking over the bridge from Beau­fort, watching the brown pelicans and egrets in the march grass. Bill and I were scavengers. Being poor students like everyone else we collected pecans, figs for jam, picked blueberries for yogurt at lunch, and had a garden of tomatoes and peppers as starter for spaghetti sauce with blue fish in it. John used to give me his daughter's fishing rod to catch fish when they were going crazy off the sea wall. Life at the end of the world. I was trained in a medical school, but was lucky enough to spend some quiet time at the Marine Lab walking around the sea wall and catching rays on the dock at lunch. Thanks for the fond memories."

Eric Herzog (ML Fall '86, Summer-fall '87) completed a doctorate in Neuro­science at Syracuse University and the Marine Biological Lab at Woods Hole. He is now a postdoctoral fellow at the U niver­sity ofVirginia in the NFS Center for Biological Timing. His wife, Mary Bargeron (Duke '87) and he are expec;:ting their second child in February.

Mike Hiscock (ML Summer and Fall '94) did sea duty last year in the Arabian Sea as a member of the Duke primary production team. He'll be joining the Southern Ocean project with Dr. Richard Barber where he'll be increasing his sea time as well as seeing the southern hemisphere. The cruises start in October of 1996 on the US Icebreaker, PALMER.

Ed laws (McCurdy Scholar '94) is nearing completion of his second book at the University ofHawaii. He recently completed a study of point and non-point source pollution on the leeward side of Oahu and is planning a trip to the Antarctic to study marine diatoms with the aid of a NSF grant.

Spring 1996 THE BEAUFORT EXPERIENCE Page 6

Anna Penna (ML Spring '82) finished medical school at Dartmouth in 1987. She completed her military obligation at the Oakland Naval Hospital in the Anesthesi­ology Department. Anna's family includes a husband, two children, and two dogs. She writes, "It was nice hearing about Tracy (Baynes) and hope to hear from more of our classmates. Thanks!"

Cindy Van Dover (McCurdy Scholar 1995) has finished a book entitled "The Octopus' Garden" about deep sea hydro­thermal vents. She is currently a Research Associate Professor at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Cindy will be going to sea with the submersible Alvin again to the East Pacific Rise off Acapulco Mexico to study ambient light at high temperature vents.

Dr. Elizabeth Cirde Bookhout, 85, wife ofDr. C.G. Bookhout, one of the Marine Lab founders, died February 14 at her home in Durham. Dr. Bookhout taught physical education at Duke University from 1932 until 1979, and was the chairman of the Women's Physical Education Department for a number of years. She retired as Professor Emeritus in 1979 and taught swimming to members of the Duke Institute for Learning in Retire­ment until1995. We will miss her. );;>-

The Beaufort .hxJper'le.n.~e~ il 135 Duke Marine

Thanks

II Drs. Celia and Joe Bonaventura have

played major roles in research which has led to new information about the task performed by hemoglobin, the blood's red pigment and transporter of gases.

Published in the journal Nature, the article, titled "S-Nitrosohemoglobin: A Dynamic Activity and Transport Function of Blood" was co-authored by Drs. Celia and Joe Bonaventura, Dr. Li Jia, and senior author Dr. Jonathan Stamler. Dr. Joe Bonaventura is affiliated with the Marine Laboratory and now carries out the majority of his work at the Duke Medical Center. Dr. Celia Bonaventura is the director of the Duke University Marine Biomedical Center.

Besides ferrying oxygen from tissues and carrying carbon dioxide on its return journey, hemoglobin has now been found to distribute a third gas.

This gas is nitric oxide (NO), and hemoglobin seems to be able to make the blood vessels expand or contract by regulating the amount of nitric oxide to which they are exposed. This discovery could lead to dramatically improved treatment for high blood pressure accord­ing to Dr. Joe Bonaventura. In addition, he said it could quickly pay off in the development of the first effective artificial substitute for human blood, a project the Bonaventuras have been working on for years.

The atom of iron cradled by each subunit of hemoglobin is known to have a strong affinity for nitric oxide after it has released its oxygen, behavior previously regarded with curiosity. The new discov­ery is that another part of the hemoglobin,

e oglobin a segment of its protein chain known as a cysteine residue, can also hold and release nitric oxide, giving the blood pigment the ability to regulate local levels ofNO in the circulatory system according to need.

Nitric oxide is turning out to be as important as oxygen in keeping cells and tissues alive, according to Dr. Stamler. He notes that it plays a ubiquitous role in human health including maintenance of learning and memory, blood pressure, and sexual erections.

"People thought they knew everything there was to know about hemoglobin," noted Dr. Stamler. It is perhaps the most studied protein in all of Biology.

The scientists discovered that NO works in the circulatory system to dilate blood vessels. "Free" nitric oxide is released by cells of the inside of the vessel walls, where it migrates to nearby muscle cells and relaxes them, opening the vessel and lowering the blood pressure.

But scientists also discovered that nitric oxide was inactivated by he~oglobin, because the iron molecule in that blood substance essentially consumes NO.

That presented a paradox that no one had solved for years. How can blood vessels maintain a constant pressure when the hemoglobin that flows through the vessels destroys the NO?

The team of Duke scientists dis~overed that a NO-containing hemoglobin 1 molecule is synthesized in the lungs, and the NO that is eventually attached to it, known as SNO, differs from the NO produced in the vessel walls.

This new SNO attaches itself to the hemoglobin-oxygen complex and keeps

yste NO away from the hemes. Mter hemoglo­bin loads oxygen and SNO in the lungs, the trio travel down arteries through the heart and into the rest of the body to deliver its load of oxygen. It then under­goes a major structural change and releases SNO. When it has released its oxygen and SNO, it can attract carbon dioxide, carry this to the lungs and release it upon exhale.

One of the problems in designing a substitute for human blood has been that artificial substances have, so far, increased blood pressure. Researchers have never been able to regulate oxygen delivery properly because the synthetic hemoglobin destroyed the NO in the vessels, and without NO the vessels can't dilate. Now researchers realize that a substitute for blood might need to include SNO to replace the N 0 that is destroyed by the vessel walls.

"You can let your imagination go." noted Dr. Joe Bonaventura. "The possibili­ties are tremendous."

(Information in this article was taken from stories in the New York Times by Sandra Blakeslee and the Carteret County News-Times by Brad Rich.)~

C7ttrre1Zts cor.zti12ttetl ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• was born January 28, 1996 at Carteret General Hospital and looks a lot like his dad.

Karl Korfmacher and Katrina Smith Korfmacher will be joining the faculty at Denison University in September 1996 as Assistant Professors of Environmental Studies.

James Chadwick recently received his 10 gallon pin from the American Red

Cross. James began donating blood around 1975. He cites the good feeling he gets for helping others as the motivating factor in his noteworthy efforts.

Andy Read presented a paper "Pingers, porpoises and politics: Management failure in the Gulf of Maine" at the Society of Marine Mammalogy meeting in Orlando, Florida in December. Andy is also a

Spring 1996 THE BEAUFORT EXPERIENCE Page 7

member of the Gulf of Maine Harbour Porpoise Take Reduction T earn charged by the National Marine Fisheries Service with developing a management plan to reduce current levels of mortality (about 2,000 per year) to sustainable levels (about 400 per year).

A great northeastern university teaches a course entitled "murder", and ifl heard the NPR report correctly it enrolls the greatest number of students in the history of that university. Imagine, undergraduate students recruiting to a curriculum in record numbers! Murder is apparently a powerful venue for higher education. However, the powerful venue is as well a powerful responsibility. Many disciplines can be taught with a venue like murder, e.g., ethics, forensics, psychology, ethnology, economics, literature and history. The expectations of the students must come high judging from the unanimity of their enrollment decision. And their parents, who increasingly demand accountability from higher education, must explicitly challenge the value added from a course on murder. Murder is, hopefully, not a career choice.

Increasingly I appr~ciate the utility of venue in the learning experience. Marine science is a powerful venue, especially for a generation of students raised with Jacques Cousteau and the voyages of Calypso. I have become, among other things, a marketer of higher education and continually look for a "hook", although this admission dismays me.

Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment Marine Laboratory Beaufort, NC 28516-9721

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

I have always revered education, and huckstering curriculum strikes me as profanity. Yet I am fully aware of the power of marine science to recruit students, and like murder it engenders an extraordinary responsibility to the educator.

I have spoken to applicants (no, suppli­cants) to the marine mammals course who tearfully confess that all they have ever wanted was to hold a living dolphin in their . arms. And I have read resumes of prospective graduate students who offer their SCUBA certification as the single most important piece of preparation for a career in marine science. Many a parent has visited me with their hopeful marine scientist in tow to seek advice on appropriate career preparation. The offspring invariably depart burdened by my advice for it emphasizes preparation first and foremost in physics, chemistry, mathematics, statistics and computation. This was definitely not what they wanted to hear. The discipline of marine science is maturing: it is passing from the observational to the analytical, from the descriptive to the experimental. Are the hopefuls aware that most of those seen in the media SCUBA diving or holding dolphins do so as unpaid volunteers? They are so seduced by the venue that they cannot conceive of the absolute need for career preparation in the quantita­tive sciences.

So it is with considerable forethought that we launch the "Be to Be" (Beaufort to Bermuda) semester. It is a powerful educa­tional venue, to be used to add the greatest possible value to those who participate. A transect beginning with the Beaufort region coastal plains estuaries, across the coastal ocean, the Gulf Stream, the Sargasso Sea and finally to the coral archipelago Bermuda, or in reverse order. Emphasis will be placed on the rigorous applications of the natural and social sciences, and parity will be giv~n to basic processes and human interventions. Half a semester in Beaufort, half in Bermuda, connected by an oceanographic cruise between the two marine laboratories. The teaching staff will be the respective faculties of the Duke University Marine Laboratory and the Bermuda Biological Station for Research, which is an unprecedented resource for such a course of study.

The value added by the "Be to Be" semester is marketable knowledge of the natural world, predictions of the future and scenarios for intervention. It is a case study in the formidable environmental challenge which faces our species, and most impor­tantly how to approach that challenge. The promise for the student is a salutary. educa­tional experience carried by a powerful venue.}.;;>-

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