The PhD, recently moved here from Palo Alto, rides her metallic pink road bike down Shore Drive heading home after working at the Research Center. A tom-boy ever since she can remember, inspite of being teased about it, pink has always been her favorite color. Especially the pink of a small song bird she saw with her grand father whom she dearly misses. She'd also love to see that song bird again so she could get the pink "right".
Talking on her iPhone in conference call mode, she explains to her 2 old room mates how great it is to have the opportunity to work so close to the Chesapeake Bay. Today she met a Scientist from New Orleans who's here to work with his team on the project they put together at the Research Center. His parents, who were stationed here in the 70's, were looking forward to their fishing trip here. They never did get to taste Lynnhaven Oysters before, & they're really looking forward to it now. Her room mates, one working for a Senator in DC, the other finishing her 2nd Grad Degree at Stanford, can't believe how inexpensive it is to live in Va Beach. They all chat about how much fun it'll be to reunite!
As she rides home she describes in detail, the birds she's studying that she never thought she'd have an opportunity to see, let alone save. Maybe she'll even find out what that pink song bird was that got her so interested in Ornithology.
They all chat about reuniting with another old friend from their undergrad days at Cornell's world reknowned Ornithology Lab.
The PhD is giving an indepth seminar to a few hundred of her colleagues traveling in from around the country to witness what "all the fuss is about". After all, since Va Beach has been gaining it's "green" reputation, Conventions around the "green theme" have been steadily increasing. This one revolves around sharing what's being learned so far in the creation & operation of the PHP Research Center. It's only been 7 months since the small footprint, off the grid building has been opened, but the video conferencing & flex offices has brought in a lot of people from around the country who've never seen anything like it.
Her girlfriends rib her about finding the right pink dress for the upcoming gatherings revolving around this Ornithology Convention. The PhD's husband, who's a VC working out of their home, hopes his brother has been able to finalize the plans for an Engineer coming in from Germany who's an expert in Wave Energy Technologies. Her brother-in-law hasn't been able to get him a hotel room which is ok. He's got a friend from Virginia Tech who can put him up.
The VT guy has been trying to pitch an idea to FIGG, builders of the new Signature Bridge, & the Engineer from Germany has offered to help with some suggestions. He has work with Stihl & has been here before & would love to bring his family to visit soon. The VT guy moved here a year ago to be closer to the Signature Bridge project. His calculations lead him to believe, his small startup had the perfect solution to testing various wind & wave technologies that could be incorporated into the bridge design. The more people he meets at the local coffee shop who are here energetically pitching ideas, the more it reminds him of home. Single, & in his mid-20's, he's seriously considering making Va Beach home. Even after the Bridge is completed. He's been impressed with all the green partnerships being worked out nearby and loves working at the cutting edge of technology. He's especially excited about his partnership with ODU & TCC.
The girls get off the phone when the PhD gets home from her ride. She hugs her kids, kisses her husband & they start chatting about looking forward to her sister driving down after her flight from Japan to DC. Her sister has never seen the east coast & thought it'd be cool to drive down the Eastern Shore since it's also the Atlantic Flyway.
She hopes the drive will help clear her mind so she can pull her ideas together for a video game she's the Lead Project Manager for. Her budget of $3M to develop the first version of the game was easy to get after she pitched the idea to Microsoft who saw the obvious long term benefits of jumping on the idea first. They felt very lucky that since she's also based in Seattle, that they were pitched the idea first. The Senator, who sat next to her on the flight from Japan, was glad he learned of her success too. There's no name for it yet, but it takes place around wetlands & the first version of the game is a pretty crazy idea that just might work.
