Masters Students
Masters students at the Duke Marine Lab are in the Professional program in Environmental Management (MEM), and specialize in Coastal Environmental Management (CEM). The program is primarily course based with an independent Masters Project (MP). Most CEM students identify and design their own MP projects, under guidance from an MP advisor. Sometimes, students work more closely on research projects associated with specific faculty members or arranged through their internships. As a professional degree program, the MEM is designed to prepare students for work with government, NGOs, or the private sector. While some MEM students go on to pursue PhDs, this is not the norm. Masters students do not require faculty sponsorship to be accepted to the program.
PhD Students
Doctoral students working under my supervision enroll in the Nicholas School's PhD program in Environment or the Marine Science and Conservation division's program in Marine Conservation Biology and Policy. Students are supported as RAs or TAs, and the number of new students admitted each year is small. Students wanting to conduct PhD research under my supervision should read my Advice for Prospective Students before contacting me.
There is a wide range of approaches to working with graduate students, and my own style is an involved one. While it is rare in my field, I have adopted a 'lab' model more familiar to the natural sciences. Graduate students often work within my research projects for their own dissertations. We meet regularly as a group to critique each others' work or discuss topics in professional development. We work on collaborative projects that are sometimes independent of particular research projects. We work carefully to balance the benefits students get from working collaboratively with their need to develop independent research projects.