April 23, 2026: Science on Tap: Environmental Changes in Your Backyard

Flyer for a Science on Tap New River Valley event titled “Environmental Change in Your Backyard.” The event will take place Thursday, April 23, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. at Rising Silo Brewery in Blacksburg, Virginia. The flyer features photos of four speakers: Marsha Craiger (Emergency Services Coordinator at Mountain Empire Older Citizens), Katie Burke (science journalist), Jenny Hall (founder of Ticks in Virginia and associate dean and professor at Radford University), and Craig Ramseyer (associate professor of geography at Virginia Tech). The event will explore how environmental change is impacting southwest Virginia, including public health risks, tick bite prevention, rising energy costs, and gaps in weather data used to predict flooding. The event is free and open to the public, with contact information provided for accessibility accommodations.

April 23, 5:30 p.m., Rising Silo Brewery, 2351 Glade Road, Blacksburg

Science on Tap: Environmental Changes in Your Backyard

Join science journalist Katie Burke and a panel of guests from her recent series “A Warming World, a Rural Challenge in Southwestern Virginia” speak about increasing public health hazards here in Virginia. Learn how to prevent tick bites, why energy costs are rising, and what weather data are missing to predict floods.

Speakers:

Katie Burke, science journalist
Jenny Hall, founder of ticksinvirginia.com and an Associate Dean for Waldron College and Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health and Healthcare Leadership at Radford University
Marsha Craiger, Emergency Services Coordinator at Mountain Empire Older Citizens
Craig Ramseyer, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Virginia Tech

Science on Tap is free and open to the public and is hosted by the Center for Communicating Science at Virginia Tech and Virginia Tech's chapter of Sigma Xi.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Erin Smith at erinsmith@vt.edu during regular business hours at least ten days before the event. Rising Silo is a wheelchair-accessible venue.