2021 | Virginia Scientist-Community Interface
IGC Capstone Project | Interfaces of Global Change
Virginia Scientist-Community Interface (V-SCI)
Student Members:
- Daniel Smith, Biological Systems Engineering
- Isaac VanDiest, Biological Sciences
- Kerry Gendreau, Biological Sciences
- Joshua Rady, Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation
IGC Fellows presented their work as part of the Virginia Scientist Community Interface (V-SCI). V-SCI is a volunteer, graduate student-run organization that provides scientific support to local communities and groups advocating for themselves in the public forum, composed of members from over 9 academic institutions. V-SCI members work with community partners, typically non-governmental organizations, on problems or issues identified as a threat to public interest. The IGC group chose to engage in efforts related to two major national gas pipelines set to route through West Virginia and Virginia - the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). Working with organizations such as the Southern Environmental Law Center, Sierra Club, Wild Virginia, and the Allegheny Blue Ridge Alliance, Joshua, Daniel, Kerry and Isaac contributed to V-SCI’s efforts by conducting research, consulting expert scientists and then formalizing their findings in two separate reports submitted to two federal agencies - the Fish and Wildlife Service and the US Forest Service.
The Interfaces of Global Change IGEP provides PhD students with a unique intellectual focus and training.
Each IGC Fellow gains depth in their specific scientific area of expertise (e.g. biology or engineering), while simultaneously gaining breadth in the multifaceted realm of global change and the science-policy interface.
