The GCC WEEKLY | October 25 2022

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GCC Restoration Ecology Working Group: Next Meeting Friday October 28


The GCC Restoration Ecology Working Group is an interdisciplinary team of faculty and students reading, thinking, teaching, and researching about the most effective and equitable strategies for restoring biodiversity and environmental quality locally, regionally, and globally. Reading and discussion group focusing on new restoration ecology research, interdisciplinary perspectives on restoration, and research proposal development (every other week).


Next meeting is this Friday, October 28 at 2:00 PM ET

Fralin Hall Board Room 

IGC Fellow Joshua Rady's PhD Defense Seminar Thursday November 3  


Please join us in supporting IGC Fellow Joshua Rady for his Ph.D. defense seminar presentation next week. Joshua is a Ph.D. Candidate in the department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, advised by GCC affiliate Dr. Quinn Thomas.


His seminar is titled "Exploring the Interaction of Forest Management and Climate in the Community Land Model"


Thursday, November 3 at 10:00 AM ET

Cheatham Hall 315

Course of Interest Spring 2023: Advanced Ecological Restoration


GCC Affiliate Leighton Reid, assistant professor in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, will teach a new graduate course in Advanced Ecological Restoration that will be offered as a special study in Spring 2023. ENSC 6984 will introduce key theories, empirical evidence, and concepts underpinning the practice of ecological restoration, i.e., the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed.


Class time is Tuesday & Thursday, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM ET, with an additional discussion group time TBD.


Email Leighton Reid with questions.

PhD & Postdoctoral Positions: Integrative Stress Physiology and Epigenetics at Auburn University


The Wada Lab in the Department of Biological Sciences at Auburn University is looking to recruit PhD students interested in stress physiology to begin in Fall 2023. Specifically, we are interested in how cellular and organismal stress responses are linked and testing the new Damage-Fitness Model. This project is supported by a NSF Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) award to Haruka Wada, Tonia Schwartz, Todd Steury, and Vinamra Agrawal.


The Wada and Schwartz Labs at Auburn University invite applications for an enthusiastic, creative postdoctoral scientist to join a growing research team on an NSF-funded project to test the Damage-Fitness Model. This project integrates molecular measures of cellular damage, protection and repair, and epigenetics using zebra finches.



Review of Postdoc Applications Begins November 1, 2022 

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Workshop: Inuit Community Partnerships to Promote Equitable & Respectful Outcomes in Polar Research


How does Indigenous Knowledge enable critical scientific research? And how can we ensure that cultures and individuals are treated fairly, despite the checkered history of US researcher relations with Indigenous cultures? Corina Qaaġraq Kramer, an Inuit community leader living and working in a frontline community in the rural NW Alaskan Arctic, and Cana Uluak Itchuaqiyaq, an Inuit assistant professor of professional and technical writing at VT, will discuss how polar research–an interdisciplinary area of study with huge amounts funding support from federal agencies–is innovated by incorporating Indigenous co-production of knowledge methodologies. The interactive 90-min workshop will be followed a 30-minute networking time to meet others and discuss issues and reactions.


Monday, November 7, 3:00 - 5:00 PM ET

Torgerson Hall 3310, or Join Virtually via Zoom

More Info & Register Here

Theo Lim

School of Public and International Affairs

Theodore Lim's research focuses on the environmental planning of linked land, water, infrastructure, and social systems. His work addresses global change by examining connections between the social needs and values of a growing, and increasingly urban population and limited global resources, including water and land.  Lim has worked extensively to engage citizens in urban communities to plan for and mitigate the effects of extreme heat, including leading learning activities with STEM educators and middle schools in Roanoke.


Most recently, Lim has received an NSF Civic Innovation award to further involve younth in citizen science planning for community resilience to extreme heat in Roanoke. Students will be trained in citizen science methods and the data collected will be used in an online digital heat resilience hub, which will increase the inclusivity and comprehensiveness of planning and policy processes for mitigating and managing the effects of extreme heat in the city. 

LECTURES & SEMINARS



Catching, Counting, and Considering the Microbial Life Transported by Wildfire Smoke Plumes

Center for Emerging, Zoonotic, and Arthropod-Borne Pathogens Seminar (CeZAP)


Leda Kobziar

University of Idaho


Thursday, Oct 27

12:30 PM ET


Join via Zoom


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Why Are There So Many Species of Bats and How Are We Going to Save Them?

Ecology, Evolution and Behavior Seminar (EEB)


Tigga Kingston

Texas Tech University


Thursday, Oct 27

3:30 PM ET


Fralin Hall Auditorium 


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Virtual Reality in STEM Education

ICAT Playdate


Friday, Oct 28

9:00 AM ET

8:30 AM Networking & Refreshments


Moss Arts Center

More Info & Register Here


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Low Cost Biological Production Platforms - Fuels to Farming

VT Life Sciences Seminar (VTLSS)


Wayne Curtis

Penn State


Friday, Oct 28

12:00 PM ET


Fralin Hall Auditorium

ICAT Playdate This Friday - Virtual Reality in STEM Education


Virtual reality (VR) technologies have great potential in STEM education because they provide immersive learning experiences that one cannot have in the real world. However, interactivity using VR head-mounted displays is often a solitary experience, isolating learners from the social and learning context. We address the barrier to inclusive and social VR experience by developing and deploying a mobile device-based VR platform to enable social learning. The project partners with the Science Museum of Western Virginia, the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT), and the Center for Educational Networks and Impacts (CENI) at Virginia Tech to support socially constructed, informal STEM learning for their wide range of visitors, including young children with family members, college students, and local K-12 school students.


Friday October 28, 9:00 AM ET

The Cube at the Moss Arts Center or Join Virtually

Networking and Refreshments at 8:30 AM ET

Read More & Register Here

VT Science Festival Returns on Nov. 12


The Virginia Tech Science Festival is a Saturday celebration of science as a way of knowing. Held since 2014, this expo-style, family-friendly event reaches 4,000-6,000 visitors, including families, school field trips, and Virginia Tech students. Festival guests participate in hands-on activities, see engaging demonstrations, and talk one-on-one with practicing scientists at about 100 different exhibits. Based on the idea that “science is bigger than you think,” the festival features a range of disciplines that use data to draw conclusions.


Saturday November 12, 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM ET

Moss Arts Center and Newman Library

Free and Open to the Public

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IGC Fellows' Fall Hike to Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory Last Weekend


The Interfaces of Global Change Graduate Student Organization held a group hike to the Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory this past weekend. At 3,800' in elevation, the observation tower is one of the best spots in the state to view migrating hawks, eagles, falcons, and osprey. The group enjoyed hiking and birding together on a beautiful autumn day!


Pictured above: IGC Fellows Sam Silknetter, Taylor Fossett, Isaac VanDiest, and alumn Sam Lane and their partners/family.

CNRE Environmental Justice Journal Club Next Meeting Friday November 4


At the next meeting of the CNRE Environmental Justice Journal Club (EJJC), IGC Fellow Jenn Brousseau will lead a discussion on Indigenous knowledge & conservation based on these resources: 


Friday November 4, 3:00 - 4:00 PM ET Cheatham Hall 147

Science on Tap New River Valley: Innovation Is Our Future


Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council is an organization dedicated to connecting, leading and supporting nearly 200 companies in the technology community. The Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council will highlight scientists, researchers and startups that are changing the landscape of our ecosystem. Plus, hear how multi-organizational collaborations surrounding biotechnology are putting our region on the map.


Wednesday October 26, 5:30 PM ET

Rising Silo Brewery, 2351 Glade Road

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Sustainable Blacksburg Lunch & Learn: Stadium Woods Old Growth Forest


Rebekah Paulson, Executive Director of the Friends of Stadium Woods, will share detailed facts and beautiful photos of the Old Growth Forest on the VT campus, including its characteristics and composition, historical data, recent research, VT recognition, management and protection and the cooperation between the Friends of Stadium Woods, Virginia Master Naturalists and the University Arborist.


Wednesday October 26, 12:00 PM ET

Blacksburg Library, 200 Miller Street

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GCC Affiliates Michelle Stocker and Sterling Nesbitt Lead Collaboration For New Immersive Museum Exhibits and Educational Experiences Through Augmented Reality 


A Virginia Tech team is bringing museum exhibits to life by creating a complete digital skeleton of a Teleocrater rhadinus — an animal that predates the dinosaurs — to serve as the centerpiece of an immersive educational experience. This interactive learning environment will include digital replicas of all individual bones as well as a mounted 3D-printed skeleton. The related educational materials will be accessible worldwide, filling in the holes between what our scientists know today and the Earth's history.  The Modern Skeleton: Translating Natural History into Interactive and Immersive Experiences project was made possible by a $25,000 Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology Major SEAD Grant. Led by paleontologists and GCC affiliates Sterling Nesbitt and Michelle Stocker in the Department of Geosciences, the team aims to close the gap between static skeleton displays in museums and digital access to the wealth of information they possess. 

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Do you have an opportunity or announcement you'd like to share with the GCC community? Send us an email!


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