On Thursday, green and white balloons lined the walkway down to the Levine Student Research Center’s courtyard, signifying the Nicholas School of the Environment’s Earth Day Celebration.
Over 500 people turned up for the event, which was advertised heavily amongst Duke’s graduate schools.
Festivities included free food, live music, and the first annual Tour de Duke bike parade.
The Tour de Duke bike parade circled through West and East campuses. Prizes were awarded to those donning the best costumes. There was also a prize bike made entirely of recycled material that was given away.
Around the courtyard, there were several booths representing local farms, the Durham farmers market, the Coastal Society, Duke Student Health, and other organizations. Many provided demonstrations: one station run by the Fuqua Energy Club allowed participants to make themselves a smoothie using a bike-powered blender.
Attendees could register for the Fuqua School of Business’ spring symposium and listen to panels on the water crisis and domestic and international water markets.
There was also a large crowd gathered around a dunk tank, where professors–many donning arm-floaties, costumes, and even a toy alligator attached to a fishing pole–climbed in and awaited their fate.
“The dunk tank is funding the Environmental Internship Fund, which funds internships for graduate students,” said Lindsay Spurrier, a third-year graduate student at the Nicholas School.
Other than funding internships, the goal of the celebration was to raise awareness for both the Nicholas School and conserving the environment.
“We just really wanted to demonstrate to the rest of the school what we do here,” said third-year graduate student Madeleine Foote.
The celebration concluded with a screening of the award-winning documentary “Addicted to Plastic” in the LSRC’s Love Auditorium.
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