Old Dominion University will host ODU BLAST (Building Leaders for Advancing Science and Technology), a summer and residential, hands-on intensive STEM-related program from June 18-21 and again from June 25-28 for eighty rising 9th and 10th grade students and ten teacher-chaperones from across Virginia.  Tours and other special STEM-related evening events are planned to enhance the on-campus ODU experience.  ODU BLAST is funded by the Virginia Space Grant Consortium.

Introduction: Old Dominion University will develop and host ODU BLAST, a program that is intended to build leaders for advancing science and technology (BLAST).  ODU BLAST taps into the strengths and talents of the ODU faculty and graduate students from each of the six ODU colleges who collectively address one of ODU’s signature area, the mitigation and adaptation to climate change and sea level rise.  ODU is poised to offer a unique, exciting, and rewarding STEM-related experience to a total of one-hundred and eighty rising 9th & 10 grade students from across the Commonwealth.

Rationale: The following rationale is offered in support of the ODU BLAST program that will focus on STEM in the context of one of ODU’s signature areas, the mitigation and adaption to climate change and sea level rise.  ODU encourages and supports research, teaching, and outreach on a number of topics related to the mitigation and adaptation to climate change and sea level rise including sustainable building, development of alternative energies, changes in the ocean, and how to better communicate and engage the community on visioning and shaping their future.

Children’s plays developed in partnership by faulty in the College of Arts and Letters and College of Science attest to the unique ways to communicate climate change and sea level rise.  Faculty in the College of Business address important issues related to insurance and risk management, and conduct socio-economic and transportation logistics analysis. MonarchTeach, a unique collaboration between The College of Education and the College of Science, prepares the next generation of science and math teachers.  Faculty from the College of Education and the College of Arts and Letters address communication and stakeholder engagement issues, and identify areas of vulnerability due to sea level rise.  Faculty from the College of Engineering focus on issues related to critical infrastructure resilience, and engineering and construction solutions.  The College of Health Science faculty address questions related to community and public health issues.  Faculty from the College of Sciences conduct coastal physical oceanographic modeling and investigate issues related to change in ocean currents and levels of acidification.  ODU’s College of Continuing Education and Professional Develop stands ready to support community and government engagement opportunities.  ODU’s Social Science Research Center conducts public surveys that tap into the community’s beliefs, knowledge, and actions taken in local reoccurring flooding events.  Working with Virginia’s Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), Virginia Sea Grant, Wetlands Watch, and the City of Norfolk, ODU has supported d a number of events, summits and workshops, including the Dutch Dialogues that brought together experts on urban water to discuss, discover, and design ideas and solutions for the future.

  • PI: Cynthia Tomovic, Ph.D., Professor, STEM Education, 757-683-5228, ctomovic@odu.edu
  • Co-PI: Vukica Jovanović, Ph.D.,  / Vukitsa Yovanovich/, Assistant Professor, Engineering Technology, 757-683-3769, v2jovano@odu.edu
  • Liz Smith, Interdisciplinary Initiatives Administrator, Academic Affairs, 757-683-5842, exsmith@odu.edu