Our Newsletter

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.

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.

June 27, 2025. Please join the Center for Communicating Science in celebrating a new milestone for the Black Excellence in STEM Project: archiving in the library’s special collections! Set in motion by the center and six graduate student interviewers, the oral history project launched in 2021 in response to the onslaught of racial injustices during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the project sought to highlight a persistent but often overlooked form of racial injustice: the underrepresentation of Black people in STEM fields.

June 26, 2025. This past spring, scientists, journalists, and policy makers from around the country came together at this year’s annual science communication conference, Science Talk 2025, which took place both online and in Raleigh, North Carolina. Virginia Tech’s Center for Communicating Science was well represented and made exciting contributions to this year’s theme of Science with Society.

June 24, 2025. Publishing a paper is one of the most significant things a scientist can do during their career. Each published paper represents years of carefully analyzing data, meticulously choosing the words on the page — dozens, sometimes hundreds of times — and passing a rigorous peer-review process. Yet, mistakes — both small and large — sometimes appear in published work. Dr. Holden Thorp talked about this and more in his seminar at Virginia Tech on April 22nd.

June 3, 2025. The Center for Communicating Science held the inaugural Undergraduate Nutshell Games on April 25, 2025. Over the course of the spring semester, undergraduate researchers were selected for participation, were provided one-on-one coaching, and then presented their 90-second research talks to a panel of judges and a large audience. Tarun Nandamudi received a squirrel trophy (nicknamed Shelly, of course), while all participants walked away with a $500 stipend to be used for conference travel.