Duerden attended the Royal College of Science in London from 1885 to 1889, becoming an Associate, then later transferred to Johns Hopkins University where he received an M.Sc.
[2] He lectured and conducted fishery surveys along with Alfred Cort Haddon and Ernest William Lyons Holt,[3] with his published material focused on Irish Hydrozoa and Bryozoa.
[1][4] Whilst in Jamaica, Duerden studied the local caves, marine resources, anthropological findings, and madreporarian corals, publishing a monograph on the latter in 1901.
Duerden remained in contact with colleagues in Dublin, sending geological material to Grenville Cole.
Between 1903 and 1905, he was the Acting Assistant Professor or Instructor of Zoology at the University of Michigan and an Honorary Curator at the American Museum of Natural History.
The ostrich feather industry collapsed due to World War I, so Duerden's academic focus turned to wool.
This college has an annual prize named in his honour, the Duerden Shield, for a student working in the area of sheep, goats and wool.