Field Trips

We are excited to offer three field trips on the Monday of the conference!

Notes for field trip attendees:

  • Please bring any snacks and refillable water bottles with you – all trips have water taps and restrooms. Prepare to carry in and carry out. Lunch will not be provided.
  • Dress accordingly for lab/field as tours will be inside and out. No open toed shoes for the 2 HRSD/USGS tours.
  • For the HRSD/USGS tours please bring a valid ID.
  • Trips will run rain or shine.
  • Plan to meet at the Convention Center pull-in area (off of 19th Street close to the Convention Center tower by the middle entranceway) at least 15 minutes before scheduled departure time or your space may be forfeited to someone on the waiting list. Attendees staying at the Holiday Inn and Suites- North Virginia Beach will be provided a shuttle, if requested, that will pick-up 25 minutes before departure time.
  • Due to the scheduling of a beach music festival starting Friday at noon, no field trips will run that day.
  • There are also numerous sites you can visit and activities in Va Beach you can plan on your own including the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center (accessible through a free bus), Beach Horseback Riding, Bike Rentals and local hikes. Please refer to: https://www.visitvirginiabeach.com/

SWIFT Lab and USGS Extensometer Tour

Register today!

Pre-registration required. Register by April 14, 2023.

SWIFT is an innovative water treatment initiative in eastern Virginia designed to ensure a sustainable source of groundwater while addressing environmental challenges such as Chesapeake Bay restoration, sea level rise and saltwater intrusion. The multi-year initiative will take already highly treated wastewater (that would otherwise be discharged into the Elizabeth, James or York rivers) through additional advanced water treatment to produce drinking quality water. This SWIFT Water will then be treated to match the existing groundwater chemistry and added to the Potomac Aquifer, the primary source of groundwater throughout eastern Virginia. This tour will include a visit to the Hampton Roads Sanitation District’s Nansemond Treatment Plant and Research Center in Suffolk, Va where the advanced water treatment takes place, as well as a USGS borehole Extensometer deployment near the site, that measures the compaction (and any resulting land subsidence) and expansion of the aquifer.

Related web resources: 

Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) Tour

Register today!

Pre-registration required. Register by April 14, 2023.

This tour will overview the Central Environmental Laboratory (CEL), Wastewater Surveillance Laboratory, and a USGS/HRSD Regional Water Quality Program monitoring station. The CEL provides analytical support to numerous monitoring, research and regulatory purposes with a state-of-the-art laboratory that uses the latest technology. The Wastewater Surveillance Laboratory allows HRSD to monitor raw wastewater for genetic targets indicating the presence of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing COVID-19), influenza A, influenza B, and monkeypox. Wastewater surveillance of these targets can provide human infection rate and trend information for the population of Hampton Roads served by HRSD facilities. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) partnered with the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) in cooperation with the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission to implement a regional water-quality monitoring program with the goals of collecting high quality nutrient and sediment data representative of the Coastal Plain, computing loads that can be compared to those developed for the Chesapeake Bay TMDL, and better informing local stormwater management decisions by enhancing understanding of the transport characteristics and loading rates of nutrients and total suspended solids delivered to Chesapeake Bay from these urban landscapes.

Brock Environmental Center Tour and Va. Beach Student Engagement

Register today!

Pre-registration required. Register by April 14, 2023.

For this tour and community service experience, conference attendees will be matched with high school students in the Va. Beach Environmental Studies Program at the site. The Environmental Studies Program offers a unique opportunity for junior and senior high school students to expand their understanding of sustainable economics and business innovation, social sustainability, environmental sustainability, and natural resource stewardship. The intent is to have the students give a tour of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Brock Center, which has achieved one of the toughest building standards in the world—a Living Building Challenge™ certification, and demonstrate what they are investigating and the stewardship projects they are undertaking. In exchange, we are hoping our attendees will be willing to share what they do, for who, and their career paths that lead them there.