Duke Forest

The restoration of New Hope Creek reached a major milestone last year with the removal of the Concrete Bridge and the Billy Erwin Dam, allowing the creek to flow freely […]

Written by: Andre Chan, MF ‘26 Surveys in the Duke Forest All year long, coverboards lie flat on the Duke Forest floor at research sites called transects. To the untrained […]

For Lirio Hittle, MF ’92, the Duke Forest has long been more than a place to study trees. It is where a self-described “life-long city dweller” discovered a passion that […]

The Duke Forest is pleased to welcome Lige Nie as the 2026 Bruce and Ginny Roberts Duke Forest Intern! Lige is pursuing a Master of Forestry and a Master of […]

Almost exactly one year ago, the New Hope Creek restoration projects were beginning on the ground. By December 2025, the new clear-span bridge was complete, and the in-stream barriers had […]

The Duke Forest recently hosted the 2026–2027 cohort of Duke University’s Climate and Sustainability Teaching (CAST) Fellows for a portion of the Fellowship Kick-Off Workshop.  The CAST Program is a […]

Photos courtesy of Susan Reeves We recently hosted a group of community members in the Duke Forest on a beautiful morning to learn about wild butterflies and the Carolinas Butterfly Monitoring […]

The month leading up to Earth Day was a busy one as we engaged over 300 young learners, both in the classroom and in the Forest! Elementary students from local […]

New Hope Creek Restoration: A Community Effort New Hope Creek is the lifeblood of the Duke Forest’s Korstian Division and a vital tributary to Jordan Lake, a drinking water source […]

Over sixty community members joined us at New Hope Creek near the Wooden Bridge in the Korstian Division for our first-ever Biodiversity Day. Local experts led small groups through nearby […]

This summer, we had the pleasure of hosting Chloe, a Durham resident and undergraduate student at Brown University, as our intern. Chloe is a Presidential Scholar at Brown, a program […]

The North Carolina Master Naturalists Program, run through N.C. Cooperative Extension, provides opportunities for community members to learn about and contribute to conservation and stewardship. Adult students across a wide […]

Two and a half months into the New Hope Creek Restoration Project, the new clear-span bridge is taking shape! Our partners at Sanford Contractors drilled and poured the primary concrete […]

The week before classes started, the Duke Forest hosted three First-Year Experiential Orientation groups. Before these new Duke students arrive on campus, they choose from dozens of orientation options based […]

Written by: Sara Childs, Executive Director of the Duke Forest I had never been to the Adirondacks, and I knew nothing of its history – not the cultural, ecological, or […]

This summer, the Duke Forest hosted two programs designed to spark curiosity and connect young learners with nature. From welcoming summer campers displaced by flood damage to hosting families for […]

Employees from Google’s Durham office recently joined several Duke Forest Staff and Forest Steward volunteers for a service event as part of their global “GoogleServe” campaign. The group learned how […]

The newly-formed Triangle Mycological Society (TMS) recently hosted a Fungal Foray in the Duke Forest. Foraging for and collecting mushrooms (or anything!) in the Forest is strictly prohibited. However, under […]

The Duke Forest and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) have been working together as partners since 2023 around the New Hope Creek Restoration Projects. Our mutual goals include […]

Tropical Storm Chantal brought significant damage to many natural areas in our region, and the Duke Forest was no exception. All six divisions of the Forest sustained damage, with the […]