Orrin Pilkey

professor emeritus, geology, Duke

Orrin Pilkey is a James B. Duke Professor of Geology and Director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines within the Division of Earth and Ocean Science at Duke University. Pilkey received his BS degree in Geology at Washington State College, his MS degree in Geology at the University of Montana and his PhD degree in Geology at Florida State University. Since 1965 he has been at Duke Univesity with one year breaks with the Department of Marine Science at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaquez and with the US Geological Survey in Woods Hole Massachusetts. His research career started with the study of shroeline/continental shelf sedimentation, progressing to the deep sea with empahasis on abyssal plain sediments and back to nearshore with emphasis on coastal management. He has published more than 150 technical publications. He is co-editor and sometimes co-author of the ongoing 20 volume, state specific Living With the Shore series published by the Duke Press. He has also been featured in New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Oceans Magazine, The American Way, and National Geographic Magazine, among others.