IGC Fellows sponsor social media campaign and booth at the Virginia Science Festival in Blacksburg

vascifestThe Virginia Science Festival features a full month dedicated to STEM events happening around Virginia. The goal is to “provide families with hands-on experiences, live performances, interactive demonstrations and techno entertainment that will inspire a wonder in science for all ages.” On Saturday, September 26th, the Interfaces of Global Change IGEP at Virginia Tech sponsored a booth at the Blacksburg Science Festival called “Why I Care For Nature.”

According to ...

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Educational Outreach, Interfaces of Global Change IGEP, Outreach, Schools and science fairs

Madeline Schreiber interviewed on Pulse of the Planet radio

Pulse of the PlanetIn 2014, after the third-largest coal ash spill in the U.S. occurred near Eden, North Carolina, coal ash and millions of gallons of contaminated water were discharged into the Dan River. NSF-funded Madeline Schreiber and her team at Virginia Tech went to work quickly to gauge the impact.

In the following 2-minute radio installments from Pulse of the Planet, Dr. Schreiber talks about her research:

 

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Pollution, Research, Water

Fall 2015 Lecture: Climate Change-Engineering Reality into the Debate

The Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS) presents:

The Fall 2015 installment of the High and Ethel Kelly Lecture Series 

Dr. Wayne Clough, Secretary Emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution and President Emeritus of Georgia Tech
Lecture Title: Climate Change: Engineering Reality into the Debate.

Date: Friday, October 2, 2015
Time: 1:30 – 3:00 pm
Location: Squires Haymarket Theatre, 129 Squires Student Center

Wayne Clough served as the 10th President of the Georgia Institute of Technology from ...

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Climate Change, News

Bird feeders may contribute to the spread of disease in wild songbird populations

Bird feeders may contribute to the spread of disease in wild songbird populations

From VT News

BLACKSBURG, Va., Sept. 17, 2015 – Wild songbirds that prefer to eat at bird feeders have an increased risk of acquiring a common eye disease. In turn, these birds also spread the disease more quickly to their flock mates, according to an international research team led by Virginia Tech scientists.

The researchers found that this feeding preference, rather than its social position in the flock, as previously thought, was more likely to result in a ...

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Disease, Global Change, Research

New in Nature: how to solve the world’s biggest problems

“Interdisciplinarity has become all the rage as scientists tackle climate change and other intractable issues. But there is still strong resistance to crossing borders.”

See the latest issue of Nature, which features a variety of articles on this topic:

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Ideas, News

IGEPs discuss Merchants of Doubt documentary

merchantsThree Virginia Tech interdisciplinary graduate education programs (IGEPs) recently met in Torgerson Hall to discuss the documentary film, “Merchants of Doubt”. This discussion followed a visit from the book’s author, Dr. Naomi Oreskes, ...

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Climate Change, Global Change, Interfaces of Global Change IGEP, Science Communication, Uncategorized

Laura Schoenle receives travel scholarship from the Graduate School

In April 2015, Laura Schoenle received a $2,000 travel scholarship from the Graduate School at Virginia Tech. The funds were used to travel to and lodge at the Queen’s University Biological Station in southeastern Ontario from April-July 2015.

Laura had this to say about the experience:

“I had a very successful field season! I conducted two experiments using the incredible outdoor aviary facilities at the biological station as well as a study on a population of free-living birds at nearby sites. I was able to ...

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Accolades, Student Spotlight

Join us for the upcoming EEB Seminar featuring Dr. John Jelesko

EEB Seminar Title: “Itching to Understand the Zen of the Toxicodendron”
Speaker: Dr. John Jelesko, Associate Professor in the Dept of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science at Virginia Tech
Date and Location: Thursday, September 17, 2015 at 3:30 pm in Derring 4069

The EEB speaker for 9/17 is Virginia Tech’s very own Dr. John Jelesko, Associate Professor in the Dept of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science. His talk is entitled “Itching to Understand the Zen of the Toxicodendron” and is hosted ...

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Campus Seminar Announcements, Ideas