Global Change Center at Virginia Tech
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globalchangevt.bsky.social
Global Change Center at Virginia Tech
@globalchangevt.bsky.social
100 followers 74 following 140 posts
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
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globalchangevt.bsky.social
📚 Discover the stories shaping Appalachia

Join GCC faculty affiliate Dr. Shannon Bell on Oct. 27 (12:15–1:15 PM) for her #HumanitiesWeek talk: “Honoring the Understories: Seeing Beyond the Coalfields Imaginary in Central Appalachia.”

📍 Newman Library 124
🔗 rebrand.ly/725e41
Virginia Tech researcher Shannon Bell at Hardings Ginseng Farm, located in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, where ginseng is cultivated and grown. Photo courtesy of Shannon Bell.
October 24, 2025 at 6:02 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
🎤 Big ideas in 90 seconds!

The 2025 #NutshellGames return TOMORROW, Oct 23 at 5:30 PM. Join grad students as they share their research - no slides, no jargon, just creativity.

Cheer on IGC fellows:
🌱 Emily Matthews
🦟 James Moloney
🐟 Anu Rai

Free & open to all! 👉 buff.ly/7PG5Tg5
Promotional graphic for The Nutshell Games hosted by the Center for Communicating Science at Virginia Tech. The event takes place on Thursday, October 23, 2025, at 5:30 PM at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech. The design includes a portrait of IGC fellow Emily Matthews along with her presentation title and description. The bottom of the image features illustrations of walnuts and scientific sketches. Promotional graphic for The Nutshell Games hosted by the Center for Communicating Science at Virginia Tech. The event takes place on Thursday, October 23, 2025, at 5:30 PM at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech. The design includes a portrait of IGC fellow James Moloney along with his presentation title and description. The bottom of the image features illustrations of walnuts and scientific sketches. Promotional graphic for The Nutshell Games hosted by the Center for Communicating Science at Virginia Tech. The event takes place on Thursday, October 23, 2025, at 5:30 PM at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech. The design includes a portrait of IGC fellow Anu Rai along with her presentation title and description. The bottom of the image features illustrations of walnuts and scientific sketches.
October 22, 2025 at 4:30 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
🦕 Unwrap 200 million years of history!

Join paleontologists Dr. Nesbitt & Dr. Stocker for the Fossil Unwrapping Party 2025 & grand reopening of the Fossil Prep Lab.

📅 Oct 23 | 6:30 PM
📍 Hahn Hall → Derring Hall & Museum of Geosciences
🎟️ Free & family-friendly (ages 7+)

RSVP soon!

buff.ly/rhnjJCm
Community members stand in front of fossil.
October 9, 2025 at 2:06 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
💧 Become a community scientist!

Chasing Salt invites teachers, students & community members to help study how road salt & agricultural runoff affect streams.

🗓️ Sign up by Oct 15 to receive your sampling kit & contribute to environmental research!

sentrekin.com/communitysci...
Graphic reads, 'Chasing Salt: Community Science Study Understanding How Salt Creates Stress in Riparian-Stream Ecosystems'.
October 8, 2025 at 2:02 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
🌿 Congrats to GCC affiliate Dr. Cully Hession on receiving the Odum Award, the highest honor from AEES!

A founding AEES member, stream researcher, and VT StREAM Lab director, Dr. Hession is recognized for decades of leadership in ecological engineering 🌎💧

🔗 www.ecoeng.org/odum-award
Graphic announcing the 2025 Odum Award for Ecological Engineering Excellence from the American Ecological Engineering Society. On the left is a photo of Cully Hession wearing a maroon T-shirt and a tan cap, standing outdoors. On the right is text explaining that the award recognizes lifetime achievement in ecological engineering.
July 31, 2025 at 6:01 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
🦉🪶 Behind the scenes at the Field Museum!

Researchers from the Gómez-Bahamón & Moore Labs, including IGC fellow Jay Margolis, visited Chicago to advance collaborative bird research: flycatcher skeletons, martin banding & owl UV plumage studies.

🔗 More: files.constantcontact.com/8fb82bc7401/...
Collage of four scenes showing students and researchers working with bird specimens—observing preserved birds in a museum, examining wildlife outside, and using equipment in a lab.
July 30, 2025 at 2:04 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
🌎 Visit Ripples of Change at Steppin’ Out (Aug 1–2), Booth D23/D23A (Zone B) on Draper Rd!

Created by IGC Fellows, this immersive art-science exhibit showcases real action on global change 🌱🎨

🔗 blacksburgsteppinout.com

#GCCatVT #SteppinOut2025
Promotional graphic for “Ripples of Change,” an immersive exhibit on public perception of global change, to be featured at the 44th Steppin’ Out festival. The event takes place August 1–2, 2025, from 10AM to 10PM on Draper Road at Booths D23/D23A. The graphic includes a globe logo and festival imagery with icons for art, crafts, music, shopping, and food.
July 25, 2025 at 2:02 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
🌍 Big ideas, bold research, and real impact.

The 2025–26 Global Change Fellows are tackling challenges from biodiversity loss to energy policy and environmental health!

🔗 Meet the new cohort: buff.ly/aBXrR40

@vt-invasivespecies.bsky.social @virginiatech.bsky.social
Headshots of the 2025-26 Global Change Fellows. Top Left: Priscila dos Reis Cunha Top Right: Amir Gazar Bottom Left: Luke Goodman Bottom Right: Grace O'Malley
July 22, 2025 at 2:07 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
🧬 The 2025 Evolutionary Quantitative Genetics Workshop, co-taught by GCC's Drs. Josef Uyeda, Joel McGlothlin, & others, brought together 20 researchers from 5 countries.

Shoutout to IGC fellows Eliza Tarimo & Benedicta Ottairoegbu representing VT! 🌍✨

More: files.constantcontact.com/8fb82bc7401/...
Scenes from an evolutionary quantitative genetics workshop, showing participants in a classroom, working in small groups, and posing together outside a stone building.
July 17, 2025 at 2:31 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
🦖 When Dinosaurs Crossed Continents

GCC's Dr. Sterling Nesbitt was quoted in @science.org about Khankhuuluu mongoliensis—a newly discovered “dragon prince” dino that might be a missing link in T. rex’s family tree.

www.science.org/content/arti...
Dr. Sterling Nesbitt looks into a microscope while working in a lab. A large fossil, smaller fossils, and an image are on the table in front of him alongside lab equipment.
July 11, 2025 at 2:03 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
🌿 Welcome to Rowan Mainsonneuve + Olivia Yancey, the newest trainees in the Rural Environmental Health T32 program at @virginiatech.bsky.social!

From heart health 🫀 to wastewater microbiology 🚰, they’re diving into rural challenges with global impact.

globalchange.vt.edu/news/news-st...

#GCCatVT
A welcome graphic featuring the two new REH T32 fellows. On the left, Rowan Mainsonneuve is wearing a burgundy blouse and smiling in front of a soft blue background. On the right, Olivia Yancey is smiling while sitting beside a scenic mountain lake with trees and mountains in the background. Above them, the word “Welcome” is written in large, cursive burgundy text on a faint natural landscape background.
July 8, 2025 at 2:24 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
📬 IGC Fellows & Alumni: Send us a summer postcard!

Whether local, abroad, in the field or in the lab/office—we want to hear from you!

Help us stay connected this summer by sharing a glimpse into your adventures.

Need inspo? Check out past postcards:
globalchange.vt.edu/content/glob...
June 25, 2025 at 2:05 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
🌍 Shaping the future of bird conservation!

Congrats to GCC affiliate Dr. Valentina Gómez-Bahamón, recipient of the 2025 James G. Cooper Award from the American Ornithological Society!

She’ll share her work at #AOS25 in St. Louis.

americanornithology.org/aos-announce...
June 11, 2025 at 2:07 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
"🌿 BERI proudly cosponsors the Living Monument unveiling—a sculpture honoring Appalachian botanical heritage through community and science.

📅 June 7 | 11 AM–5:30 PM | High Knob, Norton, VA
🎟 Free + open to all

Pre-event talk by Onita Bush, June 6, 7 PM.

files.constantcontact.com/8fb82bc7401/...
June 4, 2025 at 2:14 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
❄️ GCC’s Dr. Linsey Marr finds balance on and off the slopes. Featured in the latest Virginia Tech Engineer, she shares how skiing fuels her creativity and helps her recharge.

🔗 eng.vt.edu/magazine/sto...

#GCCatVT #VTEngineer
Dr. Linsey Marr leans on the back of a blue SUV with her ski gear.
May 30, 2025 at 2:17 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
👏 Congrats to GCC affiliate Dr. Erin Hotchkiss, recipient of VT’s 2025 University Award for Excellence in Teaching — the highest teaching honor at VT! 🌟

Recognized for her impact in the classroom and field, Dr. Hotchkiss earned this on her first-ever nomination.

news.vt.edu/awards/facst...
Dr. Erin Hotchkiss kneels in tall grass as she instructs undergraduate students.
May 23, 2025 at 2:08 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
🌍🎨 Calling all artists! Submit your work to Ripples of Change, an immersive exhibit celebrating how communities are addressing global environmental challenges. Submissions due TOMORROW. All mediums welcome!

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

#ScienceArt #GCCatVT #SteppinOutBlacksburg
Flyer advertising the call for artist submissions. It reads: Pieces to be selected by grad students completing their Interfaces of Global Change Capstone Project Concept submission deadline Friday, May 23 Show date August 1-2 Steppin' Out Blacksburg Questions? mariapopescu100@vt.edu harrisonmiles@vt.edu ellietimm@vt.edu gnripa@vt.edu We invite artists to contribute to an immersive exhibit that highlights public perception of global change and the power of individuals and communities to address it. While environmental challenges such as climate change, invasive species, and pollution impact ecosystems on a large scale, this exhibit will focus on the people and organizations making a difference—those restoring habitats, advocating for environmental justice, and building a more sustainable future.
May 22, 2025 at 1:59 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
Congrats to GCC affiliate Dr. Quinn Thomas on receiving VT’s inaugural 2025 Frontier Award! 🎉 His use of advanced quantitative methods is helping shape the future of environmental science.

news.vt.edu/articles/202...
Image of Quinn Thomas with list of career highlights. List reads: 79 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 5131 total citations, More than $12 million in funding from seven federal agencies and philanthropic organizations, Principal Investigator of the National Science Foundation-sponsored Research Coordination Network on Ecological Forecasting, Helped lead the establishment of the Virginia Tech Center for Ecosystem Forecasting that has received more than $4 million in external funding since August 2023.
May 21, 2025 at 2:05 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
The GCC is proud to launch a new honorary classification for retired faculty who have played a pivotal role in shaping the GCC.

Their commitment has helped build the strong, collaborative community that defines the GCC today.

globalchange.vt.edu/faculty/emer...
Headshots of four GCC Faculty Emeriti. Top left: Fred Benfield Top right: Ed Fox Bottom left: Stephen Schoenholtz Bottom right: Carl Zipper
May 20, 2025 at 2:10 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
Congrats to the Gray Lab for an award-winning trip to #SETACCarolinas!

Dr. Austin Gray (GCC) delivered the plenary, while students Beija Gore and Allison Montgomery took home top presentation honors. 👏

More Images: files.constantcontact.com/8fb82bc7401/...
Gray lab smiles for a picture outside during SETAC.
May 19, 2025 at 3:30 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
🎓 Congrats to the Spring 2025 #IGCFellows!

GCC is proud to celebrate 11 IGC graduates who are tackling global change through research, collaboration & communication.

👏 Join us in wishing them well!

🔗 globalchange.vt.edu/news/news-st...
May 16, 2025 at 2:13 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
🌱 IGC fellows helped bring science to life at the 12th Annual SEEDS–Blacksburg Nature Center Spring Festival on May 3!

More than 180 guests (plus a few animal friends 🐍🦉🐇) joined in for hands-on learning and outdoor fun.
May 15, 2025 at 2:05 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
Meet the newest GCC faculty affiliates! 🌍📚

These scholars bring fresh perspectives across disciplines to tackle today’s most pressing environmental and societal challenges.

Excited to welcome them to the GCC community!

globalchange.vt.edu/news/news-st...
New GCC faculty affiliates left to right: Robert Cooper, Erin Toffelmier, and Dara Wald.
May 13, 2025 at 5:01 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
From campus to park trails, the @vt-invasivespecies.bsky.social & BERI Community Day brought research, restoration, & outreach together. From stream exploration to invasive plant walks, the event highlighted hands-on science & community care.

globalchange.vt.edu/news/news-st...
May 6, 2025 at 3:23 PM
globalchangevt.bsky.social
🌍🎨 Calling all artists! Submit your work to Ripples of Change, an immersive exhibit celebrating how communities are addressing global environmental challenges. Submissions due by May 23. All mediums welcome!

More Info: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

#GCCatVT #SteppinOutBlacksburg
May 1, 2025 at 2:06 PM