Faculty Research
Hellbender baby release. Photo by Max Esterhuizen for Virginia Tech
We’re bringing all our knowledge and skills to the table
There are more pressures and demands being placed on our planet’s resources than ever before, and, thus, there is also a greater need to preserve and build capacity for the future. Our faculty are tackling these challenges as they engage in applied and practical research that seeks to help us understand and solve some of our most complex global problems. Along the way, they are also training the next generation of leaders and policymakers who will carry on this legacy.
Jennifer Russell is blazing a new path that will merge research about natural resources and materials science with an innovative perspective incorporating environmental resources considerations with social and economic benefits.
She co-authored a U.N. report about realigning the manufacturing industry to decrease waste and stimulate economic growth and received a National Science Foundation grant to tackle the challenge of recycling polyurethane foams by applying life-cycle thinking.
We’re taking on the big issues — and we won’t give up
As a society, the environmental challenges we are facing can seem overwhelming. That’s why a sense of optimism is critical and drives our faculty-led research projects. The work that is happening in the college impacts management and policy decisions related to every aspect and area of the natural environment, from the atmosphere to what’s on the ground, in the soil, and in the water.
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Creating a renewable adhesive from bio-based materials , videoChip Frazier, a professor in the Department of Sustainable Biomaterials, is utilizing his students to produce a renewable adhesive from lignin, a natural polymer derived from wood. The research is led by the students in Virginia Tech's newest space the Discovery Lab.
Date: May 01, 2026 - -
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Virginia Tech project selected for national AgriProspects workforce development award , articleVirginia Tech will use a $200,000 AgriProspects grant to develop AI-based training tools that help loggers improve decision-making and value recovery in hardwood forests.
Date: Apr 29, 2026 - -
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Research and scholarship honored with spring awards , articleEach year, the Office of Research and Innovation collaborates with the Office of Faculty Affairs to honor the extraordinary faculty who have demonstrated such impact through three awards: the Early Career Scholarly Impact Award, the Frontier Award, and the Engaged Research Award.
Date: Apr 28, 2026 - -
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Researchers develop scalable method for safer, compostable packaging , articleThe work brings safer, compostable packaging closer to everyday use.
Date: Apr 20, 2026 - -
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Researchers find the 'switch' behind flash drought in Puerto Rico , articleThe work uncovers how sudden changes in air movement can quickly dry soils in Puerto Rico, creating new opportunities for early warning systems and enhanced preparation.
Date: Apr 06, 2026 - -
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Weather balloons take research from campus to the clouds , videoCollege of Natural Resources and Environment students are partnering with researchers from 16 universities across the United States and Canada to launch weather balloons as part of the atmospheric rivers science program. This project focuses on key storm systems known as atmospheric rivers and gives students valuable hands-on research experience.
Date: Apr 01, 2026 -
Our faculty are world-renowned experts in their fields
They are scholars, researchers, innovators, and change agents. They are leaders who take on the problems of the world and look for solutions, and then teach those who will follow them to ensure that their work will continue.
They are the world’s experts and they are right here at Virginia Tech.
Luis Escobar wants to answer the unsolved questions of how, when, and where cross-species virus transmission might next occur in wildlife. He’s traveled to Columbia with student researchers to understand how vampire bats can help predict and prevent the next pandemic.
Escobar has received a National Institute of Health award to study the spread of rabies to humans, as well as National Science Foundation funding to research the transmission of hantavirus as a means to determine how climate change may influence virus spillover.