On Monday, September 15, Dr. Wendy Stout, Director of the Virginia Tech Coastal Collaborator (VTCC) in Hampton Virginia hosted the inaugural Coastal Advisory Board meeting. The motto of the Coastal Collaborator at Virginia Tech is “Bringing the capacity of Virginia Tech to the Coast.” It was an honor to convene a group of impressive coastal leaders as they brought their incredible collective expertise. Mike Melo, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ITA International serves as our new Board Chair. Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, PhD, US Navy (ret), CEO of Ocean STL Consulting and former Under Secretary of Commerce and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) serves as our Vice Chair. Additional Board members include Chief Keith Anderson of the Nansemond Indian Nation; Jay Bernas, GM/CEO of the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD); Dr. Buck Cox, Founder of RIVERE Ecological Center; Trey Davis, President/CEO, Virginia Agribusiness Council; Chris Moore, Virginia Executive Director, Chesapeake Bay Foundation; Alex Samms, Chief Deputy, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality; and Elizabeth White, Partner, Senior Global Advisor in Sustainability, Impact, and Evaluation, in the private sector, previously with World Bank.
During the meeting, Dr. Stout and her staff shared achievements of the Coastal Collaborator since she became Director in March 2024, which included $1,629,370 in grant funding awarded directly to the VTCC with 61% grant success rate with awarded funding across 11 grant projects (where VTCC served as PI, co-PI, VT PI (subaward), or partner), 573 meetings with coastal stakeholders, 101 meetings with Virginia Tech faculty, collaboration with tribal partners, and hosting 13 student interns. The Advisory Board’s first action was to participate in strategic planning led by Mallory Tuttle and Scott Tate of the Center for Economic and Community Engagement. As part of this effort, board members develop a vision and mission statement for the VTCC. The VTCC Advisory Board offered many innovative ideas on how VT can continue to make a real impact in coastal communities through research and engagement. We look forward to the impact this board will drive in its first year!
Proposed Vision: The Virginia Tech Coastal Collaborator serves as Virginia Tech’s gateway to facilitate coastal economic growth, adaptation and resilience collaboration.
Proposed Mission: Virginia Tech Coastal Collaborator is the leading accelerator in bringing the best of Virginia Tech’s capacity to the coast, matching current and emerging coastal economic opportunities and resilience challenges to solutions. The Virginia Tech Coastal Collaborator will foster collaborative partnerships that support entrepreneurship in the region’s blue economy, as well as risk reduction and capacity building for adaptation.
We look forward to our next Advisory Board meeting in the Spring!