Announcements

Presenters and volunteers needed for Flip the Fair 2026!

  Oct. 1  Join us for Flip the Fair 2026! Flip the Fair is a flipped science fair where graduate students, post-docs, vet students, and med students present their research science-fair-style on tri-fold poster boards, and 5th graders judge them. Prizes are awarded to the best presenters. This year’s event will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. October 1 at the Melrose Branch of the Roanoke Public Library.

    Sign up no later than September 11th: Flip the Fair Presenter Sign Up 2026 Form

    Want to participate but don’t have time to do a poster?  Sign up to volunteer, no later than September 25th, at the event instead!: Flip the Fair Volunteer Sign Up 2026 Form

    This is the 5th annual Flip the Fair, which will host six Title 1 elementary schools from across the Roanoke City Public School District. The Virginia Tech team is a new and dynamic graduate student leadership committee this year, including Jessica Zak, Ernesto Cuesta Alvear,  Mary Adebote, Samantha Hall, and Macy Parmelee, with support from Flip the Fair veteran, recently graduated Amanda Hensley.

    This event is sponsored by the Roanoke Public Libraries, Roanoke City Public Schools, Student Outreach Program at VTC, Virginia Tech's Graduate School, U.S. NSF COMPASS Center and Pandemic Prediction and Prevention Destination Area at Virginia Tech, FBRI @ VT, and Virginia Tech's Center for Communicating Science.

Questions?  Contact the organizing team: 

Jessica Zak, jessicaz@vt.edu

Ernesto Cuesta Alvear, ecuesta@vt.edu

Mary Adebote, marysoetan8@vt.edu

Samantha Hall, hallsm20@vt.edu

Macy Parmelee, macykp@vt.edu

For more news about the Center for Communicating Science, see our newsletter page, our VTX (News and Stories from Virginia Tech) page, and the "Other News and Media" section of our News page.