The GCC WEEKLY | November 1 2022 | |
|
Science Meets Policy: GCC Director to Provide National Briefing on Gold Mining in Virginia
Join Dr. Bill Hopkins, Chair of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on The Potential Impacts of Gold Mining in Virginia, for a national webinar this Wednesday November 2 from 3:30 – 4:30 PM ET. The study includes an assessment of the geologic and mineralogical characteristics of gold deposits in Virginia and the types of gold mining operations used with comparable deposits; an evaluation of VA’s existing regulatory framework and a comparison to other states; and potential impacts from gold mining on water quality, human health, and the environment.
| | |
|
Postdoc Opportunity in Developmental Toxicology and Environmental Health
The Robinson Laboratory at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Parnassus Campus, is looking to hire a full-time, highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to work on a NIEHS-funded research project aimed at understanding how environmental chemicals alter early mammalian embryogenesis and contribute to birth defects. Applicants from a variety of backgrounds are encouraged to apply. The ideal candidate will possess a doctoral degree in toxicology, molecular and cellular biology, bioinformatics, or a relevant field.
Applications Reviewed on a Rolling Basis
| |  |
|
Ecological Society of America 2023 Graduate Student Policy Award
Are you a science graduate student interested in the intersection between policy and science? ESA invites you to apply for the 2023 Graduate Student Policy Award (GSPA). Offered each year, this award provides graduate students an all expenses paid trip to Washington DC in April for hands-on training and science policy experience including interacting with congressional decision-makers, federal agency officials, and ecologists who work in the science and public policy arena.
Application Deadline is Sunday January 1, 2023
| | | |
|
Becca O'Brien
Fish and Wildlife Conservation
| |
Becca is a PhD student in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, co-advised by Dr. Bill Hopkins and Dr. Ashley Dayer. Her research has both social and ecological components. The social aspect of her research focuses on maximizing the effectiveness of landowner engagement while her ecological research studies hellbender parental care behaviors.
Following her undergraduate studies at Colorado College, Becca spent three years as a seasonal wildlife biologist, working on projects ranging from invasive trout removal in Yosemite to radio tracking arboreal pit vipers in Hong Kong. In 2015 she returned to school for her master's degree at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill where she studied the causes of sexual signal diversification using the plains spadefoot toad, Spea bombifrons, as a model system.
| |
|
Invitation to Nov 30 Ecological Forecasting Project Event
The Ecological Forecasting Project is excited to invite you to the Fall Forecasting Fest & Feast at the Hahn Garden on Wednesday, November 30 from 2:00 - 4:30 PM for an afternoon of intellectual stimulation, discussion, and camaraderie focusing on ecological and environmental forecasting concepts, methods, application, and training. The event includes an introduction to the Ecological Forecasting Project, flash talks from a set of Virginia Tech researchers, heavy hors d’oeuvres, and a keynote ecological forecasting speaker - Dr. Natalie Nelson, who is leading the “Shellcast” forecasting system.
EVENT SCHEDULE & FLYER
| |
|
Invasive Species Working Group First Fridays Happy Hour
The Invasive Species Working Group holds "Happy Hour" gatherings every first Friday of the month this semester. The next meeting will be this Friday, November 4, from 3-5 PM at Eastern Divide Brewery in Blacksburg.
All are welcome; no invasive species experience required!
| | |
|
Recap: A High-Altitude Eco- Restoration Tour & Botanical Foray in SWVA
A group of VT colleagues made a recent field trip to the Blue Ridge Discovery Center. The venture was organized by GCC affiliate Leighton Reid, joined by members of the GCC Ecological Restoration Working Group and several undergraduate students in the Ecological Restoration major and SER-VT student group.
| | |
|
Invasive Species Working Group Honored with Annual College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Award
At the 27th annual Celebration of Faculty and Staff picnic, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences recognized numerous faculty and staff for their contributions and dedication to the college. Last year, the college unveiled a new award, the CALS Team Award, which recognizes the achievements and impacts of interdisciplinary teams in the college. One of the two awarded teams this year is the Invasive Species Working Group - recognizing GCC affiliates Kang Xia, Jacob Barney, Bryan Brown, David Haak, Emily Reed, Scott Salom, and Todd Schenk.
Congratulations to the working group and all of the CALS awardees!
| | |
|
IGC Alumni Vasiliy Lakoba Shares the Latest in American Chestnut Blight Research on Phys.org
The American chestnut tree, once a regal pillar of forests across the eastern United States, is on life support, struggling to survive. Vasiliy Lakoba is the research director for the American Chestnut Foundation (ACF) and an Interfaces of Global Change IGEP Alumni '21. In an interview with Phys.org, he speaks to the research efforts underway at ACF to fight the blight, including a new strategy using genetic modification. "So much has changed in terms of climate, in terms of invasive species, in terms of pollution, habitat change, land use, change, soil loss and erosion, that it really isn't the same world from 100 years ago," Lakoba said.
| | |
|
Do you have an opportunity or announcement you'd like to share with the GCC community? Send us an email!
| | | | |
