Category: IGC

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Announcements Blog GSO IGC Interfaces of Global Change IGEP Outreach

IGC Fellows gear up and clean up the New River

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September 7, 2021

While many members of the Virginia Tech community stayed in to recover from the first week of classes, a small group of the Global Change Center’s Interfaces in Global Change (IGC) Fellows were working hard to clean the New River on Saturday, August 28th. Organized by Outreach Chair Melissa Burt of  the IGC’s Graduate Student Organization, Fellows joined hundreds of other community members who took to various sections of the river as part of the New River Valley Regional Commission’s ReNew The New annual Fall event.

Thank you to Sam Silknetter, Jennifer Brousseau, Becca O’Brien, Caleb O’Brien, and all other members of the GCC community who work to keep our local waterways clean!

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All photos courtesy of Sam Silknetter, Jennifer Brousseau, Becca O’Brien, and Caleb O’Brien. 

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Announcements Blog GSO IGC

IGC GSO transitions to new officers for 2021-2022

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As we welcome in the newest officers of the IGC GSO, we also want to take a moment to thank all the officers who are finishing up their term. The IGC GSO exists to benefit the IGC community as a whole through student contributions to infrastructural, educational, and social investments and activities. Thank you, 2020-2021 officers, for all your contributions this past year.

Congratulations to our newest officers!

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Chloe Moore
President

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Alaina Weinheimer
Vice President

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Devin Hoffman
Secretary

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Josh Mouser
Treasurer

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Melissa Burt
Outreach Chair

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Rebecca O’Brian
Sustainability Officer

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Caleb O’Brien
Professional Development   Co-Chair

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Jennifer Brousseau
Professional Development   Co-Chair

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Isaac VanDiest
Social Chair

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Amanda Hensley
IG3C Co-Chair

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Tyler Weiglein
IG3C Co-Chair

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Lauren Maynard
DEI Chair

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Categories
Advocacy Blog Educational Outreach Environmental Justice Global Change IGC Interfaces of Global Change IGEP Outreach Research Student Spotlight

IGC Fellows engage in science policy action through the Virginia-Science Community Interface coalition

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August 3, 2021

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As conservationist Rachel Carson once said, “The human race is challenged more than ever before to demonstrate our mastery, not over nature, but of ourselves.”  This sentiment is even more important today in a world that is facing a climate crisis. Through the interdisciplinary graduate education program of the Global Change Center (GCC), Interfaces of Global Change (IGC) Fellows are trained to uphold the GCC mission: to advance interdisciplinary scholarship and education to address critical global changes impacting the environment and society. The program empowers students with tools to be successful in collaborative research and to engage the wider community as part of the solution to global environmental challenges. One way in which Fellows have fulfilled this mission is through the creation and development of the Virginia-Science Community Interface coalition.

Started in 2019, The Virginia Scientist-Community Interface (V-SCI) is a coalition of scientists and engineers who are dedicated to getting science into the hands of community members. The inception of V-SCI was based on the fact that, while community-driven advocacy and activism can often be backed up by science, this expertise is not always available for local issues. Thus their mission is to provide scientific expertise for community-driven activism and advocacy in Virginia and the region as an independent and volunteer-led organization. The work often involves cross-checking industry and government documents with scientific literature across multiple disciplines.

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We work at the interface between scientists and nonprofit, grassroots, and community leaders to provide expertise for local and regional advocacy issues.

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A number of IGC Fellows have co-authored reports, led projects, and given presentations as part of the coalition, including Isaac VanDiest, Daniel Smith, Joshua Rady, Kerry Gendreau, Alaina Weinheimer, and Tyler Weiglein. Together, they aim to empower communities to advocate for themselves. Reflecting on his experience with V-SCI, Isaac says, “My graduate program has taught me about global change in the classroom, and V-SCI has given me the opportunity to put skills to work in a real-world setting.” An added benefit to the coalition is that students from different universities across the Southeast are able to interact and address a diverse set of local and national issues. As Daniel says, “V-SCI has allowed me to broaden my knowledge of science and policy, and to immediately apply that knowledge to solve a problem. The consistency of the group meetings has helped me gain confidence in work outside of my direct area of research.”

Fellows recently shared their work through a presentation titled, “V-SCI: Connecting Science with Local Environmental Advocacy,” at the 6th Annual IGC Research Symposium this past spring. Additionally, Isaac, Daniel, Joshua, and Kerry are working to designate V-SCI as an official IGC IGEP capstone project and encourage other Fellows to join.

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The coalition has created multiple reports addressing local environmental efforts in the community such as the Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC’s (MVP) proposal, the Eviction Crisis for Seniors in Virginia during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Impact of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline on at-risk-species. Current projects that are actively recruiting volunteers include addressing industrial pollution in southwest Virginia, exploratory healthcare advocacy work, and protecting the candy darter. 

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Advancing their mission will require continued efforts from objective scientists who are interested in community advocacy. With over 100 graduate student members from 7 institutions in their growing network, V-SCI provides ample networking, leadership, and research opportunities. Currently, V-SCI is looking to recruit more members for ongoing projects this summer. The coalition welcomes individuals at all levels and from all backgrounds, both personally and professionally. No disciplinary knowledge related to the projects is expected and they are happy to provide mentorship.

The coalition also continually seeks feedback and reviews from senior scientists who support their mission. If you are interested in learning more about their work and how to get involved, V-SCI leaders hold open office hours every Friday at 1pm EST (zoom link here).

For more information, view the V-SCI Student Group Flyer, or contact info@viginiasci.org.  

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Categories
Announcements Global Change IGC Interfaces of Global Change IGEP

Meet the new Interfaces of Global Change Curriculum Committee

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July 26, 2021

Meet the newest members of the Interfaces of Global Change Curriculum Committee (IG3C), GCC faculty members Jennifer Russell and Holly Kindsvater, and IGC Fellows Amanda Hensley and Tyler Weiglein.

Several Global Change Center faculty members and IGC Fellows have recently completed terms on the committee. We extend sincere gratitude to Bruce Hull, Jeff Walters, Sarah Kuchinsky, and Melissa Burt for their service. We would also like to highlight the leadership of Bruce and Jeff, who have provided immense energy and guidance over the past several years to evolve and strengthen the IGC curriculum. The entire IG3C team has navigated a tumultuous 18 months in our academic journey and guided the IGC community and seminar endeavors admirably. Thank you, all!

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Current IG3C Members

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Julia Gohlke
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Erin Hotchkiss
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Cully Hession
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Michelle Stocker

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Jennifer Russell
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Holly Kindsvater
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Amanda Hensley
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Tyler Weiglein
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A special thank you to these outgoing IG3C members!

We deeply appreciate your time, energy, and balanced guidance in this leadership role. 

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Bruce Hull

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Jeff Walters

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Sarah Kuchinsky

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Melissa Burt

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator color=”black” style=”shadow”][vc_column_text]The Interfaces of Global Change Curriculum Committee (IG3C) is the primary entity responsible for visioning, oversight, and implementation of the IGC IGEP curriculum.  Primary duties entail visioning, planning, and delivering of the annual fall and spring seminar courses.  These duties include ensuring continuity of existing high-quality graduate programming, as well as ideation and visioning to meet the evolving programmatic needs of the growing, diverse IGC IGEP student population.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Categories
Announcements IGC Interfaces of Global Change IGEP

Welcome new GCC Advisory Committee Members

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July 27, 2021

Several Global Change Center faculty members have recently completed terms on the GCC Advisory Committee. Each member has shown great leadership and resilience during a year of an unprecedented global adversities through their research, teaching, and guidance of the GCC.  Please join us in thanking Brian Badgley, Kelly Cobourn, Brian Romans, and Kendra Sewall, who have provided extraordinary service over the past two years!

Welcome Leandro Castello, Chloé Lahondère, Kevin McGuire, and Ignacio Moore who will serve through 2023![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_separator style=”double” css=”.vc_custom_1597703213177{margin-top: 3px !important;}”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]

Current GCC Advisory Board Members

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Bill Hopkins

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Sally Entrekin

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David Haak

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Leah Johnson

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Leandro Castello
New member

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Chloé Lahondère
New member

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Kevin McGuire
New member

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Ignacio Moore
New member

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A special thank you to these outgoing Advisory Committee members!

We deeply appreciate your time, energy, and balanced guidance in this leadership role. 

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Brian Badgley

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Kelly Cobourn

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Brian Romans

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Kendra Sewall

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The Global Change Center Advisory Committee is composed of GCC affiliated Virginia Tech faculty representing the broadly defined thematic areas of the center (habitat loss, pollution, invasive species, disease, climate change), plus others in relevant fields (e.g., sociology, economics, policy, history). Committee members are appointed by the GCC Director Bill Hopkins for two-year terms, and represent a balance of perspectives and interests from around campus. The mission of the committee is to develop policies, goals, and directives of the center, as well as assisting in conducting the center’s business.

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Categories
Accolades Announcements IGC Interfaces of Global Change IGEP

Congratulations to Interfaces of Global Change IGEP 2021-22 Global Change Interdisciplinary Graduate Assistantship Awardees!

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June 28, 2021

 

The Interfaces of Global Change IGEP awards four Ph.D. fellowships every academic year, each covering tuition and stipend. These graduate research assistantships are awarded based on the student’s professional credentials, the student’s level of engagement in the IGC IGEP, pertinence of the student’s research to global change, the interdisciplinary nature of the work, and the student’s plan for using the one-year fellowship.

Please join us in congratulating Chloe Moore, Luciana Alves Pereira, Meredith Semel, and Sara Teemer Richards – recipients of this year’s IGC Fellowships![/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text]

Redundant or complementary? Identifying patterns of multifaceted anuran biodiversity in the United States

 

Chloe Moore

Department of Biological Sciences

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Meryl Mims

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”56364″ img_size=”500×500″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_border”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]“I am interested in disentangling the processes underlying patterns of biodiversity and identifying why species occur where they do to improve biodiversity conservation efforts. Many species’ habitats are under threat from global change, such as habitat loss, climate change, and invasive species. Through my research, I aim to inform local communities on the complexities of biological variation around them. To build species distribution models predicting where anuran (frog and toad) species occur, I use community science occurrence databases, such as iNaturalist. In Spring 2019, I was the herpetology leader for the Blacksburg City Nature Challenge, the local contribution to a global iNaturalist event. Using the Hidden Rivers event as inspiration, my plan is to further involve the Blacksburg community by facilitating an event combining community focused occurrence collection and discussions of how we can measure and conserve our local biodiversity.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Receiving this fellowship will allow Chloe to expand her interdisciplinary research by incorporating genetic data into her investigation of biodiversity. It will also aid her in planning the iNaturalist outreach event with the Blacksburg City Nature Challenge and VT Science Festival.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text]

Movement, population structure, and growth of shovelnose catfishes Pseudoplatystoma in the Amazon Basin

 

Luciana Alves Pereira 

Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation

Faculty Mentors: Dr. Leandro Castello and Dr. Eric Hallerman

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]“My research is interdisciplinary and relates to global change as it integrates ecology, genetics, and conservation to help solve the problem of overexploitation and habitat degradation in the Amazon Basin. I am studying the migration of two Amazonian species of catfish, Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum, and P. tigrinum. These catfish are threatened by widespread illegal fishing and construction of hydropower dams that block their migratory movements. Despite these threats, their migrations have not been studied. I am addressing two questions: 1) What is the migration ecology of P. tigrinum and P. fasciatum and, 2) do P. tigrinum and P. fasciatum possess homing behavior? My research will thus produce knowledge needed to develop science-based policies to sustainably manage and conserve these catfish.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”56362″ img_size=”500×500″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_border”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The IGC fellowship will enable Luciana to more rapidly advance her research, coordinate field sampling of catfish in the Amazon, and build expertise and knowledge towards completing her thesis. She also plans to apply communication skills gained through the IGC to develop a workshop with the purpose of informing results from her research to key stakeholders, including the fishing community, government officials, and hydropower companies.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text]

Conservation of wild lemurs: using poop, technology, community outreach, and entrepreneurial activities to conserve a critically endangered species

 

Meredith Semel

Department of Biological Sciences

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ignacio Moore

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”56363″ img_size=”1200×900″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_border”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]“My strong desire to work at the interface of science education and international conservation (specifically in Madagascar) drove me to attend graduate school at Virginia Tech and to engage with the IGC program. The IGC program has provided me with the science communication and policy skills needed to be successful. My graduate research investigates the influence of environmental and anthropogenic factors on lemur social behavior, movement, stress physiology, and conservation planning with a focus on the critically endangered golden-crowned sifaka (Propithecus tattersalli). To that end, I have completed four field seasons in the Loky-Manambato Protected Area of northern Madagascar, during which I collected over 2,000 fecal samples, 110 plant samples, and 4,000 hours of behavioral data from sifaka groups across their entire global range.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This fellowship will allow Meredith to complete three new collaborative projects directly related to her dissertation work: 1) understanding the structure of the golden-crowned sifaka gut microbiome, 2) designing specialty housings for novel lemur GPS collars, and 3) continued local outreach in Madagascar and initiation of new entrepreneurial activities.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text]

Effects of temperature on behavior and disease transmission in house finches

 

Sara Teemer Richards

Department of Biological Sciences

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Dana Hawley

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]“Widespread transmission of infectious disease has the ability to bring the world to a devastating halt, and simple interactions between healthy and infected individuals can alter life for millions. Yet, we still know little about which behaviors influence infectious disease spread in non-human animals, and how those change with environmental factors. My work uses a contact tracing method–fluorescent powder that can be detected in trace amounts with a UV light–to reveal the links between environmental factors, behavior, and contact rates in a wildlife host system subject to outbreaks of a deadly infectious disease. House finches are a common songbird species in the United States that experience seasonal outbreaks of conjunctivitis caused by the bacterium Mycoplasma gallisepticum. However, little is known about the factors affecting transmission of this disease. Understanding the nuances of conjunctivitis transmission in finches can give insight to other diseases, especially when considered in the context of a rapidly changing world.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”45564″ img_size=”600×600″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_border”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The IGC Fellowship will provide Sara much needed financial and logistical support and will allow her to focus on interdisciplinary research and science communication efforts. Outside of the experiments and lab work, she looks forward to presenting her work at local and national conferences, as well as mentoring and training new undergraduate and graduate students joining the lab.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator style=”shadow”][vc_column_text]The Interfaces of Global Change (IGC) program is an innovative interdisciplinary graduate education program designed to address the multidimensional aspects of global change.  Funded by the Virginia Tech Graduate School with additional support from the Fralin Life Sciences Institute (FLSI), this program is one of several Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Programs (IGEPs). These programs address a variety of complex societal issues requiring interdisciplinary teams of scholars. Participants (Ph.D. Fellows) typically enter the program at the beginning of their graduate studies and continue to participate throughout their time at Virginia Tech.

The Interfaces of Global Change program is closely aligned with the Global Change Center, one of four campus-wide research centers housed within FLSI, which focuses on the social, economic, and environmental causes and consequences of rapid global change.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator style=”shadow”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Accolades Announcements IGC Interfaces of Global Change IGEP

IGC Fellow Lauren Maynard receives NSF Non-Academic Research Internship for Graduate Student (INTERN) Award

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March 29, 2021

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IGC fellow Lauren Maynard, PhD candidate in Susan Whitehead’s lab, has received a NSF Non-Academic Research Internships for Graduate Students (INTERN) award to support an internship with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.  During the six-month internship, which begins this summer, she will work on a collaborative research project with senior scientist John Parker and participate in mentoring and outreach activities within the Smithsonian Institution.

As a scientist, Lauren is interested in plant-animal interactions and the chemical mechanisms that mediate them. Her dissertation research aims to understand the ecological consequences and functional roles of plant chemistry in multi-species interactions with both mutualists and antagonists. During her internship at SERC, she will focus on the interaction among plants, invertebrate herbivores, and vertebrate predators. When attacked by an insect herbivore, plants emit complex chemical cues—herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs). HIPVs are commonly used as foraging cues by invertebrate carnivores, and there is mixed evidence that they are used by birds. However, it is unknown if insectivorous bats use HIPVs as foraging cues. The primary objective of her project is to examine the ecological role of HIPVs in insectivorous bat and bird foraging.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”28246″ img_size=”large” style=”vc_box_border”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Lauren is excited for how this internship will position her to work at the interface between basic and applied science and to translate current advances in chemical ecology to agriculture and conservation. After completing her Ph.D., Lauren aims to work for a natural history museum in a position that combines research with outreach and extension. This NSF INTERN award and project with the Smithsonian Institute will bolster her career goals by providing experiences to work directly with agriculture, research and extension farms, as well as growers in the surrounding communities, and to hone her science communication skills.

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Categories
Announcements Conservation Educational Outreach IGC Interfaces of Global Change IGEP Science Communication Water

IGC Fellows, VT Stream Team, and New River Land Trust create educational outreach Stream Box

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March 22, 2021

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Members of the VT Stream Team outreach committee, including Interfaces of Global Change IGEP fellows, Abby Lewis & Heather Wander, have created a “stream box” as part of an educational outreach initiative.  The stream box, a beautifully hand-painted mailbox located near the Nature Play Space at Blacksburg’s Heritage Park, is filled with activities and ID guides for people of all ages to learn about Tom’s Creek.  The project is a collaboration with the New River Land Trust, a local non-profit formed to protect farmland, forests, open spaces and historical places in Virginia’s New River region, and their Youth Education program, which also stewards the Nature Play Space at Heritage Park.

The Stream Team Outreach committee initially headed out to Tom’s Creek for a trash clean-up endeavor last fall, but didn’t find any trash to remove!  They instead chatted with a family by the creek to inquire what they might like to see related to environmental outreach in the area.  The family recommended ID guides – they loved to come out to the creek to explore but didn’t have the knowledge or resources needed to identify what they find.  This encounter sparked the idea for the Stream Box project.  The Stream Team group then reached out to the New River Land Trust outreach coordinator, Melissa “Mel” Henry, to pitch the idea and collaborate.  Mel helped with obtaining permission from the Town of Blacksburg Parks & Recreation department, designing educational materials, and also connected the group with Will Lattea, the Environmental Management Specialist for the Town of Blacksburg, who provided photos and resource ideas for the box.

What’s in the Stream Box?  One activity is designed to help kids observe how different sections of the stream move faster than others by “experimenting” with sticks in the water.  Another activity, called “Hear, See, Smell, Touch” asks kids to slowly and carefully make observations about the world around them.  Also included are scavenger hunts, a tutorial for how to use the iNaturalist app, basic ID guides for plants, reptiles and amphibians, and macro-invertebrates that are likely to be observed near the stream.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Substantial contributions to this project were made by Grace O’Malley, Jared Conner, Katherine Pérez Rivera, and Abby Lewis, all from the VT Stream Team.  Heather Wander, Tadhg Moore, and Adrienne Breef-Pilz also helped brainstorm projects ideas last fall.  Funding for the project is provided by the VT Stream Team. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”54887″ img_size=”large”][vc_single_image image=”54905″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_single_image image=”54890″ img_size=”large”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”54888″ img_size=”large”][vc_single_image image=”54912″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_border”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator style=”shadow”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Accolades Announcements IGC Interfaces of Global Change IGEP

IGC Fellow Alaina Weinheimer selected as American Society of Microbiology Young Ambassador to Virginia

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February 3, 2021

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IGC fellow Alaina Weinheimer has been selected as the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Young Ambassador to Virginia. Because Virginia Tech (VT) doesn’t have a formal microbiology department, Alaina was motivated to apply for this role to support her effort in creating opportunities to bring together grad students and researchers in the field. As ASM Young Ambassador to Virginia, she will serve as a point of communication between microbiologists here at VT and the surrounding area for events, materials, and other resources provided by ASM. She is also planning to revive the student chapter of ASM at VT to provide a communication outlet and foster collaboration between local microbiology grad students.

If you are interested to learn more about Alaina’s ASM initiatives, send her an email here.

Congrats on your leadership designation, Alaina!

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IGC IGCoffeeConvo Interfaces of Global Change IGEP

IGCoffeeConvo with Susan Whitehead

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November 20, 2020

Written by Gaelle Blanvillain

We resumed our IGC CoffeeConvo session over Zoom this Fall 2020 semester on November 16 with GCC faculty Dr. Susan Whitehead meeting with IGC fellows Isaac VanDiest, Korin Jones and Gaelle Blanvillain.  This was a great opportunity to not only chat about science, but also to interact in an informal way with each other, something that is becoming increasingly rare during this Covid-19 era.

Our conservation ranged broad topics, we all discussed what our PhD research projects entail, from foraging behavior in birds using cool techniques like metabarcoding, to the microbiome of frogs in the light of climate change and an emerging disease, chytridiomycosis, to the emergence of snake fungal disease in Europe, which could have devastating population effects.  We related our research projects to how Covid-19 has impacted our field season, and some of our future research questions.  We realized that we might have to slightly shift paths to make our research feasible while Covid-19 is impacting our lives.

On a more personal note, we also shared some of the struggles we are encountering, and how we are coping in this unprecedented situation.  This might take the form of drinking more coffee (and appreciating good quality coffee), spending time in our gardens, or enjoying cooking!

In the end, we all felt uplifted from our conservations and realized how positive and just nice it is to engage with each other and to remind ourselves that we are in this together.

If you are interested in participating in an upcoming virtual CoffeeConvo, contact Amber Wendler at awendler@vt.edu.  This is a great opportunity to share and engage with others!

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