RESEARCH EXPO 2007 IS AT ODU TODAY

Coastal Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay are as we know them today because of a collision 36 million years ago between Earth and a meteorite or comet more than two miles in diameter. This extraordinary event and five other subjects related to southeastern Virginia will be explored in a new and improved series of panel presentations at the fourth annual Research Expo at Old Dominion University on April 5.

The 2007 Expo, which is subtitled "400 Years of Discovery," is sponsored by ODU, Norfolk State University, Eastern Virginia Medical School and the Tidewater Consortium for Higher Education. It will include exhibits and demonstrations of the research and creative accomplishments of students and faculty at regional institutions of higher education.

Six panel discussions will bring together researchers affiliated with the sponsors, as well as many experts from outside institutions, industry and government agencies.

"This year's Expo will have an expanded, daylong program of panel presentations, and we believe the topics will be of interest to the public and to academics," said Joseph Rule, ODU's interim dean of the College of Sciences and the chair of the Research Expo committee that planned the panel presentations. "We are very fortunate to have numerous experts giving presentations on each of the topics."

The morning segment of panel presentations from 10:30 a.m. to noon will feature "Chesapeake Bay and Its Environs: After the Impact." In the same time slot in an another meeting room of the Ted Constant Convocation Center will be "Global Threats, Vulnerability and Conflict in the 21st Century."

From 12:30 to 2 p.m., the presentations are "Revisioning Colonial Virginia: Gender, Race and Class" and "The State of Our Health."

From 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., the presentations are "A Port Through the Ages" and "Emerging Research Technology for the 21st Century."

Rule, a biogeochemist, took the leading role in organizing the meteorite/comet collision presentation and said he expects it to be the most thorough exploration of the topic ever for a general audience in Hampton Roads. Members of panel are responsible for much of the research involving the still-detectible crater, which is 1,000-1,500 feet beneath the Chesapeake Bay. They are David Powars of the U.S. Geological Survey, T. Scott Bruce of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and Gerald Johnson, emeritus professor of geology at The College of William and Mary. The panel's moderator will be Richard Whittecar, ODU University Professor of ocean, earth and atmospheric sciences.

The "impact," as it has come to be known, created an initial crater seven miles deep with a center near present-day Cape Charles, Va., and raised a tsunami strong enough to reach present-day Europe, bounce off, and return to the impact crater. Only in the last 20 years have scientists and engineers pieced together evidence of the impact, which so influenced the geophysical underpinnings and the visible landscape of coastal Virginia.

The panel presentations and all other Research Expo segments are free and open to the public. The event will be capped by a keynote address at 5 p.m. by Dr. Ferid Murad, the co-recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Murad directs the Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, and formerly taught and directed the Clinical Research Center at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. His topic will be "Discovery of Some of the Biological Effects of Nitric Oxide and Its Role in Cell Signaling."

Here is the schedule of events:

10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Viewing of exhibits and demonstrations

10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Panel I. Chesapeake Bay and Its Environs: After the Impact (Rooms A, B)
Moderator: G. Richard Whittecar, University Professor, Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Old Dominion University
Speakers:
"Deep Impact! The Story of Eastern Virginia's 35-Million-Year-Old Giant Impact," David Powars, Senior Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Virginia District
"Solving a 135-Year-Old Groundwater Mystery," T. Scott Bruce, Environmental Program Planner, Office of Ground Water Characterization, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
"Cause or Coincidence: Surficial Geomorphic and Late Cenozoic Stratigraphic Responses to the Late Eocene Chesapeake Bay Impact," Gerald Johnson, Professor Emeritus, Department of Geology, College of William and Mary

Panel II. Global Threats, Vulnerability and Conflict in the 21st Century (Rooms D, E)
Moderator: Regina Karp, Associate Professor of Political Science and Geography, Old Dominion University
Speakers:
"The Global Proliferation of Small Arms and Lethality: Dimensions and Policy," Aaron Karp, Instructor, Political Science and Geography, Old Dominion University
"Critical Infrastructures Protection: A State of the Art Overview," Adrian V. Gheorghe, Batten Chair of Systems Engineering, Old Dominion University
"The War on Terror: Why Americans Should Pay More Attention to Nigeria," Olusoji Akomolafe, Director, Center for Global Education, Norfolk State University
"NATO's Transformation: Adapting to a 21st Century Security Environment," Robin Swift, Staff Officer, Strategic Concepts and Policy Division, NATO Headquarters Supreme Allied Commander Transformation

12:30 - 2 p.m.

Panel III. Revisioning Colonial Virginia: Gender, Race and Class (Rooms A, B)
Moderator: Cathy M. Jackson, Professor of Mass Communication and Journalism, Norfolk State University
Speakers:
"Post- and Neo-Colonial Pocahontas(es): Terrence Malick's Updated Myth of La Belle Sauvage," Page Laws, Professor, English and Foreign Languages, and Director of the Norfolk State University Honors Program
"The Transatlantic Campaign for Slave Literacy in Colonial Virginia," Jeffrey Richards, Professor, English, Old Dominion University
"Teaching African American History at Colonial Williamsburg: A Thirty-Year Retrospective" Larry Earl, Manager of Planning and Administration for Historic District, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
"The Codification of Race and Rights in Colonial Virginia," Natalie S. Robertson, Assistant Professor, History, Hampton University

Panel IV. The State of Our Health (Rooms D, E)
Moderator: Joseph C. Hall, Professor of Chemistry, Director, Center for Biotechnology and Biomedical Sciences, Norfolk State University

Speakers:
"From the Clinic to the Courtroom: Translating Child Abuse Research into Practice," Suzanne Starling, Medical Director, Child Abuse Program, Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, and Professor of Pediatrics, Division Chief, Division of Forensic Pediatrics, Fellowship Director, Child Abuse Pediatrics, Eastern Virginia Medical School
"HIV/AIDS After 25 Years: Global Pandemic - Local Disparities," Edward C. Oldfield, III, Professor of Internal Medicine, Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, Eastern Virginia Medical School
"Emergency Preparedness: Have We Learned from the Past? Are We Ready?" Barry J. Knapp II, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Assistant Residency Director, Eastern Virginia Medical School
"The Changing Role of Public Health Management: A Link to Optimal Health Status" Brenda Stevenson Marshall, Assistant Dean for Education, College of Health Sciences, Old Dominion University

2:30 - 4 p.m.

Panel V. A Port Through the Ages (Rooms A, B)
Moderator: Maura Hametz, Associate Professor, History, and a director, Consortium for Maritime Research, Old Dominion University
Speakers:

1. Past: "Escapes from 'Worthless Sots' and Other Tales of Hampton Roads' Underground Railroad," Cassandra Newby-Alexander, Associate Professor, History, Norfolk State University
2. Present: "Cargo Velocity," Richard Knapp, Assistant General Manager, Virginia International Terminals
3. Future: "Future of the Port of Hampton Roads: Vast Opportunities - Daunting Challenges" Joseph F. Bouchard, Executive Director, Center for Homeland Security and Defense, Zel Technologies

Panel VI. Emerging Research Technology for the 21st Century (Rooms D, E)
Moderator: Patrick Hatcher, Batten Endowed Chair in Physical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Old Dominion University
Speakers:
"Emerging Technologies in Mass Spectrometry: MALDI Mass Spec Imaging for Protein Expression Profiling," Lisa H. Cazares (presenter), Nicholas Schaub, MaryAnn Clements, Richard. R. Drake and O. John Semmes, the George L. Wright Jr. Center for Biomedical Proteomics, Eastern Virginia Medical School
"Novel Spin-Polarized Transport Phenomena for Emerging Technology of Spintronics," Rakhim Rakhimov, Professor, Department of Chemistry and Center for Materials Research, Norfolk State University
"Applications of High-Resolution/High-Mass Accuracy Mass Spectrometry for the Analysis of Complex Mixtures," Micheal Freitas, Assistant Professor, Human Cancer Genetics, Ohio State University
"New Applications of High Field, Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in Materials Science," Gina L. Hoatson (presenter) and Robert L. Vold, Departments of Physics and Applied Science, College of William and Mary

4-5 p.m.

Reception

5-6 p.m.

Keynote Address and Awards-Speech by Ferid Murad, winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Medicine, and presentation of faculty research achievement awards and student presentation awards.

6-7:30 p.m.

Expo Wrapup-Last chance to view exhibits and speak with researchers.