Doug C. Schmidt

Dean of Computing Data Science & Physics

May 15th, 2025

John Delano received his PhD in geology at Stony Brook University and retired in late 2016 at the rank of Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He also was the Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University, and an Associate Director of a NASA Astrobiology Institute involving a consortium of five universities. He served on more than two dozen scientific advisory panels for both NASA and the National Science Foundation. His research was funded principally by NASA and resulted in 70 peer-reviewed articles in professional journals.  John entertains audiences on a wide range of topics and we are honored to have him with us once again.

John is the President of Vickerman Associates LLC, a firm specializing in the planning and design of ports, intermodal and freight logistics facilities and systems worldwide.

Much of John's work focuses on assisting ports and shipping companies to recognize and prepare for future market and technological changes.

John has worked on major port projects throughout North America and the world for more than 40 years. 67 of the 90 North American deep-water: general cargo ports have benefited from John's strategic port master planning and port development designs. His international practice includes work for many of the Canadian Ports,  Rotterdam and Hong Kong, Melbourne Australia, the Panama Canal Authority, the intermodal freight analysis for the Eurotunnel between England and France, the Port of Pecm, Brazil, the new Port of Castilla, Honduras and emerging new transshipment port and logistics projects in Latin-American.

John is both a licensed Civil Engineer and Registered Architect.

He retired as a Captain in the Civil Engineer Corps of the United States Navy Reserve after 38 years of continuous service.

Terrie’s Story:

They say superheroes don’t exist…, but as a young girl growing up, I was blessed to have my Grandma Ruby as my SUPERHERO.

I was insecure, bullied, and lacked self-confidence as a young girl.

My Grandma somehow knew what was happening to me; she never said anything and knew my self-image was fading.

She would always call me her Strong Girl, filling my head with encouraging words and stories of strength. She taught me how to feel secure, build resilience, act independently, and make sense of self-worth.

She embodied Positive Psychology and the “Strong Girl Spirit” in my brutal world. She was ahead of her time! She is why I feel called to coach, write, and speak today~ 

My practice is grounded in Positive Psychology, a research-based branch of psychology that studies what causes people to thrive and flourish in their lives and work and how we can apply those findings practically

November 21, 2024

Sepp Scanlin; Museum Director

(If you prepay and need to cancel we will issue a refund to your credit card)

This is a 45 minute presentation!

11:45 to 1:15 PM

Bob Dittman  will tell us about recycling efforts and solid waste disposal in the county.  

November 16, 2023

Dominion Energy is committed to building a sustainable energy future, with a plan to achieve net-zero carbon dioxide and methane emissions across their 16 states by 2050. When fully constructed in 2026, the CVOW project will deliver up to 8.8 million megawatts per year of clean, renewable energy to the grid, powering up to 660,000 Virginia homes. Providing this power with wind energy will avoid as much as 5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually — the equivalent of planting more than 80 million trees. 

Presenter: Crystal Bright