With generous support from the Graduate 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 this year's IGC Fellowship recipients!

Bridging Science, Policy, and Society to Enable Circular Economy Transitions: A Systems-Based Analysis of Policy and Technology for Bulky Materials

Atif Ali

Atif Ali, Sustainable Biomaterials

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Russell

Atif's work investigates which combinations of policy approaches, stakeholder incentives, and technological pathways are most effective in increasing reuse, repair, refurbishment, recycling and overall bulky material circularity.

During his fellowship year, he will complete integrated policy and technology analyses, submit multiple peer-reviewed journal manuscripts, and present findings at interdisciplinary conferences, seminars and public settings for maximum dissemination of his dissertation. He will also translate his dissertation outcomes into policy and stakeholder oriented outputs that inform bulky waste management, circular economy implementation and resource efficiency strategies.

Modeling Rare Species in a Changing World: From Virtual Simulations to Conservation Practice

Mariana Castaneda-Guzman

Mariana Castaneda-Guzman, Fish and Wildlife Conservation

Faculty Mentors: Dr. Paul Angermeier and Dr. Emmanuel Frimpong

Mariana's focus is on using virtual species simulations to improve species distribution prediction for rare and data-limited species disproportionately vulnerable to climate change, habitat loss, and environmental variability.

She intends to use her fellowship year to strengthen the empirical foundation of her research and use additional tools to review her key outputs. Finally, she will continue her involvement with the IGC and its initiatives.

Building Predictive Water Quality Tools and Forecasts and Co-designing Forecast Visualizations for Lakes and Reservoirs to Inform Phytoplankton Management and Decision Making

Katie Hoffman

Katie Hoffman, Biological Sciences

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Cayelan Carey

Katie's research focuses on creating forecasts about lake phytoplankton (harmful algal bloom), which are of increasing concern to water systems for both drinking water and recreation, and communicating that information to community members and water managers.

During her fellowship year, she plans to spend more time traveling to the communities she works with to conduct educational workshops and continue building relationships.

Understanding the Role of One's Sense of Belonging to Management Institutions in Shaping Participation in Co-Management Systems

Anu Rai

Anu Rai, Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Michael Sorice

Anu's research focuses on institutions made effective by integrating social-psychological theory of belonging. She connects individual experiences with broader patterns of collaboration in resource management.

She plans to use her fellowship year to finish analyzing documents and surveys while strengthening her research collaborations. She also plans to submit two manuscripts from her dissertation.

-

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 campuswide research centers housed within FLSI, which focuses on the social, economic, and environmental causes and consequences of rapid global change.