Month: November 2021

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After 16 years of service and leadership at Virginia Tech, Matt Hulver is leaving next week for a tremendous opportunity to serve as the Vice President of Research at Arizona State University.

During Matt’s tenure as the Executive Director of The Fralin Life Sciences Institute (FLSI) he worked tirelessly to develop strategic direction for the new Institute after the merger of University resources from the former Fralin Life Science Institute and the Biocomplexity Institute. Over the last two years, he was instrumental in facilitating the charters of two new centers, The Center for Zoonotic, Emerging, and Arthropod-Borne Pathogens and The Center for Translational Plant Sciences. Formation of these new centers was part of a larger strategy to bring cohesiveness and visibility to one of Virginia Tech’s greatest strengths, the environmental-related sciences. Matt also effectively worked with his leadership team to support and develop cross-campus initiatives to make Virginia Tech a more diverse and inclusive community, including new partnerships with the Graduate School, the Multicultural Academic Opportunities Program, the Office of Inclusion and Diversity, and the Virginia Tech Recovery Community. Matt’s efforts improved operations of Virginia Tech Core Services, created new communities of collaboration in Steger Hall, provided support and infrastructure for a new NSF-funded center and multiple training grant programs, created several new live animal research facilities, and generated new collaborations with the Institute of Society, Culture, and Environment that benefit the entire University. Matt regularly worked cooperatively with academic units to recruit and retain outstanding faculty, and to acquire new state-of-the-science equipment to foster team science and innovative research.

In a short time, Matt’s accomplishments, vision, character, and thoughtful approach to leadership garnered the attention and respect of faculty, University leaders, and key external stakeholders around the Commonwealth. Matt, thank you for providing FLSI with a strong foundation and launch-point for a vibrant future! We will miss you, but your legacy will live on and we wish you well with your exciting new endeavors.

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November 30, 2021

Jeff Walters joined the Virginia Tech community in 1994 as the Harold H. Bailey Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. He has served on the editorial boards of multiple journals and has published more than 150 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters on subjects pertaining to conservation biology, behavioral ecology and population biology.  Walters received the 2002 Elliott Coues Award from the American Ornithologists’ Union, the 2013 Virginia Tech Alumni Research Award for Research Excellence, the first annual Global Change Center Faculty Service Award in 2019, and two awards from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for his conservation and teaching activities. Walters acts as the graduate director for the Department of Biological Sciences and is a member of the Integrative Organismal Biology group.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Walters is also a founding member of the Global Change Center. Helping to lay the framework of what is now an 80+ faculty-strong program in 2014, he remains an integral leader in the community. He currently advises Interfaces of Global Change (IGC) Fellows David Millican, Noah McNeill, Leah Novak, and Amber Wendler and advised Alumna Fellow Maya Wilson. Drawing from his own experiences, Walters is also an active contributor to the IGC curriculum, to include leading Fellows through science arbitration exercises.

Specializing in the behavioral ecology and conservation of birds, Walters has worked effectively with government agencies, NGOs, and the public to achieve and promote conservation of bird populations. His research of endangered birds has taken him across the world from the pine forests of the Bahamas to Namibian Dry Savanna. And while his research has taken him to far lands, much of his efforts have been closer to home with the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker. Walters has studied populations of red-cockaded woodpeckers in the North Carolina Sandhills since 1980, and in Florida since 1995. His work has provided  insight into the species’ unique cooperative breeding, allowed him to develop science-based population management strategies, and has emphasized the impact of climate change on the species’ survival.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”59124″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”59123″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Along with his research, Walters is also actively engaged in the science-policy interface, frequently serving on panels that evaluate relevant science to inform important policy decisions and in management applications of research. He has served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Committee on Everglades Restoration Progress six out of nine times that the committee has convened since 2004. As part of the Water Resources Development Act of 2000, the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan seeks to return the Everglades to its natural beauty and create a water system that serves both the natural and the human needs of South Florida. The most recent report, Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades: The Eighth Biennial Review – 2020, was made public in August. More about his work with the committee can be read in this recently published article.

For more information about Walter’s research and engagement in science policy, please visit the Walters Lab Website.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator style=”shadow”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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November 23, 2021

Earlier this month, the Department of Geography in the College of Natural Resources and Environment invited climate advocate Dr. Jeremy Hoffman to take part in their Geography Diversity and Inclusion lecture series. Dr. Hoffman is a climate scientist and resilience specialist at the Science Museum of Virginia, and affiliated faculty in the Center for Environmental Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University. His lecture, “Mapping climate inequity and fostering climate action,” focused on the effect of climate change on vulnerable populations.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”58995″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”58994″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]During his visit, seven Interfaces of Global Change (IGC) Fellows had the opportunity to meet with Hoffman and discuss climate change in the Old Guard Room at Preston’s Restaurant. Over a steaming cup of coffee and a warm breakfast, the Fellows shared their research interests, experience in science advocacy, career goals, and more. In turn, Hoffman was able to share his unique perspective and experience at the interface of society and science.  Dr. Hoffman has interacted with our global change community multiple times over the years, including a jointly sponsored public lecture by the GCC and Hahn Garden, and a guest appearance in one of our IGC seminar courses.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Professional development experiences such as this are an important part of the IGC IGEP and all Fellows are encouraged to participate in future events. Reach out to the IGC Graduate Student Organization for more information.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator style=”shadow”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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November 16, 2021

The Virginia Tech Science Festival has returned to campus this year with free hands-on learning interactive booths and activities that showcase dozens of science education and research programs throughout the university. Once again, IGC Fellows volunteered to teach local students important lessons in global change science. This year, Gaëlle Blanvillain, Sam Lane, Chloe Moore, Melissa Burt, (pictured above) and Alaina Weinheimer teamed up to help 3rd graders from Gilbert Linkous Elementary understand what a watershed is and what happens to the rain that falls on the mountainous land around us.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”58851″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”58850″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The educational activity, created by Expedition Northwest, allowed students to visualize how water travels through an ecosystem similar to our own. During the activity, students crumpled pieces of paper to simulate the surface of an ecosystem with a mountainous terrain and then drew a river with water-soluble markers. After completing their drawing, they sprayed the piece of paper with water to simulate rain and watched the colors bleed in a way that resembles how water and its particulates (e.g. soil particles, pollutants, etc.) move.

“The students were about to hypothesize where they thought the water would flow if it rained, and then test their theory in real-time” Alaina Weinheimer said. “The activity is a great opportunity to build discussion of potential issues that global change (e.g. habitat loss, pollution, etc) might cause by using watersheds as a starting point,” added Melissa Burt.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”58845″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”58847″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”58849″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”58856″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Thank you Gaelle, Melissa, Sam, Chloe, Alaina, and the IGC Graduate Student Organization for representing the GCC with another superb Science Festival exhibit![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator style=”shadow”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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November 16, 2021

Graduate students from across the Virginia Tech community recently gathered for the opportunity to improve their science communication and poster-making skills. IGC Fellows Abby Lewis, Amanda Hensley, Heather Wander, and Emma Bueren partnered with the Virginia Tech Center for Communicating Science to organize this event in anticipation of their upcoming IGC capstone project: Flip the Fair.

Flipped science fairs literally flip the traditional science fair format on its head by having elementary school student judges evaluate graduate students presenting their research. Local elementary students learn about important scientific concepts from real scientists in a small-group setting, with plenty of opportunities to ask questions and participate in hands-on demonstrations. The presenters, in turn, learn to tailor their research pitch to a general audience, with emphasis on keeping things exciting, understandable, and relevant.

In order to prepare the graduate students for the fair, two workshops were held simultaneously at the Blacksburg and the Roanoke campuses. Training focused on building skills for presenting to broader audiences, which is easier said than done. “Human beings gain ability and confidence by practicing difficult skills,” said Patty Raun, Director of the Virginia Tech Center for Communicating Science. “Too often in higher education we are expected to learn how to do challenging things by reading about them or listening to lectures. The communicating science experiences we provide in our workshops allow participants to expand their comfort zones and develop confidence by practicing communication skills in a safe and creative way.  Participants don’t have to imagine it . . . they do it!”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”58838″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”58837″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Initial funding for the idea came from an American Geophysical Union Sharing Science Grants awarded to Lewis earlier this Fall. It has since grown to a large collaborative project with stakeholders including the Global Change Center, The Center for Communicating Science, the Virginia Tech Communicating Science Club, The Center for Educational Networks and Impacts, and the Roanoke Public Libraries.

“Our Flip the Fair event is an opportunity for graduate students to practice science communication and receive feedback from the toughest audience—children,” said Lewis. “At this initial workshop, participants received training in science communication, started thinking about how to design posters for the event, and discussed diversity, equity, and inclusion with assistant director for the Graduate School Office of Recruitment, Diversity, and Inclusion Justin Grimes,” she added.

Initially anticipating 25 participants, interest in the workshop was so great that organizers had to find larger accommodations for the 34 in attendance. For Abby and the other fellows, it was a moment to savor. “After months of planning, it was so exciting to finally meet all of our participants!” Abby shared.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”58834″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The flipped science fair will be held Saturday, February 5, 2022 from 1-3 p.m. at the Melrose Branch Library in Roanoke and is open to the public. The event will require registration and more information will be available in the coming months.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator style=”shadow”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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November 16, 2021

Julie Shortridge is an assistant professor and extension specialist in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. Her research focuses on making water resource systems more sustainable, robust, and resilient through the use of systems engineering methodologies, machine learning, simulation, and statistical modeling. In particular, she is interested in how complex water resource systems with engineered, natural, and human components can be proactively managed to address changes in climate, land use, and environmental policies over the short- and long-term. Shortridge is also interested in refining traditional methods for risk assessment and management so that they are better suited to emerging, “wicked” challenges such as climate change, invasive species, and emerging diseases.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Before joining the Global Change Center community, Shortridge completed her undergraduate research in Environmental Engineering Science at the University California, Berkeley, a Master’s in Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, followed by a Ph.D. in Geography and Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins. Prior to conducting her graduate studies, she spent six years working as an engineer focused on groundwater contamination and remediation, and as a consultant for the United Nations Environment Program on disaster preparedness.

During her time at Virginia Tech, Shortridge has collaborated with a number of GCC Affiliates including Drs. Anamaria Bukvic and Ryan Calder, who were recently part of a multi-institution study examining the current and future impacts that climate change will have on coastal lands and cities. Their Journal of Marine Science and Engineering article calls for improved communication efforts among scientists, stakeholders, policy makers, and minority and poor residents.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”58823″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”58825″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Shortridge is also active in Virginia Cooperative Extension work, leading the Water, Irrigation, and Drainage section. Her efforts through extension programming include creating helpful resources for Virginia agricultural producers and water managers, and workshops (see video below).

For more information about Shortridge’s work, visit the Water Systems Lab.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdA0RhYwZ9c” align=”center” title=”Virginia Cooperative Extension Agriculture Today: Irrigation Tips for Row Crops”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator style=”shadow”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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November 9, 2021

Microbial communities, or microbiomes, are central to life on earth. Nearly every habitat and organism hosts a diverse community of microbes forming their collective microbiome. Each day we walk through a vast invisible network of environmental microorganisms. And GCC Affiliate Frank Aylward’s research as led him to study microorganisms from both the land and the sea.

Aylward’s first interest in the interface of microbes, ecology, and evolution started in rural southern Arizona where he grew up. His interests led him to complete his undergraduate education at University of Arizona where he studied the origins of multicellular organisms using green algae. He then obtained a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he researched the symbiotic relationship between leaf-cutter ants, cultivated “fungus gardens” where they procure their food, and the commensal microbial community that facilitates the system.

Returning his interests to the aquatic biosphere, Aylward joined the lab of famed marine microbiologist, Edward DeLong. Working at both the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Aylward explored the ecological function of cyanobacteria in the open ocean and its importance as a marine keystone species.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Aylward joined the Virginia Tech and the Global Change Center (GCC) community in 2017, as assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. Aylward’s current research broadly focuses on microbial diversity and genome evolution in multiple different microbial groups, including giant viruses, bacteriophages, and several lineages of bacteria and archaea.

In a 2020 Nature article, Aylward revealed the impact that large, double-stranded DNA viruses, or “giant viruses,” have on eukaryotic organisms and their ecosystems around the globe. “By introducing new genomic material into hosts, viruses can shape the evolution of cellular life through a process called endogenization,” said Aylward.

In an article published earlier that year,  Aylward found, “several giant virus genomes that encode genes typically only found in cells, some of which appear to be involved in metabolic processes,” he added. This work reveals the importance of viruses in eukaryotic evolution and portends what may happen to current species as climate change creates ecological pressure around the world. IGC Fellow and co-author of the study Alaina Weinheimer, is pursuing this line of inquiry further as part of her doctoral degree.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”58712″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”58714″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Aylward Lab is also interested in examining the ecology and evolution of major bacterial and archaeal lineages across the Tree of Life through broad phylogenomic analysis. This research interest has led Alyward to collaborate with other members of the GCC community such as GCC Affiliates Jeb Barrett, Brian Badgley, and Brian Strahm, and IGC Alumnus Ernie Osburn. Together, they recently published a paper examining relationships of microbial diversity with ecosystem functioning in forest soil samples. Aylward was also part of the GCC Microbiome Working Group, and has co-led “Introduction to Microbial Community Analysis” along with other group members David Haak, Brian Badgley, and Lisa Belden since Spring 2019.

Since his time here, Aylward has garnered numerous awards such as the 2018 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in Ocean Sciences and the 2019 Simons Foundation Early Career Award in Marine Microbial Ecology and Evolution. Additionally, he is the primary investigator of an Infrastructure Innovation for Biological Research grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Outside of research and academia, Aylward has taken part in outreach activities such as promoting the Virginia Tech Systems Biology at Blacksburg Community High School and participating as a judge at the 2018 Virginia Tech Research Day.  More recently, Aylward was featured in an episode of the podcast, Finding Genius, where he discussed the importance of studying giant viruses. 

For more information about his research, visit the Aylward Lab or watch his recent Virginia Tech Life Science Seminar below.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSooDAEBbsg” align=”center” title=”Larger than Life: The Underexplored World of Giant Viruses with Dr. Frank Aylward”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator style=”shadow”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]