Bob Bodnar and Shuhai Xiao were inducted into membership of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington DC on Friday evening. It was an impressive ceremony, with each new member walking onto the stage and signing the "big book," the members' registry. The ceremony was also attended by Dean Kevin Pitts, Vice President for Research and Innovation Dan Sui, and Virginia Tech's two previous members of the Academy, XJ Meng (Biomedical Sciences) and our own Trish Dove.

Assistant Professor Tina Dura gave a talk on Saturday to Virginia Tech's Ut Prosim Society. She and Austin Gray (Bio) talked about their microplastics work to Virginia Tech donors.  

A group from the Museum of Geosciences, led by Mariah Green, traveled to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences grand opening of the Dueling Dinosaurs event. Vicki Yarborough made the connection with staff and faculty at NCMNS, and the VT participants led outreach and fun activities for the public, including a table called Magic Minerals and a game to identify if a toy is a dinosaur or not a dinosaur. Sofia Kryder, Simba Srivastava, and Denyce Jasicki helped run the table with Mariah and Annamarie Fadorsen.

The SuperScientists have created a super hero based on Assistant Professor Julia Cisneros: Dr. Dune! Check out her page here for a nice interview and a link to one of her seminar talks.

Alumnus Ed Setnicky of Haley & Aldrich visited the department last week to conduct interviews and give a presentation on life in the environmental consulting world.