The GCC WEEKLY | 29 March 2022 | |
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IGC Graduate Research Symposium Keynote Speaker and Symposium Schedule
The Global Change Center and the Interfaces of Global Change Graduate Student Organization will host Dwight Bigler, associate professor and director of choral activities at the VT School of Performing Arts, as the keynote speaker during the IGC Graduate Research Symposium on Friday April 22. The keynote presentation is scheduled for 3:45-4:45 PM EDT, and will be followed by announcement of the platform presentation awards and a reception.
Bigler's newest composition, Mosaic for Earth, celebrates the wonders of nature and explores humanity's impact on the environment and responsibility towards it. The performance will premiere this Sunday April 3 at the Moss Art Center.
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Reminder: NSF Workshops on Using the Rules of Life to Address Societal Challenges
The GCC is offering to fund teams to help pursue this new NSF opportunity. Contact hopkinsw@vt.edu for details.
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) invites you to apply to participate in four workshops in April designed to explore how we might use the Rules of Life to tackle societal challenges. Each workshop will consider how all the STEM disciplines could be used to tackle a specific problem, and will incorporate cross-cutting themes of diversity, equity, and inclusion and STEM education, training, and workforce development.
Postdocs are also encouraged to apply to participate, with additional "incubator" sessions for reflection and networking.
Deadline to apply for participation is today, March 29
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Calendar Corner
Wednesday April 13
Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Reception, details forthcoming
Friday April 15
Application deadlines:
-IGC IGEP Global Change Fellowships
-GCC/MAOP Global Change Scholars
Friday April 22
7th Annual IGC Graduate Research Symposium, held at the Graduate Life Center Multipurpose Room
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NFWF National Coastal Resilience Fund 2022 Request for Proposals
NFWF will make investments in planning, design, and restoration of natural and nature-based solutions to help protect coastal communities from the impacts of storms, floods, and other natural hazards and enable them to recover more quickly and enhance habitats for fish and wildlife. NFWF will award approximately $140 million in grants to create and restore natural systems in order to increase protection for communities from current and future threats from coastal hazards and improve habitats for fish and wildlife species.
Pre-Proposal Webinar March 30, 3 - 4:30 PM EDT
Pre-Proposal Due Date April 21
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Fall Course: Systems Thinking Pedagogy & Praxis
Systems thinking is a powerful tool for problem solving and understanding the complexities of the world we live in. Helping others strengthen their ability to think in systems is a skill that you can use in many contexts. If this is intriguing to you, consider enrolling in this course offered this Fall semester. Instructor is Dr. Hannah Scherer, faculty member in Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education with a background in the geosciences and expertise in STEM pedagogy.
Course listing: ALCE 5704, CRN 80286
Fridays 12:20 - 3:05 PM EDT
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IGC Fellows: Sign Up to Volunteer for 'The Big Event' on April 9
Melissa Burt, Outreach Committee Chair of the IGC Graduate Student Organization, is organizing a group of IGC Fellows to volunteer for The Big Event on Saturday April 9th! The Big Event is a student-run community service effort that has grown into the second largest event of its kind in the nation. Every spring, thousands of students, faculty, and staff come together to complete over a thousand community service projects throughout the New River Valley.
If you'd like to volunteer, sign up by April 1
Contact Melissa with any questions.
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Essential Skills Professional Development Series for Postdocs
The newly-formed Virginia Tech Office of Postdoctoral Affairs is launching the Essential Skills Professional Development series for Virginia Tech postdoctoral associates and other early career Ph.D.-trained researchers interested in learning more about how to leverage a variety of tools and resources to assist in career exploration and job searches.
The series will be held monthly at 12:00 PM EDT via Zoom on the second Wednesday of the month, beginning on April 13.
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Leah Johnson
Statistics
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Dr. Johnson is a quantitative ecologist working at the intersection of statistics, mathematics, and biology. At a broad level, her research focuses on understanding how differences between individuals in a population result from external heterogeneity and stochasticity, and how this variability influences population level patterns.
In relation to global change, Leah studies how climate impacts transmission of vector-borne diseases, and how to predict changes in where disease is likely to be transmitted as climate changes. She also examines how environment and human changes to the landscape can impact energetics, foraging behavior, and population dynamics of animals.
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Women's Month Events this Week
Clothesline Project Display on the Drillfield
Tuesday March 29, 9 AM - 5:00 PM EDT
A visual testimony to raise awareness of gender-based violence, The Clothesline Project educates the public about the scope of gender-based violence and the impact it has on individuals, their families and friends, and the community.
Take Back the Night Rally and March at the Henderson Lawn Outdoor Stage
Thursday March 31, 7:00 PM EDT
This annual rally and march raises awareness of gender-based violence, shares resources available locally, and gives individuals tools to help create positive change. Enjoy pre-rally music at 6:30pm; the rally begins at 7pm. People of all genders and ages are encouraged to participate, either as individuals or as part of a group, in the rally and march through Virginia Tech and Downtown Blacksburg.
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New Research by GCC Affiliate Austin Gray Exposes Ecological Effects of Antibiotics in Urban Streams
Some emerging contaminants in wastewater might not pose immediate ecological dangers, according to new research from Austin Gray. The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, focused on the potential impacts of three common antibiotics on urban streams in piedmont North Carolina. “We determined that these antibiotics, at levels comparable to what we find in the environment, do not currently pose a critical risk within the context of the study,” says Gray. In fact, he adds, a mixture of the antibiotics, which best reflects how they occur in urban streams, reduced “nitrification” — a microbial process that can lead to adverse effects on water quality and enhanced the breakdown of chemicals into a form more easily accessible to plants.
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White-Nose Syndrome and Bat Conservation Efforts in Wisconsin Featured on NPR with GCC Affiliate Kate Langwig
Bats are in trouble. This week, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service proposed shifting one species, the northern long-eared bat, from its current threatened status to endangered. This is a result of white-nose syndrome. Once abundant in Wisconsin, the number of northern long-eared bats in the state has declined by 99% — and that's just one of many species impacted by a deadly fungus. But scientists are looking for solutions to save bats, including a team from Virginia Tech. Recently five researchers clustered outside the bat hibernation location in southwest Wisconsin. Associate professors Kate Langwig and Joe Hoyt along with their grad students survey in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
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