Congratulations to 2025-26 Global Change Fellowship Awardees!
July 8, 2025
With generous support from the Grad School, the Interfaces of Global Change IGEP awards four Global Change Fellowships every academic year, each consisting of a graduate research assistantship (GRA) covering tuition and stipend. These GRAs are awarded based on the student’s professional credentials, pertinence of the student’s research to global change, the interdisciplinary nature of the work, the student’s level of engagement in the IGC IGEP, and the student’s plan for using the nine-month fellowship.
Please join us in congratulating: Priscila dos Reis Cunha, Amir Gazar, Luke Goodman, and Grace O'Malley – recipients of this year’s IGC Fellowships!
The Nexus between Fish Ecology, Fisheries Management, Poaching, and Food Security in Riverine Communities.
Priscila's transdisciplinary research combines traditional knowledge with insights from social sciences, ecology, geography and conservation to explore the socio-ecological dynamics that underpin sustainable natural resource management in the context of global change. She plans to complete her PhD in four years' time having published 9 papers, 5 as first author. She hopes the IGC Fellowship will provide more time for writing and focus on her research. She is excited to continue to be active in the IGC community as well.
Integrated Assessment Modeling to Characterize the Environmental, Health and Economic Tradeoffs of Electricity Grid Decarbonization in the United States
Amir's research is situated between environmental health and energy systems modeling. He aims to develop tools to slow global change by accelerating decarbonization via pathways that minimize environmental impact. With this fellowship, he plans to implement a nationally representative survey, leveraging novel methods developed in his ongoing dissertation work. This survey can be used to inform advice on decarbonization pathways.
The influence of scientific advisory committees on energy and environmental governance: Federal- and state-level case studies on antimicrobial resistance and renewable energy development
Luke's research addresses how science informs policy, examining how Virginia legistors obtain and use science information in energy policy making. He plans to use the time the IGC Fellowship provides him publish his first dissertation chapter and to move his second chapter forward. This will involve conducting interviews with government legislators and meeting in person with state committees and agencies. He also plans to pursue future internship possibilities.
Bioacoustics: multiple ecological applications for native species conservation and invasive species monitoring
Grace's research uses acoustic recordings of ecological communities to monitor ecological communities from organisms to ecosystems. She uses a method called, "passive acoustic monitoring" to investigate the activity and occupancy of two different species of frogs in Arizona. Additionally, she studies invasive plants' affect on soundscapes in an ecological community. She will use the fellowship funds to advance her research, but also to continue her efforts to champion for science communication and community engagement, which she has become especially passionate about since becoming a member of the IGC.
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The Interfaces of Global Change (IGC) program is an innovative interdisciplinary graduate education program designed to address the multidimensional aspects of global change. Funded by the Virginia Tech Graduate School with additional support from the Fralin Life Sciences Institute (FLSI), this program is one of several Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Programs (IGEPs). These programs address a variety of complex societal issues requiring interdisciplinary teams of scholars. Participants (Ph.D. Fellows) typically enter the program at the beginning of their graduate studies and continue to participate throughout their time at Virginia Tech.
The Interfaces of Global Change program is closely aligned with the Global Change Center, one of four campus-wide research centers housed within FLSI, which focuses on the social, economic, and environmental causes and consequences of rapid global change.
