Dan Durett has had a distinguished career breaking new ground in both cultural and natural resources conservation in major urban centers, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Nashville and Washington, DC. Dedicated to innovation, Durett has held increasingly responsible positions with

organizations as diverse as the National Park Service, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, The United Negro College Fund, and currently with the National Council for Science and the Environment. He is the founder of Danhiko International, a private sector initiative to advance communication and cooperation among scientists of African heritage and descent.

Dan Durett is former Director of  the Minority Programs Office of the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) (www.ncseonline.org) whose mission is to improve the scientific basis for environmental decision-making.  Durett worked to ensure that the voices of communities of color are heard throughout the science community and to assure that Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) are recognized for their past and present contributions in the fields of research and education, and for connecting conservation and environmental science to community needs. 

Durett's experiences in conservation began in 1975 when the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office asked him to complete the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Landmark Nomination and the Atlanta University National Register Historic District Nomination.  In the 1980's the Baltimore Department of Recreation and Parks and the Parks & People Foundation called on him to assist in leveraging public/private support for revitalizing the city's park and recreation resources.  He has served as Technical Preservation Historian to the National Park Service's Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service (HCRS) and worked for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

In 1995 he was selected by the United Negro College Fund to join its Fairfax, Virginia headquarters staff where he established the Department of Environmental Education Programs (DEEP) and forged new partnerships between the UNCF and national conservation and environmental education organizations.  In addition to his role as Board President, U.S. Council for Landcare Initiatives a  private-public partnership between people who work the land, communities, businesses and governments that seeks to strengthen our nation's ability to conserve natural resources, enhance profitability, and cultivate and expand a community conservation ethic (www.uslandcare.org)

He received his B.A. from the State University of New York at Binghamton, Harpur College (now Binghamton University) and his M.S. in history from Atlanta University.  Durett has completed post-graduate studies in city planning theory, urban history, and African-American Studies at Emory University in Atlanta.