SEA LEVEL RISE INITIATIVE HAS KEY ROLE IN OCEANS '12 CONFERENCE

Researchers affiliated with Old Dominion's two-year-old Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Initiative (CCSLRI) will be key participants in "OCEANS '12, Harnessing the Power of the Ocean," an international meeting expected to draw 2,500 engineers and scientists to Virginia Beach in October.

The meeting is part of a well-established OCEANS Conference series sponsored by the Marine Technology Society (MTS) and the Oceanic Engineering Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. (IEEE/OES).

ODU is the host academic institution for the meeting and John Broderick, president of ODU, is an honorary chair, together with Will Sessoms, the mayor of Virginia Beach, and Paul Fraim, the mayor of Norfolk.

Numerous ODU faculty members and students who conduct research on topics to be addressed at OCEANS 12 will attend the conference Oct. 14-18 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. CCSLRI, which was launched at Broderick's direction, will host the meeting's "Sea Level Rise and Inundation Workshop: What? So What? Now What." The half-day workshop will begin at 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 15.

The OCEANS Conference series has become a major international forum at which scientists, engineers and responsible ocean users can present their latest research results, ideas, developments and applications in oceanic engineering and marine technology. In addition to government and academic attendees, there will be conferees from more than 100 marine-related companies.

Plenary speakers will include U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta; U.S senators James Webb and Mark Warner of Virginia; Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell; U.S. representatives Scott Rigell and Rob Wittman of Virginia; and Kathryn Sullivan, assistant U.S. secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction.

To continue reading, click here.