More than 100 faculty members and graduate students gathered on April 17 at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech for the 2026 Interfaces of Global Change (IGC) IGEP Graduate Research Symposium – a day dedicated to sharing research, strengthening connections, and celebrating interdisciplinary scholarship.

The day opened in the Cube with platform presentations that showcased the range of questions IGC fellows are tackling. From threatened wildlife and freshwater systems to environmental policy, humanitarian landscapes, and human health. The presentations highlighted how fellows are applying diverse methods and perspectives to understand environmental change across local, regional, and global scales.

IGC fellow delivers platform presentation in the Cube
Together, the presentations underscored the diversity of approaches IGC fellows use to understand global change and its impacts.

Following the talks, the Fife Lobby filled with conversation during poster sessions that invited deeper discussion. Fellows presented research on topics including coastal subsidence, methane emissions, satellite remote sensing, energy transition policy, disease ecology, and more. Faculty and students moved from poster to poster, asking questions, making connections, and exploring opportunities for collaboration.

Fellows present during the poster sessions
Attendees moved through rows of research displays and engaged directly with presenters.

The symposium featured a keynote address by Dr. Cana Uluak Itchuaqiyaq, founding director of the Center for Sustainable Engagement in the Arctic. In a talk titled, “Designing Research That Builds Capacity: Rethinking How Research Is Done With(in) Indigenous Communities,” Itchuaqiyaq drew on her research and experience to prompt discussion about collaboration, accountability, and community‑engaged research practices.

Dr. Cana Uluak Itchuaqiyaq delivers the symposium keynote
Drawing on personal experience and research practice, Dr. Cana Uluak Itchuaqiyaq challenged researchers to think critically about inclusion, partnership, and responsibility.

The symposium concluded with a reception and award announcements. GCC Director Dr. Bill Hopkins opened the evening by thanking presenters and attendees and recognizing the strength of the IGC research community. Dr. Karen DePauw attended as a special guest and spoke to the impact of the IGC IGEP since its inception.

Scenes from the reception
The reception fostered a warm and grateful atmosphere as the GCC community celebrated together.

Casey McLaughlin, President of the IGC Graduate Student Organization, announced the poster award winners. There was a two-way tie for second place this year.

  • 1st Place: Jay Margolis, An Overview of Ultraviolet Coloration in Strigidae Owls
  • 2nd Place: Ying-Xian Goh, Motile and non-motile Listeria species adopt distinct genomic and ecological strategies to achieve broad geographic ranges in soil
  • 2nd Place: Mariana Castaneda-Guzman, nicheR: An R package for ellipsoid-based virtual species and niche visualization in E-space and G-space
Poster award winners
Poster award winners left to right: Ying-Xian Goh, Mariana Castaneda-Guzman, and Jay Margolis.

Hopkins announced the platform talk award winners.

  • 1st Place & recipient of the 2026 Karen P. DePauw Outstanding Interdisciplinary Presentation Award: Sarah Juster, Non-Timber Forest Products in Humanitarian Landscapes: Knowledge, Access, and Equity in a Ugandan Refugee Settlement
  • 2nd Place: Grace O'Malley, Environmental drivers of multi-year spatial and temporal variation in the activity of a sensitive amphibian metapopulation
  • 3rd Place: Carla López Lloreda, Tropical coastal wetlands under global change: influence of environmental drivers on CO2 and CH4 dynamics
Platform award winners
Bill Hopkins and Karen DePauw with platform presentation awardees Grace O'Malley, Sarah Juster, and Carla López Lloreda

The 2026 IGC Graduate Research Symposium brought together fellows and faculty to share ideas, strengthen connections, and celebrate interdisciplinary research in action. As the day concluded, the event underscored the Global Change Center’s role in preparing researchers to work across disciplines and translate science into solutions for real‑world environmental challenges.

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IGC Graduate Research Symposium held on April 17, 2026