Center for Communicating Science at Virginia Tech

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Center for Communicating Science at Virginia Tech

Creating opportunities for scientists, scholars, health professionals, and others to develop their a

09/02/2026

What if struggling in a class isn’t a reflection of what you’re capable of?

As an undergraduate engineering student, Ernesto Cuesta Alvear struggled in a difficult telecommunications course. Everything changed when a fellow student explained the material in a way that finally clicked.

That experience changed how he thought about teaching—and ultimately inspired his research as a Ph.D. student in engineering education, where he studies how undergraduate students can get the most out of their classroom experiences.

Cuesta Alvear reflects on the lessons he learned, the hope he felt, and the teacher he strives to be in this self-written research story.📚 🔗Link in bio!

📸featuring Cuesta Alvear hosting an interactive exhibit about research processes for elementary students at Virginia Tech’s Hokie for a Day

08/28/2026

Great things happen when we learn together. ✨

As we wrap up our first week back, we’re celebrating the faculty who make Virginia Tech a place to learn, question, collaborate, and grow.

From supporting students and asking big questions to collaborating across disciplines and sharing their work beyond the lab, faculty bring curiosity, expertise, and a commitment to learning into everything they do.

We’re excited to wrap up by celebrating Hajira Younas, Saptarshi Chatterjee, Johnathan A. Czuba, and Nasim Akhtar and the work they’re doing to make an impact at Virginia Tech and beyond.

🎥 Watch their Nutshell Talks and get to know the people behind the research. Link in bio.

08/27/2026

Great research doesn’t happen in isolation.💡🧩

As we continue celebrating Virginia Tech faculty this week, we’re reminded that pursuing new discoveries is only one part of the job. Faculty are also collaborators, teachers, and mentors—learning alongside their students while helping the next generation of researchers discover the questions that inspire them.

Bravo 👏 to our next group of highlighted faculty: Ekanshu Mallick, Tess Tess Thompson, Stella Schons, Johnathan Bluey, and Igor Sharakhov.

Last spring, they took part in the collaborative Faculty Nutshell Talks experience to practice sharing their research with audiences beyond their field.

🎥 Watch the full Nutshell Talks to hear the stories behind their research. 🔗Link in bio.

08/26/2026

What questions are Virginia Tech faculty asking? 🔬💭

Great research often starts with a deceptively simple question: What if? Why? How?

In the Faculty Nutshell Talks, these researchers took 90 seconds to share the questions driving their work—and why they’re worth asking.

Meet Shilai Hao, Joanne Tuohy, Rockwell F. Clancy, Steve Matuszak, and Marcella Kelly, whose research spans forever chemicals, advances in tumor ablation, the cultural ethics of AI, what’s at stake in communication, and the study of elusive wild cats.

🎥 Get a glimpse into what they’re curious about and watch their Nutshell Talks through the link in our bio.

This week, we’re continuing our celebration of Virginia Tech faculty who are making new discoveries and finding ways to bring us all into the conversation. 🧡

08/24/2026

Celebrating the faculty behind Virginia Tech 🧡

As students return to classes, we’re celebrating the faculty who teach, mentor, and shepherd them through their own discoveries.

And this week, we’re highlighting some research faculty who took on an additional challenge last spring: learning to communicate their work beyond their fields. These faculty showed their students that innovative research goes hand-in-hand with sharing it with the world.🌎✨

19 faculty participated in the Faculty Nutshell Talks, where they practiced sharing the story of their research through CCS training and demonstrated some of what they learned on stage Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech for a public and community audience!

We’re kicking off the series with Sally Dickinson, Scott McCrickard, Kevin Hamed, Eva Collakova, and Shabnam Hematian.

🎥 Watch the full Nutshell Talks through the link in our bio to discover more about what these faculty are working to understand and share with all of us. 👏

We’ll be celebrating more faculty and Nutshell Talks throughout the week. Stay tuned!

08/21/2026

💡Researchers, want to put your research to the ultimate test?

Flip the Fair is back! 🎉

On October 1, graduate students, postdocs, veterinary students, and medical students will trade their usual conference audiences for a much tougher crowd: 5th graders! 👀

Flip the Fair turns a traditional science fair on its head: researchers present their work on tri-fold poster boards while 5th graders serve as the judges—and award prizes to the best presenters. 🏆

Want to present your research?
📅 October 1 | 8 a.m.–2 p.m.
📍 Melrose Branch of the Roanoke Public Library
📝 Presenter sign-up deadline: September 11

Don’t have time to make a poster but still want to be part of the fun? Volunteer at the event!
📝 Volunteer sign-up deadline: September 25

Come practice your science communication, meet some future scientists, and find out what happens when 5th graders are in charge.

Sign up through the Events link in our bio!

08/17/2026

What happens when salty ocean water starts moving into fresh water rivers, a process called saltwater intrusion? 🌊

A warming world causes sea levels to rise, and, along the coast of Peninsular Malaysia, the ocean is pushing salt water farther towards freshwater than ever before.

This process threatens river ecosystems, access to safe drinking water, and the livelihoods of fishermen and farmers who depend on freshwater systems for fish populations and crop irrigation.

Environmental Engineering Ph.D. student, Ying-Xian Goh, grew up in Muar, a town in the south of Peninsular Malaysia, and has seen these effects firsthand. He points to steps the government and people can take to prevent saltwater intrusion, including building a barrage — or gate — at the river’s mouth to keep saltwater out and using alternative watering methods, like rainwater collection, to reduce freshwater use.

Goh firmly believes that working together will “keep the heart of Muar strong for generations to come.” 🌏❤️

Check out Goh’s story in “Food, Water, & Communities: an Atlas of our StoryMaps” on our website! An Interactive map comprised of stories about communities around the world who have been affected by environmental changes. 🔗Link in Bio!

Global Change Center at VT Virginia Tech Engineering VT Civil and Environmental Engineering Fralin Life Sciences Institute Virginia Tech CeZAP Virginia Tech Graduate School

08/14/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Amy Hagen on being named Virginia Tech's Graduate Student of the Year! 🎉🎓

Throughout her time at Virginia Tech , Amy has been an incredible part of the Center for Communicating Science community. She completed our Communicating Science graduate course, participated in the Nutshell Games, volunteered at Flip the Fair, helped connect the Department of Geosciences with CCS programming, and was a driving force behind Science on Tap NRV —bringing researchers and community members together for meaningful conversations month after month.

Amy also served as the lead author of "Tapping into the success of Science on Tap New River Valley: Lessons learned from eight years of a community-centered science outreach program," published in the Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship.

This award recognizes graduate students who demonstrate excellence in Virginia Tech's mission of teaching, research, and outreach—and Amy embodies all three.

We're so grateful for the creativity, leadership, and generosity she brought to our community, and we can't wait to see what's next as she's off to a postdoctoral position at Yale University! 🎉

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Amy Hagen! 👏🧡

Virginia Tech Science VT Geosciences Fralin Life Sciences Institute Virginia Tech Graduate School

08/13/2026

🍻🔬 Audience members coming to Rising Silo Brewery for the August 27 Science on Tap will discover the full answer to this question:

🦟🌸 Do Mosquitoes eat nectar??

Yep! Mosquitoes are best known for biting animals and spreading disease, but flowers play an important role in their lives, too. 🌿

Join us for Science on Tap to learn how mosquitoes use nectar from flowers to fuel the energy they need to bite. James Moloney, a Ph.D. student in Virginia Tech’s Department of Biochemistry, will share the fascinating science behind mosquitoes’ lesser-known relationship with plants.

Think you know your mosquitoes? 🧐 Stick around afterward to test your knowledge with a round of trivia! 🧠

🌼 Mosquitoes eat nectar?? How flowers fuel mosquitoes
📅 August 27
⏰ 5:30 p.m.
📍 Rising Silo Brewery
2351 Glade Road, Blacksburg

Free and open to the public!

Hosted by the Center for Communicating Science at Virginia Tech and Virginia Tech’s chapter of Sigma Xi.

Science on Tap NRV Fralin Life Sciences Institute VT Biochemistry Department

08/12/2026

Do you want to reduce those pesky mosquitoes in your yard? 🦟

Graduate student James Moloney has been searching for mosquitoes and the biological secrets they carry in some pretty unexpected places. 🔎
By uncovering how these insects live and thrive, his research could help pave the way for more environmentally friendly mosquito control. 🌿

Learn more about James' fascinating research in this story by Virginia Tech student Thao Vu. 👉🔗 Link in Bio.

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ISCE Building, Grove Lane, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA
24061

Website

https://communicatingscience.isce.vt.edu/

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