Global Change Center at Virginia Tech
@globalchangevt.bsky.social
Our mission is to advance interdisciplinary scholarship and education to address critical global changes impacting the environment and society.
This Week's Articles: https://linktr.ee/globalchangevt
This Week's Articles: https://linktr.ee/globalchangevt
Who uses water in the U.S. — and how much? A new nationwide database created by GCC affiliate Dr. Landon Marston and doctoral student Yunus Naseri reveals detailed water withdrawal data across sectors and regions, helping communities plan for a more sustainable future 💧
New database reveals how Americans use water
Landon Marston has created the first nationwide, publicly available database of U.S. water withdrawals, revealing who uses water, how much they take, and where and when it’s used.
news.vt.edu
February 9, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Who uses water in the U.S. — and how much? A new nationwide database created by GCC affiliate Dr. Landon Marston and doctoral student Yunus Naseri reveals detailed water withdrawal data across sectors and regions, helping communities plan for a more sustainable future 💧
Nanoplastics may do more than pollute water. New Water Research findings co-authored by GCC affiliate Dr. Jingqiu Liao show they may strengthen harmful bacteria in water systems, raising concerns for water quality and public health 💧🦠
The hidden dangers of nanoplastics
In a study published in Water Research, Jingqiu Liao and a group of international researchers found that nanoplastics’ interactions with environmental microbes may pose indirect dangers to people,…
news.vt.edu
February 6, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Nanoplastics may do more than pollute water. New Water Research findings co-authored by GCC affiliate Dr. Jingqiu Liao show they may strengthen harmful bacteria in water systems, raising concerns for water quality and public health 💧🦠
Wetlands in coastal Alaska are warming as fast as the air — and that’s bad news for salmon 🐟 New Nature research co-authored by GCC affiliate Dr. Amaryllis Adey shows rising water temperatures could threaten salmon growth, survival, and entire food webs.
khns.org/wetlands-are...
khns.org/wetlands-are...
February 5, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Wetlands in coastal Alaska are warming as fast as the air — and that’s bad news for salmon 🐟 New Nature research co-authored by GCC affiliate Dr. Amaryllis Adey shows rising water temperatures could threaten salmon growth, survival, and entire food webs.
khns.org/wetlands-are...
khns.org/wetlands-are...
Reposted by Global Change Center at Virginia Tech
The ISC is excited to host our second webinar of 2026! Register here ➡️ virginiatech.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
February 5, 2026 at 3:39 PM
The ISC is excited to host our second webinar of 2026! Register here ➡️ virginiatech.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Reposted by Global Change Center at Virginia Tech
Why support the ISC on Giving Day? Because your support helps postdoctoral researchers like Dr. Claudia Nuñez-Penichet succeed! Claudia is in the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, and she shares why the ISC's work matters in the video below 🦋
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjOK...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjOK...
Dr. Claudia Nuñez-Penichet reflects on why the ISC’s work matters.
YouTube video by Fralin Life Sciences Institute
www.youtube.com
February 5, 2026 at 1:50 PM
Why support the ISC on Giving Day? Because your support helps postdoctoral researchers like Dr. Claudia Nuñez-Penichet succeed! Claudia is in the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, and she shares why the ISC's work matters in the video below 🦋
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjOK...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjOK...
From classroom to collaboration 🌳
A student’s question sparked a three-year, $559K research partnership. GCC affiliate Dr. Carrie Fearer and VT alumna Jordan Thompson are tackling beech leaf disease and oak wilt through applied, industry-supported research.
A student’s question sparked a three-year, $559K research partnership. GCC affiliate Dr. Carrie Fearer and VT alumna Jordan Thompson are tackling beech leaf disease and oak wilt through applied, industry-supported research.
From classroom question to research partnership
An alum returns as an industry partner, collaborating with her former professor on a $559,000 research project to address emerging tree diseases.
news.vt.edu
February 4, 2026 at 5:02 PM
From classroom to collaboration 🌳
A student’s question sparked a three-year, $559K research partnership. GCC affiliate Dr. Carrie Fearer and VT alumna Jordan Thompson are tackling beech leaf disease and oak wilt through applied, industry-supported research.
A student’s question sparked a three-year, $559K research partnership. GCC affiliate Dr. Carrie Fearer and VT alumna Jordan Thompson are tackling beech leaf disease and oak wilt through applied, industry-supported research.
GCC Director Dr. Bill Hopkins and lab, working with Dr. Erin Hotchkiss, is leading a $380K NFWF-funded project using a head-starting approach to restore populations after Hurricane Helene. The effort also tackles long-term stream and habitat health. 🦎💧
Restoring eastern hellbenders to southwest Virginia streams
Although eastern hellbenders are the largest salamander in the United States, they can be hard to spot. These amphibians spend most of their time under flat rocks and boulders in streambeds, watching…
www.nfwf.org
January 30, 2026 at 4:02 PM
GCC Director Dr. Bill Hopkins and lab, working with Dr. Erin Hotchkiss, is leading a $380K NFWF-funded project using a head-starting approach to restore populations after Hurricane Helene. The effort also tackles long-term stream and habitat health. 🦎💧
Clean water isn’t guaranteed for everyone.
GCC affiliate Dr. Leigh Anne Krometis found that some Appalachian families spend 10–20% of their income on bottled water due to unsafe or untrusted tap water. Her research highlights concerns shaping water access. 💧
GCC affiliate Dr. Leigh Anne Krometis found that some Appalachian families spend 10–20% of their income on bottled water due to unsafe or untrusted tap water. Her research highlights concerns shaping water access. 💧
In some of the nation’s poorest counties, bottled water strains household budgets
Across parts of Appalachia, some people don’t trust their water, or their water isn’t safe to drink, so they turn to bottled water, even for cooking in some cases.
www.whro.org
January 29, 2026 at 5:03 PM
Clean water isn’t guaranteed for everyone.
GCC affiliate Dr. Leigh Anne Krometis found that some Appalachian families spend 10–20% of their income on bottled water due to unsafe or untrusted tap water. Her research highlights concerns shaping water access. 💧
GCC affiliate Dr. Leigh Anne Krometis found that some Appalachian families spend 10–20% of their income on bottled water due to unsafe or untrusted tap water. Her research highlights concerns shaping water access. 💧
How can faculty better support students? Dr. Carrie Fearer shows that meaningful support starts in teaching itself — through accessible course design, mentorship, and everyday classroom practices that help students see themselves as capable scholars.
www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/effec...
www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/effec...
Effective support means meeting university students where they are
Meaningful student support starts in the classroom, the lab and the everyday relationships that faculty build with learners. Carrie Fearer shares practical strategies – from accessibility to…
rebrand.ly
January 28, 2026 at 4:34 PM
How can faculty better support students? Dr. Carrie Fearer shows that meaningful support starts in teaching itself — through accessible course design, mentorship, and everyday classroom practices that help students see themselves as capable scholars.
www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/effec...
www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/effec...
Applications are open for the GCC's NIH-funded REH T32 predoctoral training program. PhD students focused on rural environmental health receive two years of funding, research support, and interdisciplinary training.
🗓️ Deadline March 16
Details: rebrand.ly/REH-T32
🗓️ Deadline March 16
Details: rebrand.ly/REH-T32
January 27, 2026 at 5:04 PM
Applications are open for the GCC's NIH-funded REH T32 predoctoral training program. PhD students focused on rural environmental health receive two years of funding, research support, and interdisciplinary training.
🗓️ Deadline March 16
Details: rebrand.ly/REH-T32
🗓️ Deadline March 16
Details: rebrand.ly/REH-T32
Reposted by Global Change Center at Virginia Tech
#Paleontologists are working to pinpoint the dawn of the #dinosaurs. What were the early evolutionary steps that set the stage for the animals’ impressive reign? A PNAS News Feature: https://ow.ly/q3wC50Y1LmI
#Lewisuchus #Triassic #Silesaurus #ornithischians #extinction
#Lewisuchus #Triassic #Silesaurus #ornithischians #extinction
January 23, 2026 at 6:01 PM
#Paleontologists are working to pinpoint the dawn of the #dinosaurs. What were the early evolutionary steps that set the stage for the animals’ impressive reign? A PNAS News Feature: https://ow.ly/q3wC50Y1LmI
#Lewisuchus #Triassic #Silesaurus #ornithischians #extinction
#Lewisuchus #Triassic #Silesaurus #ornithischians #extinction
Reposted by Global Change Center at Virginia Tech
A new #VirginiaTech study has uncovered additional threats caused by nanoplastics. 🦠
🔗: go.vt.edu/ujzNV
🔗: go.vt.edu/ujzNV
The hidden dangers of nanoplastics
In a study published in Water Research, Jingqiu Liao and a group of international researchers found that nanoplastics’ interactions with environmental microbes may pose indirect dangers to people, spe...
go.vt.edu
January 23, 2026 at 7:42 PM
A new #VirginiaTech study has uncovered additional threats caused by nanoplastics. 🦠
🔗: go.vt.edu/ujzNV
🔗: go.vt.edu/ujzNV
Reposted by Global Change Center at Virginia Tech
We’re excited to see the continued impact of ISC affiliates in action through a new research project at Virginia Tech focused on beech tree disease and oak wilt. Featuring past AND present ISC affiliates!
🔗 news.vt.edu/articles/202...
🔗 news.vt.edu/articles/202...
From classroom question to research partnership
An alum returns as an industry partner, collaborating with her former professor on a $559,000 research project to address emerging tree diseases.
news.vt.edu
January 26, 2026 at 4:53 PM
We’re excited to see the continued impact of ISC affiliates in action through a new research project at Virginia Tech focused on beech tree disease and oak wilt. Featuring past AND present ISC affiliates!
🔗 news.vt.edu/articles/202...
🔗 news.vt.edu/articles/202...
Reposted by Global Change Center at Virginia Tech
The ISC is excited to host our first webinar of 2026! Register here ➡️ virginiatech.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
January 20, 2026 at 9:09 PM
The ISC is excited to host our first webinar of 2026! Register here ➡️ virginiatech.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
How do you design better products with less waste? ♻️ VT News visited Circular Economy Analytics, taught by GCC affiliate Dr. Jennifer Russell, where students from many majors use hands-on tools to measure product impacts and build more sustainable systems.
From Linear to Circular: Engaging students to rethink sustainable practices
Jennifer Russell's Circular Economy Analytics course provides hands-on learning with the tools to analyze and design systems to measure the circularity of everyday products and how they factor into…
news.vt.edu
January 22, 2026 at 3:04 PM
How do you design better products with less waste? ♻️ VT News visited Circular Economy Analytics, taught by GCC affiliate Dr. Jennifer Russell, where students from many majors use hands-on tools to measure product impacts and build more sustainable systems.
Research in Giles County is shedding light on the federally endangered Peter’s Mountain Mallow. The work includes undergraduate researchers, some supported by GCC funding, alongside GCC faculty affiliates Dr. Leighton Reid and Dr. Rachel Reid.
Students and professors at Virginia Tech are working to restore endangered hibiscus plant in Giles County
There’s a plant similar to hibiscus that’s native to Giles County called The Peter’s Mountain Mallow, but there are only a handful still alive. Two researchers at Virginia Tech are working with a…
www.wvtf.org
January 21, 2026 at 3:04 PM
Research in Giles County is shedding light on the federally endangered Peter’s Mountain Mallow. The work includes undergraduate researchers, some supported by GCC funding, alongside GCC faculty affiliates Dr. Leighton Reid and Dr. Rachel Reid.
Can birds taste spice after all? 🌶️🦜 New research suggests birds are less likely to eat peppers above 500,000 Scoville units. GCC affiliates Dr. Haldre Rogers and Dr. David Haak weigh in on what this means for seed dispersal and plant evolution.
Hot Take—Seems Like Birds Can Taste Spice After All
Peppers in the wild grow only so spicy, and new research suggests that may be to satisfy avian palates.
www.audubon.org
January 20, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Can birds taste spice after all? 🌶️🦜 New research suggests birds are less likely to eat peppers above 500,000 Scoville units. GCC affiliates Dr. Haldre Rogers and Dr. David Haak weigh in on what this means for seed dispersal and plant evolution.
IGC alum Dr. Laura Schoenle is leading a new program at @cornellengineering.bsky.social that strengthens the human side of research. Workshops and coaching help labs build mentorship, collaboration, and shared values.
New program centers mentorship, culture in research groups | Cornell Chronicle
Cornell Engineering faculty and students gathered Dec. 18 in Upson Hall to celebrate the first participants to complete Radical Humanity in Research, a new program designed to strengthen the human…
news.cornell.edu
January 16, 2026 at 3:03 PM
IGC alum Dr. Laura Schoenle is leading a new program at @cornellengineering.bsky.social that strengthens the human side of research. Workshops and coaching help labs build mentorship, collaboration, and shared values.
Reposted by Global Change Center at Virginia Tech
Gain the confidence to communicate your science clearly to policymakers and the public with AGU Science Policy's Voices for Science training. Applications are open Dec 15 – Feb 15
#sciencepolicy
buff.ly/eOa6FTL
#sciencepolicy
buff.ly/eOa6FTL
January 15, 2026 at 12:53 AM
Gain the confidence to communicate your science clearly to policymakers and the public with AGU Science Policy's Voices for Science training. Applications are open Dec 15 – Feb 15
#sciencepolicy
buff.ly/eOa6FTL
#sciencepolicy
buff.ly/eOa6FTL
Reposted by Global Change Center at Virginia Tech
Bring your science to Salt Lake City! We are now accepting contributed talk and poster abstracts covering all areas of ecological research and practice for #ESA2026 in July. Ample funding support will be available!
https://ow.ly/lYQZ50XTHZS
https://ow.ly/lYQZ50XTHZS
January 8, 2026 at 9:25 PM
Bring your science to Salt Lake City! We are now accepting contributed talk and poster abstracts covering all areas of ecological research and practice for #ESA2026 in July. Ample funding support will be available!
https://ow.ly/lYQZ50XTHZS
https://ow.ly/lYQZ50XTHZS
GCC affiliate Dr. Francesco Ferretti highlights the dramatic decline of Mediterranean great white sharks. Illegal fishing and weak enforcement threaten this critically endangered population, with at least 40 sharks killed in North Africa in 2025 alone.
Great white sharks face extinction in Mediterranean, say researchers
Overfishing and illegal fishing are contributing to the loss of sharks, including great whites.
www.bbc.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:03 PM
GCC affiliate Dr. Francesco Ferretti highlights the dramatic decline of Mediterranean great white sharks. Illegal fishing and weak enforcement threaten this critically endangered population, with at least 40 sharks killed in North Africa in 2025 alone.
GCC affiliate Dr. Austin Gray is featured in Virginia Tech News for his research on microplastics and their impacts on wildlife and human health, including suspected microplastics in dolphin breath, and his commitment to mentoring the next generation of scientists.
The why: Austin Gray is on a quest to decode microplastics
Gray’s humble beginning in research feeds into a constant curiosity that he hopes can lead to a better understanding of microplastics and their impact on human health — from pollution to solution.
news.vt.edu
January 14, 2026 at 3:03 PM
GCC affiliate Dr. Austin Gray is featured in Virginia Tech News for his research on microplastics and their impacts on wildlife and human health, including suspected microplastics in dolphin breath, and his commitment to mentoring the next generation of scientists.
How do large solar farms affect local water systems? GCC affiliate Dr. Ryan Stewart shares preliminary findings. Providing data to help communities and state leaders plan sustainable solar development in Virginia.
Large solar farms in Virginia can produce ‘rapid’ stormwater runoff, researchers find
Virginia Tech’s preliminary report is part of an ongoing study funded by the state to address growing concerns.
www.whro.org
January 13, 2026 at 3:01 PM
How do large solar farms affect local water systems? GCC affiliate Dr. Ryan Stewart shares preliminary findings. Providing data to help communities and state leaders plan sustainable solar development in Virginia.
Reposted by Global Change Center at Virginia Tech
We have a new paper out in QSR!
Paleoseismic evidence for the 1730 Mw ≥9 Chile earthquake in a former coastal lagoon: an infrequent, shallow, tsunamigenic rupture with plausible near-term recurrence
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Led by Dr. Marco Cisternas from the PUCV in Chile
Paleoseismic evidence for the 1730 Mw ≥9 Chile earthquake in a former coastal lagoon: an infrequent, shallow, tsunamigenic rupture with plausible near-term recurrence
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Led by Dr. Marco Cisternas from the PUCV in Chile
Paleoseismic evidence for the 1730 Mw ≥9 Chile earthquake in a former coastal lagoon: an infrequent, shallow, tsunamigenic rupture with plausible near-term recurrence
We report the first paleoseismic evidence jointly documenting coseismic subsidence and tsunami inundation from the 1730 Chile earthquake (Mw ≥ 9) and …
www.sciencedirect.com
January 12, 2026 at 8:25 PM
We have a new paper out in QSR!
Paleoseismic evidence for the 1730 Mw ≥9 Chile earthquake in a former coastal lagoon: an infrequent, shallow, tsunamigenic rupture with plausible near-term recurrence
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Led by Dr. Marco Cisternas from the PUCV in Chile
Paleoseismic evidence for the 1730 Mw ≥9 Chile earthquake in a former coastal lagoon: an infrequent, shallow, tsunamigenic rupture with plausible near-term recurrence
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Led by Dr. Marco Cisternas from the PUCV in Chile
Reposted by Global Change Center at Virginia Tech
We have 5 new #postdoc openings @virginiatech.bsky.social
with application deadlines in Jan & Feb, including work looking at PFAS in water based in Manassas, VA, & 2 positions in the Marston Research Group @vtengineering.bsky.social.
List of all postdoc openings: bit.ly/vt-postdoc-o...
with application deadlines in Jan & Feb, including work looking at PFAS in water based in Manassas, VA, & 2 positions in the Marston Research Group @vtengineering.bsky.social.
List of all postdoc openings: bit.ly/vt-postdoc-o...
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bit.ly
January 12, 2026 at 2:26 PM
We have 5 new #postdoc openings @virginiatech.bsky.social
with application deadlines in Jan & Feb, including work looking at PFAS in water based in Manassas, VA, & 2 positions in the Marston Research Group @vtengineering.bsky.social.
List of all postdoc openings: bit.ly/vt-postdoc-o...
with application deadlines in Jan & Feb, including work looking at PFAS in water based in Manassas, VA, & 2 positions in the Marston Research Group @vtengineering.bsky.social.
List of all postdoc openings: bit.ly/vt-postdoc-o...