OPENING NIGHT –  WELCOME

  • Dr. Cynthia Tomovic, Professor, STEM Education and Professional Studies, College of Education, PI and Director of ODU BLAST, will welcome students to ODU BLAST and introduce Mr. John Broderick, President, Old Dominion University (1st session), Dr. Brian Payne, Association Provost, (2nd session), who will welcome students and challenge them to think about the importance of various STEM-related careers required to address the challenges and opportunities presented by climate change and sea level rise. Dr. Tysha Sanford, Director BLAST Programs, Virginia Space Grant Consortium, will welcome students and chaperones.  Dr. Vukica Jovanovic, Assistant Professor, Engineering Technology, College of Engineering, Co-PI, will introduce ODU BLAST faculty.

Film:  Sea of Change

  • Drs. Michele Covi, Assistant Professor of Practice, and David Burdige, Professor, Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, College of Sciences, will introduce and facilitate a discussion on local impacts of climate change and sea level rise.

Leadership and Paddle for Life 

  • Dr. Cynthia Tomovic, Professor, STEM Education and Professional Studies, College of Education and PI and Director, ODU BLAST, and Ms. Alison Stinelly, Assistant Professor, Art, College of Arts and Letters, will facilitate a discussion on leadership development required to address community issues related to climate change and sea level rise.  Students will paint a “Paddle for Life” that depicts the characteristics of leadership that they aspire to develop.

FIRST DAY [Four three-hour, hands-on intensive concurrent workshops will be presented in the morning and afternoon.]

Concurrent Workshops:

  • “Our Home Planet and its Place in the Cosmos”  Dr. Balsa Terzic, Assistant Professor, Physics, College of Sciences, with Mr. Justin Mason, Director-Pretlow Planetarium and Laboratory Lead, College of Sciences, will have students investigate the impact of light and waves, specifically infrared light, and its role and contribution to increasing the earth’s temperatures due to the greenhouse effect.
  • “Water Water Everywhere and No Place to Go”  Dr. Mujde Erten-Unal, Associate Professor, Civil Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, will have students explore the concept of porosity and run-off as they build various versions of bio-retention cells and test the differences among the cells at combating flooding and improving water quality.
  • “Changing Oceans: Exploring Acidification and Albedo”  Dr. Victoria Hill, Research Associate Professor, Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, College of Sciences, will have students conduct and graph data from experiments that simulate ocean warming under different conditions of reflectivity, a phenomenon that impacts global glacial melt and ultimately sea level rise.
  • “Satellites Lasers, and Drones”  Mr. George McLeod, Adjunct Professor, Political Science and Geography, Director, Geospatial and Visualization Systems, will have students measure, collect geospatial data, and observe the use of drones to gather data used in the creation of maps that identify areas of vulnerability and risk posed by flooding and sea level rise.

ODU CAMPUS TOUR:  Ms. Lisa LitWeller, Associate Director, ODU Communications.

Evening Event

Welcome:  Dr. Gail Dodge, Dean, College of Sciences.

  • “Transitions – From High School to College; STEM PANEL”  Ms. Adrienne Giles, Student Success Counselor, along with a panel of undergraduate STEM and MonarchTeach majors, will encourage students to recognize the importance of and the relationships between their high school efforts as preparation for successfully transiting to college STEM-related programs in the future.
  • “Air, Water, Soil:  Environmental Sciences and Its Impacts on Quality of Our Health”  Dr. James Blando, Environmental Health, College of Health Sciences, will present on the use of big data and analytics, applied math, in modeling the impact of climate change and sea level rise on our environment and health.
  • “Adventures to the North Pole” Dr. Victoria Hill, Association Professor of Research, Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, College of Sciences and Dr. Petros Katsioloudis, Association Professor, Chair, STEM Education and Professional Studies, will present on their excursion to the Arctic.

SECOND DAY [Four three-hour, hands-on intensive concurrent workshops will be presented in the morning and afternoon.]

Post Workshop Assessment [Conducted prior to dinner.]

  • Drs. Michele Covi, Assistant Professor of Practice, and David Burdige, Professor, Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, College of Sciences will facilitate a lively discussion with the student participants regarding their BLAST experience.  Students will be asked to respond to questions:  What did you learn?  What did the workshop sessions have to do with climate change and sea level rise?  What will you do with the information you learned in this workshop session when you go back home?  What initiatives will you lead?

Evening Event

  • Welcome:  Dr. Rafael Landaeta, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, College of Engineering and Technology (1st session); Dr. Connie Merriman, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, College of Business (2nd session).
  • “From Here to There: Transportation Logistics”  Dr. Wie Yusuf, Public Administration and Public Policy, College of Business, will present on the development and use of modeling (applied math) in transportation logistics and decision making required under high risk conditions due to extreme weather.
  • “Drones to the Rescue” Dr. Thomas Alberts, Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering, will conduct a hands-on intensive build and fly drone workshop designed to introduce the participants to basic principles of flying and the use of drones in food/drug distribution under adverse conditions, such as extreme flooding.

CLOSING MORNING:  Presentation of Certificate of Completions

  • During breakfast, Drs. Cynthia Tomovic and Dr. Tysha Sanford will present participants with their certificates of completion.