Our Newsletter

Feb. 12, 2026. Have you ever soiled your underwear? Ha! Probably not with the soil you're thinking of. But this question opened a conversation about the living world beneath our feet, led by Summer Thomas of the Virginia Soil Health Coalition and Caroline Wolcott, a Virginia Tech Ph.D. student in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences.

Feb. 11, 2026. Get ready for a fast-paced evening of ideas, storytelling, and discovery! At the Faculty Nutshell Talks, Virginia Tech faculty take the stage to share their research in just 90 seconds—no slides, no jargon, just clear, compelling stories designed for a public audience.

Feb. 20, 2026. A new graduate certificate program is available for graduate students who want “to learn and critically analyze the norms, practices, and cultural elements of technical – including scientific – information,” says Department of English faculty member and Center for Communicating Science collaborator Julie Gerdes.

Feb. 20, 2026. This year the Center for Communicating Science (CCS) is benefiting from the expertise and initiative of three graduate student employees: Bria Weisz, Sai Navya Vadlamudi, and Lauren Tucker. Together they represent the arts, biomedical sciences, and public health and contribute distinct perspectives to our work.

Feb. 24, 2026. The 2025 Research!America Public Engagement Content Awards, presented by Research!America, recognized Brean Prefontaine, a postdoctoral researcher at Duke University, for developing freely accessible evaluation resources for public engagement practitioners—a need that is widely acknowledged but often under-supported.

Feb. 18, 2026. How do the skill sets between being a scientific practitioner and holding public office align? Themes such as accessible communication and constant learning were discussed at an Association of Science Communicators webinar on January 23, 2026, “What Elected Office Taught me about Science Communication.” During the panel discussion, the moderator and speakers delved into their paths as both scientists and public servants.

Dec. 18, 2025. The Center for Communicating Science invites faculty, post-doctoral researchers, and graduate students to transform complex information into clear, compelling, and engaging messages in its March 16 workshop: "Distilling Your Message for Teaching and Outreach: Brief and Compelling Interactions with the People You Need to Talk to."

Feb. 5, 2026. Despite the freezing weather outside, spring cleaning came early at the Center for Communicating Science! For us, that means revisiting our website. Specifically, we've updated our Resources page to better reflect the various resources offered by the CCS, Virginia Tech, and externally. Check it out! There's something for everyone.

Jan. 13, 2026. From 90-second research stories at the Center for the Arts to laid back, casual chats at Rising Silo Brewery, the Center for Communicating Science is used to all kinds of communication formats. This Fall, CCS graduate assistant Bria Weisz worked on a new way to experience science, using an artistic lens: through an interactive gallery exhibit.

Jan. 5, 2026. Over the past year, the Center for Communicating Science (CCS) has deepened its involvement in the U.S. National Science Foundation’s COMPASS Center — COMmunity Empowering Pandemic Prediction and Prevention from Atoms to SocietieS — a multi-university effort led by Virginia Tech and dedicated to forecasting and preventing future pandemics through ethically grounded, community-engaged research.