IGC Capstone Projects
Graduate students in the Interfaces of Global Change (IGC) Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Program (IGEP) at Virginia Tech take lessons from the classroom and apply them to real world, student-led Capstone Projects. The IGC Capstone Project is meant to provide students the opportunity to practice and apply skills in interdisciplinarity, collaborative teamwork, and science communication, and empower students to develop their own team project that meets their personalized professional objectives.
The IGC Capstone Experience is an extracurricular, student-led project under the mentorship of GCC faculty. The capstone experience is designed to provide at least three of the following learning outcomes:
- Practice skills that promote successful team-based collaboration such as project management, team principles, managing team dysfunctions, constructive feedback, conflict management, ideation, after action review, and so on.
- Characterize the differences among and barriers to multi-, inter-, and/or trans-disciplinary projects and develop skills for working successfully on such projects, including working across disciplinary differences of jargon, reward structures, methods, dissemination standards, certification, meta questions, and knowledge structures.
- Apply skills for working at the science/society interface, for example by engaging stakeholders, explicitly considering applications of new knowledge, addressing ethical implications, making connections to policy, or otherwise showing the relevance of your work to the challenges of global change,
- Demonstrate communication skills (any media)
The Capstone Project Proposal Form (linked below) must be submitted and approved by the conclusion of the student’s participation in the IGC Third Seminar course. If it is not approved by then, students will receive an incomplete in the course until approval is granted. Students are encouraged to complete the capstone project by the end of their third year, but at the latest the project must be completed prior to graduation and with enough time to complete the final report and present the work to the global change community.
IGC Capstone Experience Policy [ PDF ]
CAPSTONE PROJECTS | Interfaces of Global Change
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IN PROGRESS | Utilizing Community Gardens for Enhancing Local BiodiversityTwo IGC Fellows are working on a collaborative effort with local community gardeners, to enhance Blacksburg’s local biodiversity.
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IN PROGRESS | Roots of Change: Inmate Education in Natural Resources and CareersThis capstone project will involve our team traveling to a local prison and guiding a group of inmates through a series of day-long courses to prepare them for a career in natural resources upon release.
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IN PROGRESS | River Discoveries: Dive into Nature in Montgomery County’s Local WaterwaysThis Capstone Project will organizing a snorkeling event in collaboration with the New River Land Trust (NRLT) to educate middle school students in Montgomery County, VA, about the importance of local river ecosystems and species conservation.
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IN PROGRESS | Peer Support Science Communication Workshop and Community Open Mic NightThis Capstone project entails arranging a workshop where students can hone their skills and open mic night where graduate students can share their scientific work with the public in a relaxed setting.
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IN PROGRESS | IGC ReusefulIGC Reuseful's goal is to facilitate and host events that educate students about the actual, quantitative environmental benefits of reuse, repair, and creative upcycling sustainability.
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IN PROGRESS | How Are Invasive Species Managed in Developing Countries?This proposal brings together five IGC members from four different departments and seeks to comprehend how various experts and coordinators of research centers and other types of institutions approach invasive species management.
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IN PROGRESS | Highlighting Local Voices in Global Change Through Diverse MediaThis capstone project aims to amplify marginalized voices in global change research, management, and education, particularly those from regions facing significant environmental challenges.
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IN PROGRESS | Environmental Justice in the NRVFive IGC Fellows work to create an interactive website focused on Environmental Justice within the New River Valley area.
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IN PROGRESS | Canvas Course about the Intersection of Social & Environmental IssuesThis project aims to create a place-based Canvas course for raising awareness about the intersection of social and environmental issues affecting American Indian and Indigenous communities
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IN PROGRESS | Bridging Science Communication Barriers in VirginiaThe purpose of this project is to contribute a practical, comprehensive extension publication on the current state of PFAS research, health effects, potential risks and treatment considerations for homeowners on private drinking water systems.
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2023 | “I Can SciComm” PodcastTo further the Interfaces of Global Change program's emphasis on science communication, research extension and impact, one group of IGC students created the I Can SciComm podcast.
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2023 | Weather or Not? Barriers to Implementing Energy-saving Strategies for Off Campus HousingWeather or Not? Working to quantify the weatherization needs of off-campus student housing and identify some of the barriers to weatherization.
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2023 | Learning to Engage with Values in ScienceFor this IGC Capstone Project, philosophers and scientists worked together to create an interactive, reflexive exploration of the role of values in science. The project was implemented over two class meetings of the first-year IGC seminar course as an interactive workshop to help other Fellows articulate their core values and consider how these play a role in their own research.
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2023 | Invasive Species Inventory & Management PlanIn a collaborative effort with the Invasive Species Working Group and the Town of Blacksburg Sustainability Chair, this capstone group organized and led a “BioBlitz”-style invasive species survey.
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2022 | Paleontological Educational Modules: Hands-on Activities for K-12 StudentsThis project created hands-on Activities for K-12 Students to achieve Virginia Standards of Learning related to Global Change.
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2022 | Organismal Responses to Salinization for All Freshwater TaxaA team of four PhD Fellows worked together and alongside members of the GCC Freshwater Salinization Working Group to review six decades of literature published on animal responses to increased salinities across different taxonomic and ecological contexts and identified knowledge gaps.
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2022 | Flip the FairFive IGC fellows collaborated with several other VT graduate students and the Roanoke City Public Libraries to host a Flipped Science Fair, with twin goals of science outreach and graduate training.
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2021 | Virginia Scientist-Community InterfaceIGC Fellows completed two reports analyzing environmental impacts from the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines, and submitted their findings as referenced public comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service.
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2020 | Stroubles Creek Salinity ProjectThis group of students held a common desire to use their diverse skill sets to study impacts of global change on our local Stroubles Creek, which drains much of Blacksburg and Virginia Tech’s campus.
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2020 | Hidden Rivers Film Screening & Stakeholder PanelPlanning an Outreach Focused Capstone; IGC Fellows hosted a community screening event for the documentary Hidden Rivers of Southern Appalachia, a Freshwaters Illustrated production.