Our Newsletter

October 3, 2025. The Center for Communicating Science offers both graduate and undergraduate students unique opportunities to strengthen their communication skills through innovative, engaging courses. These courses emphasize storytelling, audience engagement, and collaboration — skills that are essential across disciplines and professional contexts. Interested students should make use of the course request period (October 21-November 4) to request enrollment for spring semester.

September 24, 2025. Packed with wild ideas like “poop to the rescue,” “rubber that fixes itself,” and “listening to the coldest whisper in the universe," the 2025 Nutshell Games will be just as fun for the audience as it is for the speakers. You’re invited to experience the excitement on Thursday, October 23, at 5:30 p.m. at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech! Free and open to the public.

September 20, 2025. Who is responsible for making sure our water is safe? That’s one of the questions that assistant professor of environmental epidemiology Alasdair Cohen addressed at the August 24, 2025, Science on Tap event “Safe Drinking Water Access in Rural Regions: Progress and Pitfalls.” Cohen paired an engaging lecture about the whos and whats of public water safety with a trivia worksheet to challenge audience members.

Sept. 10, 2025. Attention all Virginia Tech STEM early career researchers! Are you interested in applying for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Early Career Award for Public Engagement with Science? This AAAS award is a national award for early career researchers looking to make a difference in the science communication community. Why apply? You could earn up to $5,000, get national recognition, and be honored at the AAAS annual meeting.

Aug. 26, 2025. What do Snickers bars and ancient fossils have in common? More than you'd think, according to Virginia Tech Ph.D. student Prescott Vayda, who shared his research at the July 24th Science on Tap event, Unwrapping Evolution: How Paleontologists Build the Tree of Life. Vayda helped audience members learn about evolutionary relationships by asking them to identify characteristics of candy bars and think about similarities and differences.

August 23, 2025. Do you want to engage an audience, convince folks your work is important, and explain your research in less time than it takes to microwave mac and cheese, brush your teeth, or listen to your favorite song? Then the Nutshell Games is for you! While some may find the challenge daunting, over 250 graduate students have risen to the occasion – and we are entering our tenth Nutshell Games season. And registration opens August 25. Don't miss your chance to compete!

Aug. 12, 2025. Join us for Flip the Fair 2025! Flip the Fair is a flipped science fair where graduate students and post-docs present their research science-fair-style on tri-fold poster boards, and 5th graders judge them! Prizes awarded to the best presenters! This year’s event will be held at the Melrose Branch of the Roanoke Public Library on Sept. 25th from 8am-2pm. As added value, presenters also are given the opportunity for communication skills training at a professional development workshop in preparation for the event.

Aug. 5, 2025. Ever wonder how scientists see a pandemic coming before the rest of us do? On Thursday, July 31, we found out — together. In the Boeing Auditorium of Virginia Tech’s beautiful Academic Building One in Alexandria, VA, researchers took the stage to share their work in 90 seconds or less. Each talk offered a glimpse into the world of pandemic prediction, and prevention — and into the hearts and minds of the scientists behind the research.

July 10, 2025. On Thursday, July 31, at 5:00 p.m., at the Boeing Auditorium in Virginia Tech’s Academic Building One in Alexandria, VA, researchers working on pandemic preparedness, prediction, and prevention will take the stage to connect with your community in a series of 90-second presentations — telling the story of their work, exploring how ideas take shape, why they matter, and how they connect to the world beyond the lab — all “in a nutshell”!

July 9, 2025. What’s it like to fly a 1903 Wright Flyer and to design drones that fly themselves? Kevin Kochersberger shared those experiences at the June 25, 2025, Science on Tap event, “From the Wright Brothers to Advanced Air Mobility: 122 Years of Flight,” and participants enthusiastically built and modified Styrofoam airplanes for a friendly competition.