Five scholars receive Fulbright Awards to confront urgent global challenges From building a stronger STEM pipeline to advancing cancer research, the scholars will collaborate with international partners on education, environmental stewardship, cybersecurity, and public…

🌍🦞 Congrats to GCC faculty affiliate Dr. Holly Kindsvater!

She’s a 2025–26 Fulbright Scholar studying lobster populations & sustainable fisheries in Norway 🇳🇴.

news.vt.edu/articles/202...

#GCCatVT #VirginiaTech #FulbrightScholar #MarineConservation

Gabriel Isaacman-VanWertz receives Walter L. Huber Research Prize Isaacman-VanWertz, associate professor in the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was recognized for his pioneering work blending chemistry, engineering, and public ...

🏆 GCC faculty affiliate Dr. Gabriel Isaacman-VanWertz received the Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize!

His low-cost sensors improve air quality monitoring worldwide and empower communities to protect their health. 🌍💨

news.vt.edu/articles/202...

#GCCatVT

Thank you and Welcome! GCC Advisory Board Transitions Several Global Change Center faculty members will complete terms on the GCC Advisory Committee this summer. Each member has shown great leadership through their research, teaching, and guidance of…

📢 Introducing the 2025–26 GCC Advisory Committee!

We thank outgoing members for their incredible service and welcome new faculty who will help shape the GCC’s goals and direction over the next two years.

Full details: globalchange.vt.edu/news/news-st...

#GCCatVT #GCCFaculty

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.

🌎 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

Do I Really Need an Air Purifier? We asked the experts how to decide.

Do you really need an air purifier?

In a recent New York Times article, GCC affiliate Dr. Linsey Marr explains how indoor air can become heavily polluted and why HEPA filters help.

📖 Read the full piece: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/c...

#AirQuality #GCCatVT

Virginia Tech expert shares tips on staying safe from flooding in the Roanoke Valley The remnants of Tropical Storm Chantal are bringing heavy rain and flooding to parts of our region and just south of us in North Carolina.

🌧️ As heavy rain from Tropical Storm Chantal moves in, GCC affiliate Dr. Craig Ramseyer spoke with WSLS 10 News about flash flood risk.

Local soils offer some buffer—but once saturated, floodwaters can rise fast.

#GCCatVT #FloodSafety #TropicalStormChantal

www.wsls.com/news/local/2...

A surprising ally in the fight against the spotted lanternfly: Ants Virginia Tech researchers can detect the presence of spotted lanternfly by testing ants who feed on the spotted lanternfly honeydew. The honeydew contains bits of lanternfly DNA, which entomologists…

🐜 Ants vs. Spotted Lanternfly?

@vt-invasivespecies.bsky.social affiliate Dr. Scotty Yang is developing antDNA—a method using ants to detect invasive lanternflies before they’re seen.

Published in Pest Management Science + NeoBiota.

#GCCatVT #InvasiveSpecies

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.

🌿 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 New World for Microbes Investigating the Plastisphere

GCC affiliate Dr. Austin Gray is featured in Coastwatch, published by @SeaGrantNC, for his NSF CAREER-funded research on how microplastics are reshaping freshwater ecosystems—starting with microbes.

ncseagrant.ncsu.edu/coastwatch/s...

#GCCatVT #NSFCareer #Microplastics #GlobalChangeCenter

Researcher investigates the key to heat and disease resilient crops Funded by a multinational, multi-organization grant, Courtney Leisner will seek to better understand how pepper plants respond when simultaneously infected with the pathogen Xanthomonas and exposed…

🌶️ Heat + disease = double threat to crops.

GCC affiliate Dr. Courtney Leisner is part of a UK-led global team studying how peppers respond to rising temps and Xanthomonas infection.

Goal: breed more resilient crops for a changing climate.

news.vt.edu/articles/202...

#GCCatVT #CropScience

Groundbreaking study maps the movements of marine megafauna Virginia Tech joined a global research team that tracked more than 100 species and identified ocean hotspots critical for protecting threatened marine megafauna that fall beyond current conservation…

🌊 Where do ocean giants go?

A major study published in @ScienceMagazine co-authored by GCC affiliate Dr. Francesco Ferretti tracked 12,000+ marine animals—revealing key migratory hotspots outside protected areas.

news.vt.edu/articles/202...

#GCCAffiliate #GCCatVT #OceanConservation

Virginia Tech study sheds light on solar farm impacts to property values Virginia Tech researchers analyzed nearly 9 million property sales to study how large solar installations affect nearby land values. Their findings show mixed effects: Agricultural land values tend…

Do solar farms lower home values? 🏡

New PNAS study co-led by GCC affiliate Dr. Zhenshan Chen says: not much.

✔️ Ag land values ↑
✔️ Minor declines in residential (mostly in red areas)
✔️ Visibility = low impact

Perception matters.

news.vt.edu/articles/202...

#GCCAffiliate #GCCatVT #SolarFarms

Dr. Linsey Marr leans on the back of a blue SUV with her ski gear.

❄️ 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

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.

🌍🎨 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

🌍🎨 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