College Newsmakers

"I had expected to see the whole Island washed over." (George Oertel, professor of ocean, earth and atmospheric sciences, commenting on Chesapeake Bay's Fisherman Island)
                                                                                                                                                  "Isabel Left a Surge of Science"
                                                                                                                                                   Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 20

"Robert E. Tuleya, adjunct professor at Old Dominion University's Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography, is quoted in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal about the path of powerful Hurricane Ivan. Tuleya, a meteorologist and hurricane modeler, discusses both the improvements in hurricane forecasting over the past several years and the physics of the hurricane's strength. Prior to joining Old Dominion, he worked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Hurricane Ivan, currently a Category 5 storm, is headed toward the United State's Gulf Coast.

The New York Times' article is available online at http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/14/science/14hurr.html. The Wall Street Journal story can be found at http://www.odu.edu/webroot/orgs/IA/university_news.nsf/articles/09142004083019AM.

"It's documented that a lot of Southern Ocean whale populations are associated with the boundary and feed along the boundary. It wouldn't be too surprising if penguins do the same thing." (Eileen E. Hofmann, professor of ocean, earth and atmospheric sciences).

                                                                                                                                                  "Penguin decline due to global warming?"
                                                                                                                                                   National Geographic News, Sept. 13.

"It's an enigma," he said. "We don't know why. This is one of the reasons I'm writing research proposals to try to understand why this happens." Kent Carpenter, biology professor, replies to the question: What areas of the globe has the most diverse mixture of marine species? He led a research project lasting more than 10 years involving 101 marine experts who produced nearly 3,000 maps of marine species in the western Pacific Ocean. He suspected the center of biodiversity would be in the Pacific Ocean at the equator but found that the most species-rich portion of the oceans was actually in the Philippines." In the Philippines you can get in the water in a coral reef and in about 20 minutes you can enumerate 120 species of fish," he said. "If you get in the Chesapeake Bay and spend 20 minutes around one of the pilings under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, you may be able to count 10 species but normally three or four."

                                                                                                                                                   "Scientists seem to have their minds made up"
                                                                                                                                                   Daily Press, August 29

"I know it sounds good, but believe me, Navy subs are not sending waves into Virginia Beach, and certainly not from that distance." Larry Atkinson, professor of oceanography, cited that subs leaving Hampton Roads don't typically submerge until they reach the deep water at the edge of the continental shelf - 80 to 90 miles off Virginia Beach. He added that surfers are more likely to be seeing a natural phenomenon when storms at sea spawn big waves that travel in "packets", eventually reaching shore.

                                                                                                                                                   "Some surfers claim Navy subs stir up the sea"
                                                                                                                                                   Pilot Online, August 28

"A lot of times, it does feel like roulette," said Bryan Porter, a traffic psychologist, who has studied driver behavior in different circumstances, said he doesn't have direct data on the way drivers navigate private property. "My bet is they will follow rules that appear to overlap. You put up a speed limit sign, you put up directional arrows, chances are you will control driver behavior to some extent because those are signals," he says.

                                                                                                                                                   "Lots of chaos: as bustle of holiday shopping nears,
                                                                                                                                                    drivers must realize pitfalls of parking"                                                                                                                                                    Virginian-Pilot, November 1

"Eileen Hofmann, professor of oceanography in the Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography was quoted in more than 90 international and national news outlets this November regarding a study just published in the journal Nature. The story was first reported by the Associated Press and then ran in newspapers around the world including USA Today, New York Newsday, Los Angeles Times, The Miami Herald, Sydney Morning Herald and Independent UK. Networks ABC News, CNN, CNN International, MSNBC and CTV in Canada also picked up the story. The study purports that the main food source for Antarctic seals, whales and penguins has declined 80 percent since the 1970s in ocean waters near the Antarctic Peninsula. Hofmann has worked with the lead researcher, Angus Atkinson of the British Antarctic Survey, during her more than twenty years in the field.

"This is a high-profile news story because it has a lot of implications for the Antarctic," said Hofmann. "The paper has been in review at Nature for two years because they wanted to make sure they got it right."

To view the story, go to this web address:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2004-11-03-krill-decline_x.htm.

Other stories in Faculty Section..
Professional Achievements .
Cynthia Jones named Virginia Professor of the Year .
ODU Oceanography Professor Appointed to Presidential Commission on Arctic Research.
New Faculty Appointments.

Phyllis Brown, Editor
College of Sciences Newsletter
SciNews@odu.edu
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