Some students and staff from ODU spent their spring break giving back to the Hampton Roads community through volunteer work, including a trip to the Brock Environmental Center on March 6 to help the Chesapeake Bay Foundation with oyster and reef restoration. This is the second year of ODU’s “alternative spring break” program which is led by the Office of Leadership and Learning. Photos Chuck Thomas/ODU
Jackie Shannon, who manages the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Virginia oyster restoration efforts, greets ODU students and staff at the Brock Environmental Center for ODU's alternative Spring Break. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
Dominique Scott (left) and Alexis Leona work together to build an oyster cage. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
Hafsah Sarfraz (left) and Jenn Grimm, director of ODU’s Office of Leadership and Learning, install hog clips to keep the oyster cages secure. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
Saige Hill, assistant director of ODU’s Monarch Internship and Co-Op Office, works on an oyster cage. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
A group of ODU students and staff work together preparing oyster cages. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
ODU students and staff sift through a pile of used oyster crates to see if any of them can be reused. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
ODU students and staff get a tour of the Brock Environmental Center. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
Lenora Thorbjornsen, director of academic advising for Interdisciplinary Schools at ODU, reads an educational display about oyster reefs in the lobby of the Brock Environmental Center. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
ODU students and staff learn about how the mobile oyster center operates. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
A pile of empty oyster shells that the Chesapeake Bay Foundation gathered from local restaurants. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
After the shells are bagged, they are arranged on pallets, forming what are referred to as "shell forests." Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
Jackie Shannon, who manages the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Virginia oyster restoration efforts, greets ODU students and staff at the Brock Environmental Center for ODU's alternative Spring Break. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
Dominique Scott (left) and Alexis Leona work together to build an oyster cage. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
Hafsah Sarfraz (left) and Jenn Grimm, director of ODU’s Office of Leadership and Learning, install hog clips to keep the oyster cages secure. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
Saige Hill, assistant director of ODU’s Monarch Internship and Co-Op Office, works on an oyster cage. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
A group of ODU students and staff work together preparing oyster cages. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
ODU students and staff sift through a pile of used oyster crates to see if any of them can be reused. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
ODU students and staff get a tour of the Brock Environmental Center. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
Lenora Thorbjornsen, director of academic advising for Interdisciplinary Schools at ODU, reads an educational display about oyster reefs in the lobby of the Brock Environmental Center. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
ODU students and staff learn about how the mobile oyster center operates. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
A pile of empty oyster shells that the Chesapeake Bay Foundation gathered from local restaurants. Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU
After the shells are bagged, they are arranged on pallets, forming what are referred to as "shell forests." Photo Chuck Thomas/ODU