Sea Level Rise Experts Speak as Part of ODU Coastal Engineering Series
February 25, 2015
The spring seminar series by Old Dominion University's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) is focused on coastal resilience and sustainability, building on the University's ongoing focus of issues of sea level rise, adaptation and mitigation.
Speakers every two weeks will address different facets of coastal resilience and sustainability, in addresses on Fridays in room 1202 of ODU's E.V. Williams Engineering and Computational Sciences Building.
"This is an important issue for this region, and an area of collaborative research strength for Old Dominion University," said Gary Schafran, chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology. "The speaker series that has been arranged, which began (Feb. 20) with Doug Bellomo, director of risk analysis for FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Organization), will bring diverse expertise to campus, unified by the shared desire to tackle the difficult issue of sea level rise."
On Friday, March 6, Martin Schultz of the Engineering Research and Development Center of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will speak about risk analysis for Naval Station Norfolk. The speech begins at 1 p.m. in ECSB Room 1202.
On Friday, March 20, professional engineer Kate White, senior lead for global climate change with the Institute of Water Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will speak on federal policy and sea level rise. The speech begins at 1 p.m. in ECSB Room 1202.
Finally, on Friday, April 3, at 1 p.m. Billy Edge, engineering professor from North Carolina State University and the NC State/University of North Carolina Coastal Studies Institute will deliver the lecture "Renewable Energy from the Ocean - Strategic Directions."
The events are being hosted by Old Dominion University in part because of the University's role as the lead agency on the Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Preparedness and Resilience Intergovernmental Planning Pilot Project.
Created in 2014, the mission of the Pilot Project is to develop a regional "whole of government" and "whole of community" approach to sea level rise preparedness and resilience planning in Hampton Roads that also can be used as a template for other regions.
Upon completion of the Pilot Project, Hampton Roads will have in place intergovernmental planning organizational arrangements and procedures that can effectively coordinate the sea level rise preparedness and resilience planning of Federal, state and local government agencies and the private sector, taking into account the perspectives and concerns of the citizens of the region.
The events are sponsored by ODU Engineering, CEE, the ODU Coastal Engineering Institute, Mid-Atlantic Transportation Sustainability University Transportation Center (MATS UTC), the Civil and Environmental Engineering Visiting Council, and the ODU Mitigation and Adaptation Research Institute. For more information, contact Schafran at CEE@odu.edu.