CCSLRI Speaker to Address Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy

May 03, 2013

Alan Blumberg

Old Dominion University's Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Initiative (CCSLRI) will sponsor a roundtable seminar Wednesday, May 8, featuring a presentation by a New Jersey-based oceanographer on the recovery efforts after Hurricane Sandy.

Alan Blumberg, the George Meade Bond Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken and director of the institute's Center for Maritime Systems, will focus his talk on the human impact of Sandy and the subsequent policy responses.

All ODU faculty and students, plus other local engineers and scientists interested in the CCSLRI, are invited. Elizabeth Smith, the coordinator of the initiative, said some seats also will be available to the general public. The roundtable, which is free, will be in Room 9024 of the Batten Arts and Letters Building beginning at 4 p.m.

Blumberg specializes in oceanography, predictive modeling and ocean physics. He is the founder of the New York Harbor Observing and Prediction System, which was established to permit an assessment of ocean, weather, environmental and vessel traffic conditions throughout the New York Harbor region.

His research is directed toward understanding and predicting the flow processes operating in rivers, lakes, estuaries and the oceans. It has contributed to the creation of ocean observing and forecasting systems used for environmental studies, surface vessel operations, and as a basis for maritime security. His latest work is to understand and predict the impacts of extreme climate-driven events on urban coasts and to create innovative adaptations to protect people and property - a new discipline called adaptative engineering.