ODU’s Unique Collaborative Research, Teaching, and Engagement Efforts in Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Resilience

ODU encourages and supports research, teaching, and outreach on issues related to climate change and sea level rise resilience including sustainable building, development of alternative energies, understanding changes in the ocean, public policy, and planning, and communicating and engaging the community in informed decision making.  Evidence of ODU’s interdisciplinary approach to climate change and sea level rise resilience includes:

• Faculty in the College of Arts and Letters and College of Science developed children’s plays and weekend events that demonstrate the unique ways to communicate climate change and sea level rise to a young audience.
• Faculty in the College of Business and the College of Health Sciences address the socio-economic impacts of climate change and sea level rise including insurance and risk management, and risks associated with community and public health.
• Faculty from the College of Education and the College of Science formed a unique collaboration, Monarch Teach, which prepares the next generation of science and math teachers.
• Faculty from the College of Education, College of Arts and Letters, and ODU’s Social Science Research Center address communication and stakeholder engagement by surveying the community’s beliefs, knowledge, and actions taken to address local reoccurring flooding events.
• Faculty from the College of Engineering, College of Sciences, and Virginia Modeling Analysis and Simulation Center focus on issues related to critical infrastructure threats and engineering solutions, as well as model coastal physical oceanographic changes in ocean currents and levels of acidification.
• Faculty across multiple departments work with Virginia’s Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), Virginia Sea Grant, Wetlands Watch, and the City of Norfolk in support of events, summits and workshops, including the Dutch Dialogues that brought together experts on urban water to discuss design solutions for the future. College of Continuing Education and Professional Develop is poised to support faculty-developed courses aimed at enhancing community and government relationships.
• ODU BLAST student learning workshop outcomes mapped to Virginia Department of Education High School (9-12) Standards of Learning for Environmental Literacy–Sustainability: Earth Science, Biology, Physics, Math, Algebra I, Family/Community Life Education, and Task Team Education ODU BLAST workshop grid – mapped to Virginia Department of Education Standards of Learning for High School

 Time Line of Significant ODU Projects and Events Related to Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Resilience

• 2010 – Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Initiative (CCSLRI). This interdisciplinary initiative included teaching and research faculty from all six academic colleges in the exploration and development of relevant topics and projects.
• 2011 – Sustainable Development Institute. Old Dominion University and Hampton University co-sponsored a team of faculty and students, Team Tidewater Virginia, who participated in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, an international competition that challenges collegiate teams to design and build affordable, sustainable, and visually-appealing solar-powered homes.
• 2012 – Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise and Adaptation Forum. ODU began a partnership with Virginia Sea Grant and the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission to host quarterly meetings bringing together professionals in adaptation including government staff, scientific experts, private sector engineers, and other stakeholders for regional coordination and to share adaptation best practices.
• 2013 – Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography – groundbreaking research. A group of ODU oceanographers identifies that the acceleration of sea level rise between Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and Boston may be due to a diminished flow of the Gulf Stream.
• 2013 – Dominion Virginia Power Solar Partnership Program. Over 600 solar panels were installed on the rooftop of ODU’s Student Recreation and Wellness Center.  The solar panels generate power for approximately 35 homes and are tied to ODU’s photovoltaic research laboratory
• 2014 – Mitigation and Adaptation Research Institute (MARI). The aim of this institute is to provide practice-relevant knowledge to government, military, and the private sector to help cope with the impacts of climate change and sea level rise coastal zones.
• 2014 – Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Preparedness and Resilience Intergovernmental Planning Pilot Project. TechSurge kicked off the White House-supported “Pilot Project” that aimed to bring different levels of government and industry together to coordinate research and adaptation planning to address sea level rise.
• 2014 – Bipartisan Federal Congressional Delegation Discussion. ODU was the first site in the United States to host a bipartisan federal congressional delegation discussion on sea level rise led by Senator Tim Kaine.
• 2015 – Norfolk Resilience Strategy. ODU supported the development and announcement of Norfolk’s Resilience Strategy, a 60-page document that was released to the public.
• 2015 – U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, Address. Old Dominion University hosted S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, who delivered a speech on Climate Change and National Security.  In his address, the U.S. Secretary applauded the ODU faculty and students in their collective efforts on multiple issues related to climate change and sea level rise resilience.
• 2016 – Housing and Urban Development National Disaster Resilience Competition (HUD-NDRC). ODU convened and coordinated the Housing and Urban Development National Disaster Resilience Competition (HUD-NDRC) in partnership with the Common Wealth of Virginia.  The Commonwealth of Virginia was awarded $120.5 million, the third largest award in the national competition. The money will support infrastructure projects and resilience planning aimed at some of the most vulnerable areas to recurrent flooding and sea level rise in Norfolk.
• 2016 – Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resilience. Old Dominion University, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and the College of William and Mary partnered to create the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency.  The goal of the center is to provide scientific and technical support for Commonwealth’s state agencies, localities, and other entities that address the challenges of flooding resiliency.
• 2016 – Old Dominion University Resilience Collaborative. This faculty-driven interdisciplinary collaboration encourages and supports research and education on climate change sea level rise resilience.

Highlights of some of ODU’s recent research, teaching, and outreach efforts in the area of mitigation and adaptation to climate change and sea level rise include:

• Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Initiative (CCSLRI) was established in 2010. This interdisciplinary initiative included teaching and research faculty from all six academic colleges in the exploration and development of relevant topics and projects.
• Since 2011, ODU’s Sustainable Development Institute has co-sponsored Team Tidewater Virginia, a partnership between ODU and Hampton University faculty and students who participate in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, an international competition that challenges collegiate teams to design and build affordable, sustainable, and visually-appealing solar-powered homes.
• In 2013, ODU became a partner in the Dominion Virginia Power-ODU Solar Partnership Program. Over 600 solar panels were installed on the roof top of the Student Recreation and Wellness Center.  The solar panels generate power for approximately 35 homes and are tied to ODU’s photovoltaic research laboratory
• Mitigation and Adaptation Research Institute (MARI) was established in 2014 with the aim to provide practice-relevant knowledge to government, military, private sector to help them cope with the impacts of climate change and sea level rise coastal zones.
• ODU hosted a two-day conference in 2014 TechSurge: Technical Support for Coastal Resilience which kicked off The Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Preparedness and Resilience Intergovernmental Planning Pilot Project, with support from the White House, that aims to bring different levels of government and industry together to coordinate research and adaptation planning to address sea level rise.
• ODU was the first site in the United States to host a bipartisan federal congressional delegation discussion on sea level rise in 2014 led by Senator Tim Kaine.
• ODU supported the development and announcement of Norfolk’s Resilience Strategy, a 60-page document that was released to the public on October 2015.
• Old Dominion University hosted S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, November 9, 2015, who delivered a speech on Climate Change and National Security, in which he applauded the ODU faculty and students in their collective efforts as they work toward solutions to mitigate and adapt to challenges posed by climate change and sea level rise.
• Old Dominion University in partnership with Virginia Institute of Marine Science at William and Mary, and with the William and Mary Law School in 2016 is awarded a grant to create the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resilience, a one-stop shop for scientific, socio-economic, legal and policy analyses to build Virginia’s flooding resiliency