Jim Blando
ODU is full of talented, humble people. Jim Blando, PhD, the interim chair for the School of Community & Environmental Health, is one of them because he learned from, "tremendous people who were so humble."
His humble beginnings include Sicilian immigrant grandparents who worked in factories. His grandmother lost her hearing due to the working conditions, which sparked his interest in environmental health. His mentor was Ray Manglinelli, who Blando calls the "air quality godfather." He met him when he was a senior in high school and toured a lab, so he decided to go into the field.
Blando said throughout his time as a student, he had many great people believe in him, and he hopes ODU students have that experience as well, and that they can be those mentors to students one day themselves.
Before coming back to academia, Blando's experiences in the field were vast and varied. He did a corporate postdoc where "they were doing some wacky research because of Star Wars." He did research on smoke stacks where "you can't be afraid of heights or weather." But what he likes about academia and ODU is working with students and doing research that is supported by academic freedom rather than corporate interests.
His research is academic and curious. He says, "You can't just let some cool observation go."
He observed a sign for "prenatal hot yoga," which led to a study on the environmental conditions of hot yoga. He wondered about the toxicology of tattoos, which led to a study with the Army Public Health Center. And one of his first studies is to this day his most cited paper: Why are the Smoky Mountains smoky?
Blando said his flexible background and education kept him employed by being adaptable. His advice to students is to be curious and open to opportunities because environmental health is such a diverse field.