A Systems Approach:  Developing Cross-Site Multiple Drivers to Understand Climate Change, Sea-level Rise and Coastal Flooding for an African American Community in Portsmouth, VA

In Summer 2017, ODU hosted a summer research team led by NSU faculty Dr. Camille Okpodu and Dr. Bernadette Holmes as part of an interdisciplinary, multi-institution collaborative summer research project.  The project was titled “A Systems Approach:  Developing Cross-Site Multiple Drivers to Understand Climate Change, Sea-level Rise and Coastal Flooding for an African American Community in Portsmouth, VA.”  Dr. Okpodu, Professor of Biology is leading the biological/ecological aspects of the project and Dr. Holmes, Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice, is leading the sociological part of the project.  Three undergraduate NSU students were part of the research team:

  • Raisa Barrera, Graduating Senior, Biology (NSU)
  • Mikel Johnson, Rising Senior, Sociology (NSU)
  • Bryan Clayborne, Rising Senior, Sociology (NSU)

Funding for the project came from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Summer Research Team (SRT) Program. The program aims to increase and enhance the scientific leadership at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) in research areas that support the mission and goals of DHS.  The project was associated with the DHS Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence at the University of North Carolina.

ODU Resilience Collaborative (ODU-RC) researchers Dr. Wie Yusuf (School of Public Service), Dr. Michelle Covi (Ocean, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, and Virginia Sea Grant), Dr. Joshua Behr (Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center), Dr. Larry Atkinson (Ocean, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) and Dr. Gail Nicula (School of Public Service) worked with the NSU team, representing the DHS Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence at the University of North Carolina.  Two ODU graduate students – Donta Council, a doctoral student in the Public Administration and Policy program, and Isaiah Amos, a master’s student in ecological sciences.  The ODU graduate students were sponsored by the DHS Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence.

The students presented their research on Friday, July 28th from noon-2pm in the Learning Commons Room 1310-1311 on the ODU campus. NSU Provost Stacey Franklin Jones, NSU College of Liberal Arts Dean Belinda Anderson and Associate Dean Danny Adams, and College of Science and Technology Dean Joseph Hall attended the presentations.  Dr. Meagan Jordan, Graduate Program Director for the PhD Program in Public Administration and Policy was also present, accompanied by students from the program.  Tom Richardson, Anna Schwab and Josh Kastrinsky of the DHS Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence joined the presentations via WebEx.

A recording of the complete presentation is available at http://vs.odu.edu/kvs/interface/?cid=201620_ResilienceCollaborativeVS_90690.  Individual student presentations are also available:

Slides from Dr. Okpodu here and from Dr. Holmes here.