2012–2013 Issue

www.outreach.vt.edu

6 Arlington 9 Sri Lanka 10 Extension Volunteers 26 News

Outreach NOW 2012 Editor Our world-changing land-grant heritage Andrea Brunais As you read about Virginia Tech’s impact on the lives of citizens of Virginia and Art Director Tiffany Pruden the world, I invite you to join us in celebrating the 150-year anniversary of the Graphic Designers visionary legislation of Sen. Justin Morrill that created the opportunity for the Robin Dowdy, Sarah Vernon ’13 founding of Virginia Tech (Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical Institute) in Copy Editor 1872 as part of a network of land-grant universities in every state. Morrill’s big Richard Lovegrove idea, championed by Abraham Lincoln, was to create a system of land-grant universities dedicated to improving the lives of people through more accessible Contributing Writers higher education and applying basic research to the needs of society for increased Andrea Brunais Whitney Johnson Dana Cruikshank Heidi Anne Mesmer food production and economic development. This legislation ignited an American Liz Crumbley Barbara Micale “Educational Revolution.” Yen Dinh Miriam Rich Jean Elliott Melissa Smith In Outreach and International Affairs we take Virginia Tech’s land-grant mission Lori Greiner Kelcey Thurman seriously, and this magazine reflects our division’s pointed mission statement: Chris Horne Denise Young Kayla Hastrup “to share the best of Virginia Tech by working side by side with communities throughout the world.” You’ll enjoy meeting some of those doing the sharing: Photographers Katy Powell (page 9), giving voice to displaced peoples in Sri Lanka; graduate Andrea Brunais, Jean Elliott, Dave Elmore, Kayla students helping towns in southern Virginia infuse their rail trails with economic Hastrup, John McCormick, Sue Ott Rowlands, Lesley Pendleton, Katy Powell, Merle Shepard, heft (page 18); volunteers throughout the commonwealth offering labor without Jim Stroup, Kelcey Thurman, Anne Wernikoff which Extension services would wither (page 10).

Publishers Jean Elliott’s story on Sister Petronella (page 8) shows how the university can add Jerry Niles value in surprising ways. The Franciscan-order nun came to the Blacksburg cam- Vice President Outreach and International Affairs pus to receive two weeks of training before returning to Zambia with her forward- Larry Hincker thinking garden project. Associate Vice President University Relations Research is also central to the land-grant mission. You’ll find research outlined in Publications Director “Virginia Tech’s big Arlington footprint” (page 6). The university’s new building Melissa Richards layout and design discourages silos. That means researchers from different disci- Financial Director plines talk with each other, whether they’re involved in national security or gene Jane Swan expression.

Website Manager In our contest to determine the cover photo, we loved the joy and energy and Holly Carroll movement expressed in the colorful dancer captured in Brazil by Jana Davis Pearl, a 2005 alum (she holds a bachelor’s degree in urban planning). She now lives in Editorial Board Don Back Dave Nutter Sao Paulo. In her photography, she works “to expose the latent raw emotion and Andrea Brunais Patrick O’Brien individuality that lies in every freeze of the frame,” she writes. Scott Farmer Miriam Rich Chris Horne Susan Short The stories of Virginia Tech’s faculty and students in Outreach NOW provide rich Gary Kirk Lois Stephens Julie Walters-Steele testimony to the infinite power of the promise of the Morrill Act. My hope is that you are able to see that the core missions of the land-grant university, envisioned Outreach NOW is an annual publication of 150 years ago, have matured and are thriving at Virginia Tech as our faculty and Outreach and International Affairs and is produced by University Relations, Virginia students reach out Polytechnic Institute and State University, and engage new chal- Blacksburg, VA 24061. lenges to advance the

Periodical postage paid at Blacksburg, Va. Copyright © 2012 common good in our Postmaster: If undeliverable, please send form 3579 to Outreach interconnected world. and International Affairs, 702 University City Boulevard, Blacksburg, VA 24060. Do not return publication. Address changes and circulation inquiries should be mailed to Liz Crumbley, 702 University City Boulevard, Blacksburg, VA 24060. Editorial inquiries, permission to reproduce any material, letters to the editor, and other comments should be mailed to Editor, Outreach Now, 702 University City Boulevard, Blacksburg, VA 24060 or sent by email to [email protected]. Interim Vice President for www.outreach.vt.edu Outreach and International Affairs Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants for admission or employment on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, veteran status, Brunais Andrea national origin, religion, or political affiliation. Anyone having Jerry Niles with Jake Grohs of VT Engage questions concerning discrimination should contact the Office for Equity and Access. OUTREACH contents 2012–2013

2 Creating next-gen scientists and engineers Virginia Tech’s commitment to STEM is mind-bogglingly 8 comprehensive. Planting seed with 25 Sister Petronella Student photos 5 Visionary nun 12 Students document VISTA workers Cool jobs, warm- delivers babies and their travels around fan out hearted workers makes gardens the globe. Construction grow. VT Engage employs 19 Roanoke’s Virginia tradespeople and a clever strategy to Tech ties 26 others nail people 9 make things happen News & Numbers University helps skills. Displacement in the New River Quail rescue and jumpstart city’s narratives Valley. more 6 Katy Powell studies progress. Ramping up in ethnic conflict in Sri 14 30 Arlington Lanka. Where are they now? 22 Commonwealth Virginia Tech’s new Former Upward Short Takes Campus Centers building anchors 10 Bound kids have Four stories from News from alumni-rich greater Extension’s army of some surprising the Virginia Tech Abingdon, Critz, D.C. area. volunteers jobs. community show Hampton Roads, Master Gardeners impact on people’s Richmond, and and others keep vital 18 lives. Roanoke. projects alive. Tales of rail trails Grad students carry 24 32 out economic- Photo contest Contacts On the cover: Jana Davis development finalists Outreach and Pearl (urban planning ’05) studies. Our cover contest International Affairs took this photograph at netted some Carnival in Rio de Janeiro awesome runners- in 2011. Jana, now a up. landscape architect and photographer in Sao Paulo, Brazil, says, “Playing witness to this unforgettable Brazilian Use your mobile celebration is something device to visit www. everyone should enjoy at least outreach.vt.edu/now once!” OUTREACH As the commonwealth’s leading research university, Virginia Tech consistently provides the discovery, learning, and engagement activities vital to its land-grant role. No surprise, then, that the university whose tagline is “Invent the Future” leads outreach in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education with the aim of creating an educated citizenry and tomorrow’s leaders. The STEM commitment stretches across the university and all levels of education. Below is a short list of Tech’s many STEM efforts:

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND LIFE SCIENCES AND VIRGINIA Rooted COOPERATIVE EXTENSION • Through its 4-H youth leadership develop- in ment program, Virginia Cooperative Exten- sion offers Virginia’s youth a number of learning opportunities, including such subjects as animal and plant sciences, earth and space science, nanoscience, robotics, GPS, digital media, and engineering.

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING Denise Young, assistant editor of Virginia Tech • In Chemical Engineering Reactions, hands- Magazine, compiled this list. on chemistry demonstrations intended to interest students in chemistry and chemical engineering are conducted in a wet chemistry lab in Hancock Hall for students ages 12-17.

COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND HUMAN SCIENCES • The Virtual Jamestown Archive is a digital research, teaching, and learning project that explores the legacies of the Jamestown settlement and “the Virginia experiment.”

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS • The MCPS/VT FIRST Robotics collaborative involves three high school teachers, approximately 25 high school students, the School of Education, and the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The project focuses on developing engineering skills and aptitudes through relevant applications.

outreach NOW More content, including video, Outreach NOW 2 at www.outreach.vt.edu/now Virginia Tech helps science museum COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT reinvent itself The Science Museum of • Project Learning Tree is engineered to help educators weave the environment into Western Virginia must live their everyday lesson plans. All activities are field-tested by teachers, reviewed by a few more months in experts, and correlated to the Virginia Standards of Learning. temporary quarters at the Tanglewood Mall before returning to downtown COLLEGE OF SCIENCE Roanoke, but that hasn’t • The Da Vinci living-learning community offers an interactive learning environment stopped the museum designed to help biological and life sciences students succeed in first-year science from moving forward with courses. This community is part of a larger community called inVenTs, which will in- its Virginia Tech partner- clude two freshman engineering communities and two science communities. A similar ship. The 40-year-old community called Curie is open to students majoring in the physical and quantitative museum’s board mem- sciences. bers approached Virginia Tech to help with a plan to become more aggres- FRALIN LIFE SCIENCE INSTITUTE sive about promoting science literacy. • The Caging the Blob: Studying Slime Mold Behavior kit enables students to get a “The museum’s staff and firsthand glimpse of the intelligent behavior and survival tactics of living organisms — Virginia Tech faculty in this case, slime mold. Participants build a maze with logos and pour oats contain- and students are col- ing slime mold in one section of the maze, allowing the mold to completely colonize. laborating to reinvent Then, the oat flakes are taken from the mold and placed on the other side of the maze. the museum as a living Students observe the path that the mold takes to reach the flake. laboratory for informal science education,” says Sam English, the board’s GRADUATE SCHOOL chair. “Programs and • Karen DePauw, vice president and dean for graduate education, received a events that stimulate grant from the Division of Human Resources of the National Science Foun- curiosity and encour- dation. The grant will help DePauw and her colleagues develop a model for age exploration” are key, preparing future faculty from underrepresented groups for doctoral degrees in he says. “By partnering STEM disciplines. DePauw and her colleagues from the Virginia Council of with Virginia Tech, the museum hopes to inspire Graduate Schools have established the Virginia Alliance for Graduate Education future generations to and the Professoriate to facilitate development of a statewide network. pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). INSTITUTE FOR CREATIVITY, ARTS, AND TECHNOLOGY The partnership has been • Created to examine the intersection of art and technology and the role of creativ- wonderful so far.” ity in innovation, the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology serves up a Virginia Tech helps fund number of STEM-related projects. Take, for example, a recent endeavor in which the museum’s execu- the IDEAStudio partnered with the SEEDS Blacksburg Nature Center for a teachers’ tive director position. workshop. Participants explored how to combine science education with the arts and “We were able to at- creativity and developed lesson materials for their classrooms. tract a higher caliber of applicants because of the university-museum VIRGINIA BIOINFORMATICS INSTITUTE (VBI) partnership,” English • In September 2011, VBI faculty hosted a free educator workshop called says. Jim Rollings, a vet- “C2S2: Climate Change,” based on the ANDRILL (ANtarctic geologi- eran of Heifer Village in Arkansas and the NASA cal DRILLing research project) funded through a partnership with VBI, Langley Visitor Center, 4-H, ANDRILL and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric was hired in late 2011. Administration. — Andrea Brunais For a more comprehensive list of STEM- continued on page 4 related programs at Virginia Tech, visit the online version of this article. Outreach NOW 3 Donna Augustine – a passion for STEM There are those who are passionate about their work, and then there’s Donna Augus- tine. Augustine is the director of the Youth Science Cooperative Outreach Agreement, a multiyear U.S. Army Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) outreach initiative headquartered at Virginia Tech. The child of two high school math teachers, Augustine’s passion for math and science started early and stayed with her during her undergraduate years at M.I.T. and through her early years as a doctoral student in Virginia Tech’s science and technology studies program. As she pursued her degree, she found her calling — helping young people, especially those from underrepresented groups, become interested in STEM. For her dissertation, she is examining the broken STEM pipeline at the point of precollegiate access programs. Professionally, she served as director of the Science & Technology Entry Program for five years at Monroe Community College (MCC) in Rochester, N.Y., and was the interim coordinator for the Center for Service Learning at MCC. She frequently refers to her current role as her “dream opportunity” to continue to spread the word about STEM. Under the five-year, $60 million grant, Augustine will be leading the U.S. Army’s assessment efforts for its STEM outreach programs across the country. — Dana Cruikshank Andrea Brunais Andrea

Donna Augustine

Virginia’s top educator explores institute’s rolling classroom

The commonwealth’s secretary of education is now lic events. The equipment aboard illustrates the effec- among the thousands who have experienced the ef- tiveness of renewable and sustainable energy sources fective learning techniques aboard the STEM Mobile and other concepts related to science, technology, en- Learning Lab. The STEM Lab is an outreach tool for gineering, and math. Visitors learn by experimenting the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in with solar power, wind power, and robotics. Fornash Danville. used a hand crank to power two different light bulbs — one an old-style incandescent, the other a newer CFL The lab rolled into Richmond in February during the General Assembly session. Cabinet members, legisla- bulb — and saw how the CFL bulb required less en- tors, and their staffs were able to experience the teach- ergy. The lab also carries high-resolution microscopes ing resources first hand. Education Secretary Laura and can be used as a mobile computer lab with wi-fi Fornash was impressed. access to both PC and Mac laptops. “It was great to see the STEM Mobile Learning Lab while Since spring 2010, educators have employed the lab it was in Richmond during the legislative session. The to deliver more than 300 educational programs to more lab is a vital outreach tool to bring exciting science- than 13,000 visitors. “Students and teachers in the re- based curriculum through hands-on experiments and gion are fortunate to have the lab in the region to help exhibits to students in Southside Virginia,” she says. augment classroom instruction,” Fornash says. In Jan- uary, President Barack Obama’s chief science advisor, Established two years ago, the lab, with its distinctive John Holdren, toured the lab. outside wrapping, visits schools and shows up at pub- — Chris Horne

Outreach NOW 4 When All You Have Is a Hammer, Shake

Hands By Andrea Brunais

Green building is all about nailing ‘Wow! It is important to open myself ting, and Energy-Efficient Assessment shut and sealing tight and lighting up and smile a little bit and create Training and Employment Systems), right and retrofitting. Green build- an engagement with another human which pays for job training. Grant ing is also about “soft skills” that can being’ — and they’ve never even partners include the Virginia Tech inspire likeability and trust. thought of that before!” Office of Economic Development, the Christiansburg-based nonprofit Com- Friendly relationships are key to When a participant asks, “Is it pos- munity Housing Partners, and the influencing consumers to adopt green sible to be too disgustingly positive?” region’s local workforce development products and processes, says author Darnell suggests that rather than turn boards and community colleges. and consultant Brent Darnell, a into Mary Poppins overnight, “Dial it veteran of the construction industry. up just a little.” Faculty member Andrew McCoy, who “It’s about changing the minds and the teaches in the Myers-Lawson School “Harnessing Innovation” is the name hearts of the people you’re trying to of Construction, was instrumental in of the conference, and Darnell is sell all this new innovation to.” planning the conference. At first he quick to make the connection: “We worried whether soft-skills training That’s why he spent a morning leading are so afraid of making mistakes in would fly. But the gamble paid off. group exercises in firm handshakes, this industry and taking risks that we “When you tell people in the architec- warm tones of voice, and open body have lost our ability to innovate.” ture, engineering, and construction language. After cheering on participants doing industries, ‘Hey, we want you to come “It’s not our best thing, as an industry,” variations of “the wave” across the and talk about emotions and emo- Darnell says of emotional intelligence. room, Darnell tells the group, “As tional skills,’ you wonder if they really He finds the audience of architects, adults we are so afraid to look silly. want to show up — and they did,” he engineers, and construction workers Kids are not afraid of that, and they says. “It was really lively.” receptive at a two-day, industry-focused are innovative and creative.” conference in Roanoke. Afterward, he The conference grew from the CRE- outreach says, “When they learn that, it’s like, ATES grant (Construction, Retrofit- NOW More content, including video, at www.outreach.vt.edu/now Why it Matters The U.S. Department of Labor un- derwrites training for workers in the green construction industry to meet anticipated demands for skilled labor. The conference provided training and brought stakeholders together.

Participant Stephen Reese chats with speaker Brent Darnell. (far right) Patrick O’Brien with participant Amazetta Anderson during soft skills training. When Darnell asks for feedback, she says, “It’s a little strange. I wasn’t expecting to immediately start Logan Wallace studying myself.” Brunais Andrea

Outreach NOW 5 Virginia Tech’s BIG

Arlington footprint By Andrea Brunais and Barbara Micale

crowd of more than 60 people from the greater Wash- “The popularity of the new seminar series symbolizes what A ington, D.C., science and technology community we’re trying to accomplish here,” says Don Leo, vice presi- gathered in February at the Virginia Tech Research Cen- dent and executive director for National Capital Region ter — Arlington for the inaugural lecture of the Leaders in Operations. “Arlington’s proximity to legislators, the Science and Technology Seminar Series. At the same time, National Science Foundation, other leading federal research more than 250 miles away in Blacksburg, graduate students agencies, and foreign embassies is helping Virginia Tech and faculty also assembled to watch the live broadcast. reach out to the community and create collaborations.” The speaker was internationally known Ben Shneiderman, Ten Virginia Tech institutes and centers share space in the founding director of the Human-Computer Interaction seven-story, LEED-certified green building that opened in Laboratory.

Photos by Jim Stroup

Outreach NOW 6 Virginia Tech research institutes and centers with a major presence in Arlington:

• Advanced Research Institute • Institute for Science, Culture, and Environment • Arlington Innovation Center: Health Research • Hume Center • Center for Geospatial Information Technology • Institute for Critical Technology and Applied • Center for Technology, Security, and Policy Science • Computational Bioinformatics and Bio-imaging • Virginia Bioinformatics Institute Laboratory • Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation

June 2011, creating what Virginia Tech President Charles tion of gene and protein expression patterns to the compu- W. Steger describes, metaphorically, as a “nucleus for discov- tational theory of systems biology and to advanced imaging ery.” and image analysis. We are striving for scientific discoveries while pursuing engineering innovations for the molecular Offices are arranged so that researchers mingle, whether analysis of human diseases.” they’re working for the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute or the College of Science. “The center is unique in that we Virginia Tech research in the greater Washington, D.C., didn’t assign space around silos,” Leo says. This type of area extends beyond Arlington to centers in Falls Church open atmosphere is designed to command recognition in and Alexandria. Water research is conducted in Manassas the greater Washington, D.C., area. “We want to engage in and equine research in Leesburg and Middleburg. ways that highlight the research strengths of our faculty and The strategic location of the 144,000-square-foot Arlington graduate students.” center makes it attractive to many nearby organizations. The Hume Center is a case in point. Part of the College of Demand is already high for the second-floor conference Engineering, with support from the Institute for Critical area known as the VT Executive Briefing Center — Technology and Applied Science, it focuses on developing Arlington. Continuing and Professional Education, a unit future leaders for the U.S. federal government. Charles of Outreach and International Affairs, manages the meeting Clancy, director, says, “Our goal is to lead the country in space. holistically developing the elite science and technology In addition to the human capital for the intelligence community.” Faculty “Our goal is to lead the Leaders in Science and and students will address the national security community’s Technology Seminar critical needs. country in holistically Series, the center has The Hume Center will work with L-3 Communications, developing the elite hosted various groups, which moved more than 50 people to the Arlington center. including the univer- Both parties will benefit from the collaboration. Virginia science and technology sity’s board of visitors, Tech students can look forward to L-3 internships and human capital for the British Embassy repre- faculty to endowed fellowships. Virginia Tech and L-3 will sentatives, an interna- also jointly apply for grants and carry out research. intelligence community.” tional meeting of the Commonwealth Center Arlington-based research gives Virginia Tech’s graduate – Charles Clancey for Advanced Manu- students the opportunity to work with such professors as facturing, and alumni business groups, such as VT-IDEA Clancy and Yue “Joseph” Wang, the Grant A. Dove Profes- (Intelligence and Defense Executive Alumni). sor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Computational Bioinformatics and Bio-imaging “My goal is to have the center reflect the strengths of Laboratory. research throughout the region and have it connected to all of Virginia Tech, regardless of where a particular building, Wang describes the sort of research students might tackle: faculty, or student is physically located,” Leo says. “Our research has evolved from comprehensive characteriza-

A view of the Arlington conference rooms with National Capital Region Operations Vice President and Executive Director Don Leo

Photos by Jim Stroup

Outreach NOW 7 By Jean Elliott

Cherub-cheeked Sister Petronella Mwila coos softly to babies and delivers about 56 of them each month at St. Kalemba Mission Hospital, the hub of 10 remote villages in One garden straddled a hillside, hand-cultivated by a pair of northwest Zambia not far from the Congo border. beaming HIV-positive women. At another village, children The Franciscan-order nun is the keeper of secrets. As a gleefully greeted the Sister, hiked beside her and proudly showed off their own patch along the banks of a river, aptly nurse, she knows who tests HIV-positive. As coordinator of placed adjacent to the volunteers’ plot. volunteers, she makes sure the aforementioned participate in caregiving throughout the thatched-hut communities, assuring them of status and, in a stroke of genius, a better diet. Thanks to a grant administered by Virginia Tech and a small stipend of $300, Sister Petronella developed a proposal to improve the nutrition of her clients in these impoverished areas where a bowl of corn porridge is consid- ered a good meal for the day. With the help of her network of volunteers, she deftly set her idea into motion. Her plan? Seeds. Maize is a common crop in much of southern Africa. Large gardens are not. Abraham is 5 months old and his mother is HIV positive. In Zambia, mothers traditionally nurse their babies for two years, In each of the 10 outposts, however, women and children which means Abraham’s mother faces a daunting decision. If (mostly orphans) cleared land, weaved elaborate stick fences, she stops breastfeeding, she risks being ostracized because and dug furrows by hand. Water was carried from rivers her fellow villagers will realize her medical condition. If and bore holes. she continues to breastfeed, she risks the life of her child. Excruciating choice. The seeds flourished in gardens on hilly land dotted with fire-ant mounds and marshy meadows. The Fellows, including Sister Petronella, all participated in two weeks of training at Virginia Tech to learn about best Gardeners reaped cabbage, tomatoes, eggplants, and beets. practices in public health. That was followed by an immer- Some even managed cash crops with sales underwriting sion experience alongside an American colleague in a com- school supplies and basic needs. One particularly enterpris- munity health setting. The Fellows then developed their ing village parlayed initial seed money into a thrifty cassava own action plans. and greens business. That, in turn, launched a venture into animal husbandry with the purchase of two piglets and two Of the 14 projects undertaken in 2011, the goats, which multiplied during five months, becoming a lives of some 138,380 Zambians healthy herd of 14. and 6,800 Malawians were touched, according Sister Petronella was one of 28 people from Zambia and to Redican and Kelly. Malawi named a Global Health Fellow with grant sponsor- Perhaps even more grati- ship from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educa- fying than the numbers, tion and Cultural Affairs. Virginia Tech’s Patricia Kelly, Sister Petronella’s gardens professor in the School of Education, and Kerry Redican, appear to be sustainable. professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, collaborated on the project.

Photos by Jean Elliott Outreach NOW 8 in and

By Miriam Rich

The tropical island nation of Sri Lanka is a place of contra- with undergrads and graduate students (as well as faculty dictions. It is the Buddhist country with the longest con- from other disciplines) and studying displacement and tinuous history of Buddhism as well as the seat of a large identity in a post-conflict environment, her specialty. She service organization devoted to promoting peace. And yet it started out in the field by studying families in the moun- is also a country with a history of searing conflict between tains of Virginia who were displaced by the creation of the two rival ethnic groups. Shenandoah National Park. She does ethnographic and oral history research, taking a multidimensional approach to So the South Asian nation is a compelling place for Katy looking at the social aspects of displacement and identity. Powell, associate professor of English at Virginia Tech, whose expertise is in studying displacement narratives, In Sri Lanka, ethnic conflict between the Tamil and the to conduct research. Sinhalese has created displacement. Minority Tamils left neighborhoods of the capital city of Colombo, where fight- Powell first went to Sri Lanka in summer 2011 as part ing was intense, for safer parts of the country. Many fled to of a team of Virginia Tech professors who are looking the north and east. at ways to collaborate with Sri Lankan universities and organizations. Young Sri Lankans who have lived through this conflict have been great resources for Powell. She interviewed sev- What Powell found was a serendipitous conver- eral at the Sri Palee Campus of the University of Colombo, gence of interests from her life. She was working where theater professor Ann Kilkelly conducted a theater workshop. Kilkelly had everyone line up and sculpt each other’s bodies to represent a particular issue in their society. “One of the students moved my hands and head into par- ticular positions so that my body represented the concept of peace,” Powell says. “She meticulously moved my fingers so that they had just the right curve to them to mimic those of a goddess of peace. I was quite moved by her diligence in getting the fingers right. As I stood in the line of sculpted bodies, I was overwhelmed at the students’ enthusiasm in participating in

Sue Ott Rowlands [Kilkelly’s] workshop and this particular (above) Katy Powell studies displacement of people, and finds timeto visit with elephants, in Sri Lanka. (below) University of Colombo students attend Powell’s workshop, Private Memories, student’s commitment Public Impact: A Workshop in Life Histories in Sri Lanka in June 2012: Gayani Jayasekera, to making my body Ruwini Kodippilia, Ruth Surenthiraraj, Arasi Viekneaswaran, and Nirmani Jayaweera. reflect exactly the con- cept and emotion she desired. That was my first day in Sri Lanka, and that day I knew I wanted to work with the students again.” Katy Powell Outreach NOW 9 One reason Bordas can rely on volunteers to assist with pro- gramming is the extensive train- ing Extension provides. ‘They Initially, Master Gardener vol- unteers must complete 50 hours of training and contribute 50 volunteer hours before they earn the title. Annually, they must are the complete eight hours of continu- ing education and work 20 volun- teer hours. “They have a thirst for knowledge. face of the They go out of their way to seek more education,” Bordas says. “The volunteers feel like the classes we provide for them are something that they would not get any- community’where else.” By Lori Greiner Master Gardener George Graine, of Falls Church, Va., has spent more than 25 years inda King knows that it takes a village — a village of seeking and sharing knowledge. “It gives me a great sense volunteers, that is. King, a 4-H youth agent in Prince of enjoyment helping others as well as learning skills and William County, relies on more than 640 volunteers knowledge for my own benefit,” Graine says. He volunteers Lto help her reach upward of 38,000 children with Exten- at plant clinics (where people bring their plants for diag- sion’s 4-H youth programming. nosis) and helps identify topics and speakers to develop advanced Master Gardener training. Adria Bordas manages more than 400 Master Gardener volunteers in Fairfax County. Some of her programs are run Master Gardener and six-year volunteer Elaine Homstad totally by volunteers. values Extension’s emphasis on research-based informa- tion. “We show people how to find information that they Volunteers serve as 4-H club leaders, give gardening advice, can rely on. Being associated with Virginia Tech and having provide cooking demonstrations, assist with after-school research-based information available is important to the programs, and teach financial literacy. Volunteers are essen- union of Master Gardeners and Extension.” tial to Virginia Cooperative Extension’s mission of helping people put scientific knowledge to work to improve their The successful Master Gardener volunteer model now ap- lives. plies to other Extension programs covering such topics as

Master Food volunteers undergo 30 hours of training over the course of four weeks. They learn about basic nutrition, meal planning, cooking techniques, food safety, and how to work with diverse audiences.

Outreach NOW 10 “These folks have a real How Extension’s interest in helping others.” volunteers make a – Melissa Chase difference Virginia Cooperative Extension serves all finances and health and the newest offering: the Master Food 95 counties and 12 independent cities in Volunteer Program. Virginia with varying levels of program- The resurgence of home canning and food preservation, plus ming support. “Volunteers are the back- the need to promote healthy lifestyles, provides the opportu- bone of these activities,” says Director Ed nity to train volunteers to help agents with programs on nutri- Jones. “We could not conduct many of tion, food safety, cooking, and physical activity. our programs without them.” “These folks have a real interest in helping others,” says Me- King, the agent in Prince William County, lissa Chase, state coordinator for the Master Food Volunteer offers 4-H in 80 schools and supports Program. “They enjoy sharing knowledge and seeing the change more than 30 clubs and camps. “If 4-H relied solely on paid staff, we’d reach only in behavior. It motivates the volunteers when they can see the 1 percent of the number of children with impact of their hard work.” our Extension programs.” For others it’s about giving back. In Fairfax County, Bordas says, “Volun- Sandy Arnold, a fourth-generation 4-Her, knows firsthand what a teers really build capacity within our pro- difference volunteers can make on a child’s life. “4-H really formed grams.” my life and was a huge influence,” Arnold says. “For me as a kid, I Over the years, Extension has had to remember focusing on a project outside of school. It was a very afford- weather some severe revenue cuts of able way to get involved in a horse project. I got so much out of it. So its own. In the past six years, its budget many adults inspired me.” declined by more than $10 million. Exten- Arnold is now the horse project leader for the Nokesville 4-H Club, sion was facing additional budget cuts in 2010 when its volunteers and supporters where she is inspiring a new generation. While teaching kids about let the Virginia General Assembly know horses, she also helps them build good character and leadership skills. that enough was enough. The 4-H members incorporate a community service activity into Jones credits Extension’s volunteers for every club meeting. Through projects like creating Christmas cards their support and advocacy to help get for a local homeless shelter and assembling care packages for the some of the funding restored to hire addi- homebound, 4-Hers learn about their community and the needs tional agents in the field. “Volunteers can of others. “I want to teach my kids about giving, and 4-H is an communicate to additional stakeholders avenue to teach those skills,” Arnold says. and funders that we cannot reach with our “Our volunteers are incredibly good at their jobs, whether it is staff.” fundraising, educating, or simply caring,” King says. “They are Master Gardener Elaine Homstad says the face of the community.” the value of volunteerism in a depressed economy can’t be overlooked. “We can’t In addition to providing depend on government to provide every- gardening advice and thing. So often it is the volunteer organiza- educational programming, tions that fill in the gap. The public-private many Master Gardener partnership makes the whole community volunteers help maintain the thrive.” public gardens within their communities.

Outreach NOW 11 photos courtesy of Lori Greiner R e ad a l o u d, hop on a , atch your garden grow:

Building strong community partnerships and The many interests increasing civic-engagement opportunities for of VT Engage By Kayla Hastrup students are two important missions for VT Engage: The Community Learning Collabora- tive (formerly the Center for Student Engage- ment and Community Partnerships). The work at VT Engage has brought something new to the university: AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) workers. Here is a look at three organizations that have benefitted from the work of VT Engage’s VISTA members.

Making life brighter for Head Start toddlers On a Saturday morning in January, Virginia Tech students arrived at Head Starts across the New River Val- ley to brighten the walls and windows of the centers. VT Engage’s annual event, MLK Daycare Facelift, exposes hundreds of students to the need for programs like Head courtesy of VT Engage Start that serve low-income families in the New River Val- Part of an Honors Residential College work team, Erica ley. The annual one-day service project inspired VT En- Bennett decorates windows at the Narrows Head Start gage to develop a long-term commitment between Head Center on VT Engage’s MLK Day of Service. Start and Virginia Tech’s Honors Residential College. Inevitably, the Virginia Tech students wonder if their efforts Creating a university-Head Start alliance, the VT Engage can make a difference in the Head Start centers. Do the stu- staff sought a rich community learning experience that dents’ visits open the children to new possibilities? A parent reflected the program’s core values of service, personal confirms this. Her child had wanted to be a superhero growth, and intellectual development. Working with rural when he grew up, she says. Now he wants to be a teacher. Head Start centers promised benefits to both community and college students, whose ongoing relationship with Because the Honors Residential College model has worked the Head Start children has deepened their awareness of so successfully, VT Engage’s VISTA members are now culture and poverty. working to connect campus clubs and organizations with the Head Start centers.

Outreach NOW 12 Eat, play, mulch For many residents in Floyd County, a typi- cal Wednesday lunch is not fresh, local, or free. Since the creation of the PlentyGood! Free Lunch project, a new program from the hunger relief agency Plenty!, the community comes together for conversation and a lively feast. Plenty! serves Floyd County by distributing food, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, to com- munity members in need. With the help of VT

Kelsey Kradel Engage, the organization has been able to create a website, coordinate a community garden, and start school gardens at two elementary schools. Alexis Bressler, left (maroon shirt, green vest) is “The school gardens help children know where the VISTA worker assigned to work on school and community gardening projects with Plenty! their food comes from and teaches them how to grow food,” says group co-founder Karen Day. “They also provide opportunities for the children Freewheeling volunteers set up bike kitchen to taste veggies so they will want to eat more.” For the 19 percent of the population living below the pov- The community garden also serves an educational purpose erty line in the New River Valley, transportation can be a as well as helping would-be gardeners who need land, tools, challenge. The NRV Bike Kitchen may provide solutions. advice, or seeds and seedlings. “We believe these growing The bike kitchen — a project of VT Engage, the New River projects help people to reduce hunger by growing their own Valley Bicycle Association, and Christiansburg — operates food,” Day says. out of the town’s recreation center. On Wednesdays, community members leave the lunch with Much like a soup kitchen, the bike kitchen offers free or full bellies and local, potted herbs to grow at home. reduced-price bicycles. For $25, qualified recipients will be given a refurbished bike, a helmet, a headlight, a taillight, Jim Kline, a retired shop teacher from Floyd High and a bike lock. People can also receive the items free by School, is a bike kitchen volunteer. volunteering. Bike kitchens are catching on around the country because they promote self-sufficiency while providing green trans- portation. Although the NRV Bike Kitchen is still getting off the ground, volunteers work out of tents at weekly “fix fests” to restore donated bikes. Contributions from community partners and individuals are expected to underwrite the bike kitchen. Current needs: more volunteers and money. Kayla Hastrup

Outreach NOW 13 Outreach NOW 14 One studied law. One loves HR work. One pursued the news biz. All three credit the same impetus:

by Denise Young

Even high school students whose parents attended col- lege can find the higher-education process overwhelming. There are campus visits, admissions essays, financial-aid applications, and award letters — not to mention learning what to expect once arriving, from living with a room- mate to choosing a major to navigating campus. To keep such problems from seeming insurmountable, Upward Bound and Tal- ent Search acts as an experienced guide. Many first-generation college students simply can’t picture themselves in the uni- versity environment, says Latanya Walker, who recently left the Upward Bound program for another job at Virginia Tech after 13 years. “My mom had gone to college, so the vocabulary in my house was college, college, college. That doesn’t necessarily happen in a home where the parents don’t have experience in college. Even if they want their child to go, they might not know how to get them there. Some parents support their students, but they might not know how to support their efforts at going to college.” Upward Bound/Talent Search Director Kimberly Andrews agrees. “These pro- grams help make students more well-rounded — to succeed not only at the in- stitution they’re going to, but in the world, because they’ve seen something more than their hometown.” Visits to the theater or opera, tours of college campuses, and six-week camps that expose students to the college environment — even courses on financial literacy — heighten the odds that students will arrive on campus eager and ready to succeed. There’s no shortage of success stories to prove that the efforts of center staff are paying off, making a big difference in countless lives. Turn the page for stories of three Upward Bound participants now in the midst of amazing careers made possible, in part, by their experiences in the program.

continued on page 16

Outreach NOW 15 Rob Christina Masri Brogdon

Helping small businesses thrive A nontraditional path It was a long journey from Lebanon to Pearisburg, Va., Christina Brogdon knows firsthand how difficult life as where Rob Masri grew up in an apartment over the family a first-generation college student can be. When Brogdon, restaurant. He learned work ethic and customer service hailing from a small town, arrived on the Virginia Tech from his father; all four Masri children worked in the res- campus as an incoming freshman in summer 1988, her taurant, vacuuming floors, busing tables, or taking orders. father dropped her off with $20 in her pocket. Brogdon wasn’t prepared. “I didn’t know you had to buy your own “When my father first opened that restaurant in Pearisburg, books,” she recalls. “I don’t know how in the world we he had a family meeting and said, ‘Every customer who thought I’d survive with $20!” walks in needs to be treated like part of our family.’ That restaurant lasted for 29 years. His mindset was that, if the For Brogdon, college life was rocky, and she eventually left. same 40 or 50 families didn’t come back every week, the But the encouragement she received — and continued to restaurant wouldn’t have made it. Those passionate, loyal receive over the years — from the Upward Bound team customers, getting to know those people and bringing them helped her return to school. During her time out of school, back, is the key to business success.” she worked in retail. After she became interested in human resource management, her career took flight. And at age Masri would take his father’s words to heart. After earning a 30, she was well on her way to a job in a corporate office, law degree from the University of Virginia, Masri practiced but she felt unfulfilled without that college degree. “Not law and worked for a tech company, eventually working at having it was a thorn in my side,” she says. She returned to the university’s law school. In 2009, he founded Cardagin, Virginia Tech in 2004, finishing her bachelor’s degree, then a Charlottesville, Va.-based business designed to help small completing an M.B.A. Today, she works as the director of business owners understand their frequent customers and human resources for Bluefield State College and plans to reward their loyalty through smartphone technology. pursue a doctorate. He met Tom Wilson, former Upward Bound and Talent “The Upward Bound program is a big part of why I am where Search director, when Wilson visited Masri’s high school. I am,” Brogdon says. “It helped motivate me to finish college.” “When you’re young and your parents don’t have college experience themselves, the only thing you can turn to is Brogdon wasn’t the only one in her family to benefit from other people who’ve gone to college or what you’ve seen Upward Bound. “The program actually helped whole fami- on television,” Masri says. “Being there for six weeks in lies,” she says, referring to her siblings. “Out of the seven of the summers, that was life-changing. You saw how college us, five of us were in the program. I’d like to think part of students live, learn that sort of independence that you can the reason the last two didn’t need it was because Upward only learn from personal experience.” Bound helped the first five of us. They didn’t have the chal- lenges we did because we were able to help them. I’d like to Of the help he received, Masri says, “You carry that grati- think the program had a lot to do with that.” tude with you throughout your life regardless of where your professional career goes.” “Being there for six weeks in the “It helped summers, that motivate me to was life-changing.” finish college.”

Outreach NOW 16 Greg “These Carter programs help make

From the sidelines to the newsroom students For Greg Carter, one of the more important parts of his Up- more well- ward Bound experience was the introductions to people who would inspire him to succeed academically and professionally. rounded — to He fondly recalls his first meeting with former Upward Bound Director Tom Wilson. “He was one of the first people succeed not outside of my family who really showed a strong interest in me doing well in school, and he had just met me,” Carter only at the says. “I came from a low-income, single-parent household, the oldest of three. I had thoughts of playing ball but didn’t institution think I was good enough to get a scholarship. He was the first to sit me down and make me think I had options, and they’re going the program allowed me to see that even further.” Through Upward Bound, Carter met his mentor, Walter to, but in Lundy, then a sports writer for the Preston Journal. Lundy — now a grants management specialist in the District of the world, Columbia — would take Carter to games, watching the Hokies play in places such as Washington, D.C., even because going to Atlantic City to see Bimbo Coles play a one-on- one game in Trump Plaza. “He remembered that there was they’ve seen someone who reached out to him and took him under their wing and exposed him to life outside of his town, and he something did that for me,” Carter says of his mentor. Those experiences helped Carter find his career path. Today, more he is content manager and evening news anchor for WVVA in Bluefield, W.Va. than their During Carter’s high school years, Upward Bound, includ- hometown.” ing trips to college campuses and a spring trip to the nation’s capital, made all the difference. “I spent three summers on Upward Bound/Talent Search campus, and it just launched me into another world. I wrote Director Kimberly Andrews an article several years ago saying, ‘My life began with Upward Bound. It really took off at that moment.’”

“My life began with Upward Bound. It really took off at that moment.”

Outreach NOW 17 Southwest Virginia’s Trails Put Students On Success Track By Andrea Brunais and Kelcey Thurman Andrea Brunais Andrea

hen marketing a region’s For students specializing in economic develop- Wrecreational assets, economic ment, the studio acts as a training ground, helping developers love to talk about trails. them to gain real-world experience. In the course But can the economic worth of the of preparing their report, the students traveled to trails be proven and, more important, Damascus and Galax in Southwest Virginia to talk improved? Students taking a key with community members, business owners, and graduate course — the Economic trail users. The region is dotted with bike shops

Development Studio @ Virginia Tech and tourist-related businesses inspired by the trails. Brunais Andrea — were handed that task by their The trails, now devoted to hikers and bikers, were professor, John Provo, director of the once railroad lines. The Virginia Creeper is 34 Office of Economic Development. miles long, running from Whitetop through Trails advocates wish to make con- Damascus to Abingdon. The New River Trail State vincing arguments to potential Park is significantly larger: 765 acres or 57 miles. funders, says Link Elmore of the It starts in Galax and runs north through Carroll, Virginia Creeper Trail Club, one of Grayson, Pulaski, and Wythe counties. the studio’s two clients. (The other is

After much collaboration, some struggling and Kelsey Thurman the New River Trail State Park.) The much hard work, the studio team came up with message: “We have an asset that needs (top) Hikers on the trail recommendations centered on community partner- (bottom) Master’s to be taken care of and that their ships, marketing, and capitalizing on existing local students Swetha Kumar financial support will really make a and Melissa Zilke in class resources. The report included specifics, such as difference in our community.” recommending that trail officials and advocates Nine graduate students, most of promote youth involvement by creating environ- them majoring in regional and urban mental-education activities that would attract planning, undertook the study. Sarah young families and employ young people or recent outreach Lyon-Hill described their initial college graduates. NOW More content, including video, trepidation: “We had no idea about at www.outreach.vt.edu/now “We loved working with this class,” Elmore said. the topic or even how to conduct “These are highly motivated grad students. They an economic impact study on a trail. did a great job.” However, we learned quickly that we were no longer in a classroom setting. We were given a problem, and now we had to figure it out.”

Outreach NOW 18 Working to Better a Blighted

Downtown By Andrea Brunais Jim Stroup

Roanoke, Va., was once a thriving center of commerce, Tech offers graduate degrees and professional-development transportation, and culture. A few decades ago, the city courses. The establishment of the Hotel Roanoke & began to fade, and eventually sections of the downtown Conference Center created jobs and prompted a flood of struggled with crime problems and were virtually deserted. tax revenues into city coffers. Student- and community-led “Roanoke had been cursed with a lack of economic growth projects have lifted levels of literacy. for years,” says W. Robert Herbert, city manager in the Some background: Roanoke is without a major research 1990s and now a Virginia Tech Fellow with the Center for university, while Virginia Tech is a situated on a thriving Organizational and Technological Advancement. “The city Blacksburg campus without a major airport and with lim- was working hard to maintain population and tax base.” ited commercial or retail services. A city-university marriage Some people may be surprised to learn that an “invisible seemed inevitable. An opening occurred in 1989 when hand” of sorts helped write the revitalization of Roanoke’s Norfolk Southern closed its landmark, century-old hotel. downtown during the past 20 years. Leaders from the city Roanoke Mayor David A. Bowers told the magazine Vir- and the university joined to halt the decline and, more ginia Town & City: “We faced the prospect of the Hotel importantly, inspire some smart new projects to generate Roanoke being bulldozed. That would be like Richmond economic growth. losing the Capitol or Norfolk losing the bay.” The result can be seen in downtown’s people-friendly busi- Fortunately it never came to that. The railroad turned the ness areas. A short walk across the railroad tracks takes one hotel, known as “The Grand Old Lady,” over to Virginia to the Roanoke Higher Education Center, where Virginia Tech’s foundation. The foundation carried out a $28 million

Outreach NOW 19 Jim Stroup Leslie Pen dleton

renovation of the historic structure. The city, for its part, become the Roanoke Higher Education Center, the second built the conference center, adding 63,000 square feet of anchor of downtown revitalization efforts. meeting space. A joint fundraising effort raised $50 mil- “These two significant projects involved many collaborators lion and galvanized the community, including people who and millions of dollars, marking the start of an engagement dropped money into collection boxes downtown. A grand strategy that will forever couple Roanoke and Virginia reopening took place in 1995. Tech,” says John Dooley, who recently retired as vice presi- Some 300 jobs were created with annual payroll expen- dent of Outreach and International Affairs to become CEO ditures of $8 million; annual supplies and equipment of the Virginia Tech Foundation. “Partnering with Roanoke purchases total $7 million, not to mention tens of millions has benefitted Virginia Tech in many ways, including the of dollars generated in tax revenues paid to city and state. opportunity to reaffirm our understanding of and commit- Nor did spending wane after the reopening; in the past 15 ment to what it means to be a great land-grant university in years or so, approximately $19 million has been reinvested the 21st century.” in the hotel. Its restoration is also credited with protecting a Then-Gov. George F. Allen included $9 million for the historic African-American neighborhood. higher education center in Virginia’s 1997 budget; con- Virginia Tech committed to more than just Tudor-style struction was completed in 2000. “Virginia Tech was a bricks and mortar. Programming is also central. Organized leader among the 16 institutions that came together to in 1994 and based in the hotel, the Center for Organiza- establish the Roanoke Higher Education Center,” says tional and Technological Advancement offers executive Thomas L. McKeon, the center’s executive director. “Hav- training focused on the environment, K-12 school ing Virginia Tech step up as an early partner was very influ- leadership, and healthcare. From 2004 to 2012, the ential in bringing other institutions into the center, and its center generated $45.5 million in gross sales at the participation, leadership, and influence have remained key hotel, according to Herbert. factors in the ongoing success.” Following the hotel gift, in 1997 Norfolk Another ongoing success is the Coalition for Refugee Southern donated its former headquarters Resettlement. Each week during the school year, as many as building to the Roanoke Foundation for 70 Virginia Tech students travel from Blacksburg to Roanoke Downtown Inc. The building would to tutor refugees’ children and help their parents with

(above left to right) The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center. Engineering student Banks Persinger, left, with Mona Ardoun, from the Nuba Mountains region of Sudan, and her daughter Omnia Idris. Ribbon-cutting at Carilion in May 2011. A child looks longingly through glass- front at the museum’s temporary Jim Stroup headquarters. (left) Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute Outreach NOW 20 “Partnering with Roanoke has benefitted Virginia Tech in many ways, including the oppor- tunity to reaffirm our understanding of and commitment to what it means to be a great land-grant university in the 21st century.” Andrea Brunais Andrea Jim Stroup – John Dooley, former vice president of Outreach and International Affairs citizenship preparation. The program came about through School of Medicine and a collaboration of the university, the Roanoke Housing Research Institute. Just Authority, and the Catholic Church’s Refugee and Immi- as the award-winning gration Services. In 2011, two Virginia Tech students who complex housing two institutions transformed the city’s have since graduated — Brittany Gianetti of Oneida, N.Y., skyline in 2010, the institutions themselves are bringing and Katherine Lodge of Centreville, Va. — won awards, innovation to the region. Former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, including the Governor’s Volunteerism and Community visiting the school and research institute, celebrated their Service Award, for their work with the coalition. “very palpable effect on the Roanoke regional economy.” U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., also visiting, noted the Unrelated to the resettlement project but also benefitting “exciting transformative research.” The institute, with more a refugee group, VT Earthworks’ Growers Academy, held than $11 million in its annual research portfolio, has al- at the Virginia Tech Roanoke Center, has trained a group ready assembled 19 research teams and employs more than of Roanoke’s Somali Bantu. Like other participants signing 125 people. up for the eight-week course, the Somali Bantu learned not only about soil types and planting practices but also about The connotation of “town and gown” is not necessarily business planning. After training, the refugees felt confident peaches and cream. Often employed to accent differences, enough to start their own business, naming it Juba Farm. the term’s adversarial nature dates at least to medieval times, They have leased a small plot of land at Virginia Tech’s when students who gathered in university towns spoke Catawba Sustainability Center, about 20 minutes from not the local dialect but Latin. According to Wikipedia, Roanoke, where they’ve planted vegetables and flowers to crediting The Catholic Encyclopedia, the popes themselves grow for sale. intervened to protect scholars against encroachments by local civil authorities. None of that, of course, pertains to The Science Museum of Western Virginia is also a project the rewarding relationship that has developed between the generating excitement over outreach programs made pos- city and Virginia Tech who, with the help of the railroad, sible when the museum joined forces with Virginia Tech began the revitalization of Roanoke. in 2011. The museum’s free Saturday programs connect Virginia Tech undergraduate and graduate students with As Herbert describes it, “The fact that Virginia Tech underserved children. This gives the museum a way to was willing to invest its intellectual and financial assets reinvent itself to become a regional hub for STEM (science, allowed Roanoke to become more vibrant. University and technology, engineering, and math) education and gives city working together in a business partnership created Virginia Tech students valuable experience. Currently situ- a synergy that was greater than the two entities working ated in Tanglewood Mall, the 32-year-old museum expects separately to effect change.” to move back to its downtown digs when Center in the Square renovations are complete. No examination of the Virginia Tech-Roanoke partnership outreach NOW More content, including video, is complete without mentioning the Virginia Tech Carilion at www.outreach.vt.edu/now

Outreach NOW 21 The mission of Outreach and International Short Takes Affairs is to share the best of VirginiaTech by working side by side with communities throughout the world.

the papaya mealybug in India — has resulted in such huge benefits that it pays for the entire research support program over its lifetime.”

Muniappan is currently working to raise awareness about another pest: the cycad scale. He recently discovered this pest in Indonesia attacking several endemic species of cycads, ornamental plants that date back to the Jurassic era. While the economic loss to the ornamental plant industry would be Merle Shepard significant, losing an endemic species Muni Muniappan examines giant whitefly damage to would be tragic. “When the endemic a chayote leaf in Bogor, species are gone, they are gone from Fighting the bad Indonesia. the earth,” Muniappan says. guys in the insect

world within five months, thousands of farm- ‘Farm fresh’ Like a modern-day superhero, Virginia ers were again able to profitably grow cooking demos Tech researcher Muni Muniappan trav- papaya. Aside from local eggs and freshly els the world fighting bad guys. Only in The USAID-funded program that Muni- picked peaches and tomatoes, people his case, the bad guys are not human appan directs and that allows him to have a new reason to pay the Blacks- beings. They are insects. research these pests is the Integrated burg Farmers Market a visit: local food On one trip to southern India in 2008, Pest Management Collaborative prepared onsite. A collaboration of stu- Muniappan discovered the papaya Research Support Program. Managed dents, community members, and two mealybug infesting papaya in an by Virginia Tech’s Office of International College of Architecture and Urban Stud- orchard at Tamil Nadu Agricultural Research, Education, and Development, ies faculty members led to creation University. Papaya is a huge crop in the effort has brought in $50 million in of a mobile kitchen. The kitchen is set southern India; its demise would mean sponsored funding. The program devel- to be the center of the “Chef Roulette” not just a loss of income for the farm- ops successful pest-control techniques program in which local culinary artists ers who cultivate it, but a loss of liveli- overseas that could aid when these demonstrate world-class fare. hood as well. invasive pests show up on American Ferguson (a local kitchen, bath, and shores. Publicity about the discovery led to lighting store) donated a Wolf Stove, farmer requests for help. Muniappan The program’s work is paying off. and the program became an immedi- steered government officials toward According to agricultural economist ate hit. But a problem emerged, one an antidote — in this case, using the and fellow Tech researcher George that required a creative solution. “The biological control method of releasing Norton, “This one intervention alone — stove is 600 pounds, so it’s not very a special kind of parasitic wasp — and the release of a parasitoid to control moveable,” says faculty member

Outreach NOW 22 Elizabeth Gilboy, director of the Com- chain reaction of kindness, like smiling AC4P: People from different back- munity Design Assistance Center. “We at a stranger. Sophia Teie, a fifth-year grounds all share the value of caring for came up with the idea to make it into a Virginia Tech student from Washington, people. mobile chef’s kitchen.” Besides being D.C., studying psychology and sociology, “This foundation has been the catalyst a farmers market novelty, the kitchen believes in this possibility. for people all around the world to act could also be used to demonstrate Teie is a member of Actively Caring for on this value,” she says. “The small nutritional meal preparation in the People (AC4P), a nonprofit organization things that people do every day are region’s low-income areas. that began in fall 2008 at Virginia Tech. important.” With a budget of $5,000 and a team The organization distributes green of student builders, Andrew McCoy, as- wristbands, some of which have circu- sistant professor of building construc- lated the globe, as rewards for random Educating new tion, retrofitted the chassis of an old acts of kindness. With its growth, AC4P RV as the base for the trailer. Working has developed anti-bullying programs foresters in Nepal with a small budget meant relying on that have been implemented in middle “Some of my friends died in that donated materials and more than a dol- schools in Blacksburg and shared at helicopter crash,” says Tom Hammett, lop of creativity. For example, a commu- summits across the nation. When professor of sustainability, innovation, nity member donated old fence posts, asked what motivates her, Teie replies, and design in the College of Natural which students planed and sanded to “Knowing that what we do works.” Resources and Environment, referring form the trailer’s exterior. to a 2006 tragedy that killed 24 conser- Currently, 50,000 numbered wrist- vation experts in the Himalayas. For their collaboration, Gilboy and Mc- bands are in circulation, including Coy received the 2011 Alumni Award No. 240, which an Appalachian State A year later, Virginia Tech partnered for Outreach Excellence. University student received after help- with Yale University and Principia ing a man who had crashed his dirt bike College to establish a Memorial Center through a glass window. The man, who of Excellence to commemorate the Caring, one green required 200 stitches, credited his help- contribution of the conservationists at ers with saving him from death. Nepal’s Institute of Forestry. Hammett’s wristband at a time personal stake in the project, along Teie says, “Something that I have Thoughts of “changing the world” may with a decade’s worth of experience in learned as a Latina and as a woman is bring politicians or United Nations Nepal, made him the ideal collaborator that we all have different values, and ambassadors to mind. Less often to work toward the new center’s goal: that needs to be respected.” But she pictured may be someone taking also learned a greater lesson through a simple action that could set off a Continued on page 24

(left) Sophia Teie talks about her pay-it-forward experiences. (right) Gilboy and McCoy with the kitchen model. Jim Stroup Jim Stoup

Outreach NOW 23 Tom Hammett, right, and Charlie Koo, senior program associate cover at the project’s funding organization, Higher Education for Development, plant trees on the institute’s grounds. PHOTOfinalists photo courtesy of Tom Hammett photo courtesy of Tom

strengthening the institute’s resources to educate future generations of forestry professionals. Outreach NOW 2012 “My role as partnership director is to get cover photo contest people involved with the institute,” Ham- finalists: Ecuador, mett says. He has held workshops on Annah Latane (top); Jellyfish Denver green businesses, professional network- Aquarium, Jana Davis ing, and proposal writing; helped improve Pearl (right); “Cultural the library’s holdings; and accompanied Integration,” Nancy Virginia Tech faculty from across disci- Pruitt (bottom left); New Zealand, Kyle plines to work with their counterparts at Wolf (bottom right); the institute. Fruit stand, Sam Linkous (back cover) For a natural resource conservationist like Hammett, Nepal makes a fascinating study. “You go from 200 feet to 8,000 feet very quickly, from tropical and subtropical conditions to almost an alpine environ- ment,” he says. “You see people with different issues up and down that slope.” Nepal’s next generation of forestry profes- sionals, institute trained, will work in a sometimes politically tumultuous environ- ment.

“What has kept me going back are the people,” Hammett says. “They are very friendly, very open, and very hospitable. Working with the villagers, with their local products, is very captivating for me.” outreach NOW More content, including video, at www.outreach.vt.edu/now

Outreach NOW 24 2 3 1

6 9 4 5 8 7

student

contest Top photos entered in the annual Education Abroad photo contest: 1PHOTO | Faculty/Staff Winner: “This little fella wants to be a Hokie, too!” – taken on Cuverville Island, Antarctica (64°41’S, 62°38’W) by Lori Blanc, biological sciences research scientist at Virginia Tech and director of the Hokies Abroad study abroad programs in Antartica, Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. 2 | Hokies Abroad Finalist: Untitled – taken in Cannes by Ahad Ali Subzwari, junior, economics, College of Science. 3 | People/Culture Finalist: “Moni! Hello from the ‘Heart of Africa’” – taken in Malawi by Kelsey Muffler, junior, psychology, College of Science. 4 | People/Culture Finalist: Untitled – taken in Chile by Mika Maloney. 5 | Urban Landscape Winner: “Taj Mahal” – taken in Agra, India, by Mika Maloney, junior, Spanish major, College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. 6 | International Education Winner: “Didgeridoo Lesson with Modern Aborigines” – taken in Yungaburra, Queensland, Australia, by Stephanie Chin, senior, biological sciences, College of Science. 7 | Hokies Abroad Winner: “Bold Rainbow Lorikeets” – taken in Horseshoe Bay, Queensland, Australia, by Stephanie Chin, senior, biological sciences, College of Science. 8 | Natural Landscape Winner: “Edinburgh castle from the cliffs” – taken in Edinburgh, Scotland, by Thomas Kane, senior, mechanical engineering, College of Engineering. 9 | People-Culture Winner: “Child in Kolkata” – taken in Kolkata, India, by Lydia Michailow, senior, human development, College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. NOW Outreach NOW News & $72 million 26

$1.7 million NUMBERS president. search forapermanentvice mee leadstheuniversity’s academic year asMcNa- throughout the2012-13 Leightley. Niles willserve Executive Director Liam basis before thehiringof Research onaninterim for Advanced Learningand asked toleadtheInstitute Human Sciences,wasalso and College ofLiberalArts Virginia Tech’sof emeritus time. In 2008Niles, dean retirement forthesecond mee calledNiles outof Provost Mark G.McNa- Senior Vice President and Virginia TechFoundation. Dooley, whonow leadsthe term vicepresident John April 1,succeedinglong- International Affairson president forOutreach and asinterimvice serving Jerome “Jerry” Niles began interim vicepresident Jerome ‘Jerry’Nilesis spent annually by international studentsattheuniversityand spent annuallybyinternational in MontgomeryCountyforacademic andlivingexpenses. for engagement associate vicepresident Susan E.Shortis the CenterforOrganiza - for Policy andGovernance, Development, theInstitute the Officeof Economic engagement, alongwith associate vicepresident for 30 and31)report tothe Campus Centers(seepages Tech’s Commonwealth Center.Roanoke Virginia Virginia Techthe and Program Development tional Affairs: Outreach of Outreach andInterna- had headedtwokeyareas 2011. Previously, Short engagement inOctober associate vicepresident for Tech’s first Virginia came Susan E.Short (above) be- the OfficeofEconomicDevelopment tocreate new a three-year federalgrantproject spearheadedby manufacturing industry. jobs inSouthwestVirginia’s transportationequipment Dave Elmore Affairs. Outreach andInternational and othercenterswithin Advancement inRoanoke, and Technologicaltional Catawba. a receptive communityin crease quailhabitat found with landowners toin- agencies thatwanttowork have never heard. State some places,youngsters its distinctive callthat,in ers fanciedthebird with bobwhite. Quail hunt - of theonce-ubiquitous declines inthepopulation states, hasseendrastic Virginia, likemanyother Catawba Resurrecting quailin At the core of the effort: Christy Gabbard, the cen- Resources Conser- the Catawba Sustainability ter’s former director, helped vation Service. Center, 377 Virginia Tech- unite Catawba landowners After the cen- owned acres situated in the (through the community ter held a quail Upper James River Basin group Catawba Landcare) habitat-restora- in the headwaters of the with Virginia Tech’s An- tion workshop, Chesapeake Bay watershed. drew Rosenberger, a private Rosenberger and The center was instru- lands biologist for South- the landown- mental in two ways. First, west Virginia working with ers hatched a warm-season grasses have the Virginia Department of plan. They would been grown on the prop- Game and Inland Fisher- encourage the erty since 2008. Second, ies and the USDA Natural community to cre-

ate a quail-habitat John McCormick quilt throughout the Catawba Valley. The Big year for Preston’s quilt would consist of as many plots of warm-season Wine aficionados have a grasses as possible. Quail new way to learn about love the grasses because wine through Preston’s, they provide cover for the restaurant at The Inn nesting and hiding from at Virginia Tech. The new predators. Wine Society entitles members to free education- “I see this as a way of and-tasting events as well maximizing our tax dol- as glassware and a gift lars,” Gabbard says. “The certificate toward a meal. university showcases land- Discounts on wine from a management practices, “secret list” are also avail- and landowners act as the able. But the wine society messengers, which results isn’t all that’s new. Preston’s, in changes on the ground.” one of Blacksburg’s favorite Illustration by Michael St. Germain/Conservation Management Institute

Continued on page 28

gross sales at the Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center generated by the Center for Organizational and Technological Advancement from $45.5 million 2004 to 2012. Senegalese scholars and investors 54 who visited Virginia Tech through a organizations that partnered with the USAID program aimed at improving Virginia Tech Roanoke Center to present agriculture in Senegal. 11 the region’s 2012 Technology Expo. agriculture textbooks that Virginia Tech faculty, staff, and students have sent to help stock South Sudan university 5,000 libraries. Outreach NOW 27 The 2011-12 school year saw the unveiling of a new program: A group of gifted students came to Blacksburg from Saudi Arabia to study before entering U.S. universities for their college careers. Here, Amaal Tashkandi and Abdulrahman Linjawi solicit donations for the i-Can competition to fight hunger in the New River Valley. The students’ study program grew from a partnership of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, the Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute, and the College of Science.

Photo courtesy of the Language and Culture Institute

fine-dining restaurants, ing Preston’s, Smith was SENTEC adds high- “SENTEC will be a pri- also recently unveiled two executive chef at The River tech impact to mary contributor for the private-label wines — a Company Restaurant and southern Virginia development of a bio-based merlot and a chardonnay. Brewery near Radford. industry in the Tobacco The newest addition to The wines are produced at Commission region,” Liam What’s more, a new dinner the skyline at the Institute Prince Michel Vineyards Leightley, the institute’s di- menu instituted during the for Advanced Learning and Winery in Madison, rector, says. “SENTEC will past year ramped up quality and Research in Danville Va. be able to transfer knowl- with focus on local supplies should help make southern edge from throughout the Preston’s has also reached and fresh ingredients. Each Virginia a leading location world for the benefit of another milestone: Its weekday lunch buffet now for marketable research southern Virginia.” first executive chef, Jason has a theme, with Wednes- and enable the region to Smith, came on board in days, for example, being continue to embrace new SENTEC’s anchor tenant late 2011. Smith, who Virginia Farm Day, and technology. The Sustain- is Virdia Inc., a leading was raised in Floyd, began Tuesdays featuring interna- able Energy and Technol- developer of advanced his culinary experience at tional dishes. All the atten- ogy Center (SENTEC) carbohydrates. Virdia Chateau Morrisette in high tion and effort has paid off, adds 25,000 square feet of has developed an innova- school, where he special- with the Roanoke Times’ research laboratories and tive process of convert- ized in desserts and learned food critic praising the offices. The building’s sus- ing biomass to cellulosic the art of garnishing. He dinner service in a review tainable features include its sugars and lignin for use in moved on to a three-year filled with adjectives such vegetated roof, a rainwater the renewable chemicals, apprenticeship at the as “wonderful,” “excellent,” cistern, recycled floor- bioenergy, and nutrition Homestead resort in Hot and “fabulous.” ing, and advanced HVAC industries. Applications Springs, Va. Before join- systems. for the sugars include renewable fuels and fuel

Fulbright Scholars from other nations who have come to the Virginia Tech Language and 90 Culture Institute for preacademic training. years that Virginia Tech has been named to the President’s Higher 7 Education Community Service Honor Roll as one of the nation’s leading colleges in service.

people at more than 160 sites who have been served by the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research’s 10,000 STEM Mobile Learning Lab.

Outreach NOW 28 Jordan Bragg and Victoria Wade of Narrows High School were part of a contingent that organized a fashion show to call attention to teen drug and alcohol abuse. The event sprang from a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant involving the Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance.

intermediates, renewable Education Trust Fund chemicals and materials, and Danville. In addi- and nutritional additives tion, Virdia has invested for the animal-feed indus- almost $10 million. try. Virdia’s sugars are being “The development of Photo courtesy of Narrows High School tested for use in several sustainable and clean industries, most recently sources of energy is a of cleaner energy, scientific by Virent as a feedstock for necessary component of innovation, and economic high-performance jet fuels. our ‘all of the above’ energy stimulus,” Virginia Gov. SENTEC was funded by strategy, and Virginia is Bob McDonnell says. more than $8.5 million in proud to welcome Virdia awards and grants, pri- to the state in pursuance marily from the Virginia Tobacco Commission outreach NOW More content, including video, but also from the Higher at www.outreach.vt.edu/now Photo courtesy of Virdia

record-setting number of first-year students residing 21 in the SERVE (Students Engaging and Responding through Volunteer Service) community in Pritchard Hall. News & NUMBERS

Outreach NOW 29 HAMPTON NOW Outreach NOW “I want to see participants, particularly particularly “I want to see participants, The Virginia Tech Roanoke Center is The city’s Gwin Ellis, coordinator of Virginia Tech Center, says, “The series is agood is series “The says, Center, Classes inspire creative thinking Kay Dunkley, director oftheRoanoke Roanoke Center.” velop creative solutionstothegrowing Roanoke CityManager ChrisMorrill workshop addresses of theimportance ing, requested aworkshop oncreativity ing andmentoringenvironment. to creative thinking,” Ellis says. those inleadershiproles, understand www.vtrc.vt.edu ment, includinghelpingfirst-linesu- courses thatfocusedonskilldevelop- ees. Calling on the expertise of univerees. Calling on the- expertise developing anddelivering workshops community focusofthe Virginia Tech challenges ourcommunities face. We critical than ever that our employees demands,itismorecreasing service organizational development andlearn- ents ofemployees toaccomplishgoals. level positionswhilecreating acoach- pervisors makethetransition tohigher pervisors leadership skills, andlearnhow tode- keep abreast of best practices, build how tomaketheworkplace conducive Roanoke Center and classesforRoanoke cityemploy- ager andonewhocanengagethetal- a leaderbehavingasaneffective man- and innovation intheworkplace. The are and tohave theexpertise fortunate in Roanokeemployees sity faculty, thecenterprovided five says, “With feweremployeessays, “With andin- COMMONWEALTH 30 CAMPUS CENTERS To show impact,Ellis andDunkley Camp heldduringJune 2012.“It was Designing robots, learning about geo- vided studentswithanintellectually the activitiesPatrick Countystudents www.reynoldshomestead.vt.edu the 2013courseofferings. tion, government, orbusiness.” metric construction, and catching metric construction, for example,andwhetheremployees STEM-H campchallenges noe a te TMH Challenge STEM-H the at enjoyed dragonfly nymphsare justsomeof effective. Feedback willbeusedtoplan evaluate effectiveness. Theywillex- developed metricstomeasure and example of the way the center can cre- believed thecoachingstrategieswere behaviors ofcreativity andinnovation, Patrick Countystudents Reynolds Homestead a great thatpro collaborative- effort amine whether supervisors reinforcedamine whether supervisors ate customtrainingforanorganiza- stimulating and fun experience,” says

Photo courtesy of Julie Walters-Steele Bailey Morrison,afifthgraderfrom Woolwine ElementarySchool, to theAdvancedVehicle Research CenterinDanville,Va. looks outofthehatchaprototype armored vehicleduringavisit “It exciting isvery tohave asummer The Reynolds Homestead coordinated Homestead Reynolds The A visittotheInstitute forAdvanced Julie Walters-Steele, director ofthe County publicschoolsandtheIn- Research. More than40studentsin Reynolds Homestead. Reynolds Homestead; health and well- and health Homestead; Reynolds Math Emporium inBlacksburg; en- Learning and Research in Danville STEM Academy where ourgifted the camp in partnership with Patrickthe campinpartnership trip toPrimland Resort; andenviron- ness activitieswere featured duringa ties in science, technology, engineering, troduce studentstocareer- opportuni in theweeklong campdesignedtoin- technology, theenvironment, and mental sciencewashighlightedduring math, andhealth. focus duringavisitto Virginia Tech’s focused ontechnology;mathwasthe gineering workshops were heldatthe grades fourthrough eightparticipated a visittoFairy Stone State Park. stitute forAdvanced Learningand students learn so much about science, Penny McCallum, center director, in foreground, third from left, with teachers in Abingdon Photo courtesy of Sonia Vanhook

mathematics, as well as future job op- opment Program administered by the Employing videoconferencing tech- portunities in these fields,” says Anita State Council of Higher Education for nology, both centers were able to of- Bailey, gifted coordinator for Patrick Virginia. fer an eight-week, synchronous, live- County Schools. broadcast course with one instructor Southwest Center Director Penny Mc- who rotated from center to center each At the concluding cookout, campers Callum says, “Instilling a love of reading week. “By having to hire only one in- received a certificate and shared their in children is one of the most critical structor, we could reduce tuition to an favorite memories of the week. goals of a teacher. I’m so pleased that amount that was more palatable for Leading in Reading was instrumental the participants,” Lubin says. Virginia Tech in making so many of Virginia’s great teachers even better at their jobs.” Sharing staff time also maximizes ef- Southwest Center fectiveness of collaborations. Lubin www.swvac.vt.edu enlisted outreach Program Manager Virginia Tech Richmond & Stacy Harvey to lead the meeting- Region’s teachers focus on management contract with Virginia’s reading improvement Hampton Roads Centers Department of Behavior Health and The Southwest Center in Abingdon www.richmond.vt.edu Developmental Services. “As a certified hosted the Leading in Reading grant www.hrc.vt.edu meeting planner, Stacy was the ideal choice to manage this important con- program throughout the 2011-12 Virginia Tech expands east school year. More than 170 teachers in tract for us in Richmond. Even though 30 schools participated in the yearlong Melissa Maybury Lubin, director of she resides in Virginia Beach, her ex- professional-development opportunity both the Hampton Roads and Rich- pertise transcends the distance because to increase knowledge in research- mond centers, has created a new em- of our long-established relationship based reading strategies. As a result of phasis: a regional approach. “That with this agency.” Leading in Reading, all schools imple- way we can more efficiently target the Lubin expects the regional approach to mented new reading initiatives and professional development needs of our serve the centers well because Virginia measured results, which were shared at workforce by extending our program- Tech is pursuing new space. “With a a conference via posters and presenta- ming reach from the greater Rich- strong presence in Richmond and Vir- tions by teachers. mond region through the peninsula ginia Beach, and now Newport News, of Virginia, onto southside in Virginia Leading in Reading is a partnership Virginia Tech will better serve the in- Beach, and into the Eastern Shore,” among Virginia Tech, Radford Uni- terests of business and industry on the Lubin says. versity, and nine school divisions. Vir- peninsula of Virginia,” she says. “And ginia Tech faculty member Heidi Anne Industry and business demands of Vir- the best part of this expansion is that Mesmer, principal investigator, leads ginia Beach and Richmond are clearly we are also heightening our partner- the collaboration with Radford faculty distinct, but there are plenty of over- ship with the University of Virginia member Jennifer Jones. Rhonda Phil- laps as well, she says. The goal is to find to co-locate in Newport News.” In lips of Virginia Tech is also a contribut- connections between the two centers an unusually cooperative rather than ing faculty member. and collaborate. competitive mode, the universities can share resources such as classroom “The success of our project-manage- The project is expanding in 2012-13 space and technology, while playing ment certification course is an example to include more schools. The Leading off of each other’s strengths in the new of how working as one cohesive unit in Reading program is funded through market. the federal Improving Teacher Qual- can have a greater impact on the re- ity State Grants Professional Devel- gion,” Lubin says. outreach NOW More content, including video, at www.outreach.vt.edu/now

Outreach NOW 31 Outreach and International Affairs

Jerome A. Niles Guru Ghosh Susan E. Short Interim Vice President Associate Vice President Associate Vice President 319 Burruss Hall (0265) INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS ENGAGEMENT Blacksburg, VA 24061 319 Burruss Hall (0265) 319 Burruss Hall (0265) 540-231-3205 Blacksburg, VA 24061 Blacksburg, VA 24061 [email protected] 540-231-7888 540-231-9497 www.outreach.vt.edu [email protected] [email protected]

International Affairs Max O. Stephenson, Director INSTITUTE FOR POLICY Michael Bertelsen, Associate Director and GOVERNANCE OFFICE of INTERNATIONAL 205 W. Roanoke St. RESEARCH, EDUCATION, Blacksburg, VA 24060 and DEVELOPMENT 540-231-6775 [email protected] 526 Prices Fork Road (0378) Blacksburg, VA 24061 www.ipg.vt.edu 540-231-6338 [email protected] Donald Back, Director www.oired.vt.edu LANGUAGE and CULTURE INSTITUTE Paul Knox, International Fellow 840 University City Blvd. (0273) CENTER FOR EUROPEAN Blacksburg, VA 24061 STUDIES and 540-231-9814 [email protected] ARCHITECTURE 123C Burruss Hall (0205) www.lci.vt.edu Blacksburg, VA 24061 John Provo, Director 540-231-1695 [email protected] OFFICE of ECONOMIC or DEVELOPMENT Daniela Doninelli, Managing Director Virginia Tech Villa Maderni, Via Settala 8 702 University City Blvd. (0373) 6826 Riva San Vitale, Switzerland Blacksburg, VA 24061 Phone: 011-41-91-6483651 540-231-4004 [email protected] [email protected] www.oired.vt.edu/cesa www.econdev.vt.edu

Kimberly Andrews, Director Office of Engagement UPWARD BOUND/ TALENT SEARCH Scott Weimer, Director Hillcrest Hall–Lower Level (0146) CONTINUING Blacksburg, VA 24061 and PROFESSIONAL 540-231-6911 EDUCATION [email protected] 702 University City Blvd. (0364) www.ubts.vt.edu Blacksburg, VA 24061 540-231-7887 [email protected] www.cpe.vt.edu

Outreach NOWNOW 32 Jane Swan, Director Scott Farmer, Director Andrea Brunais, Manager FINANCE and OUTREACH COMMUNICATIONS ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION SERVICES 702 University City Blvd. (0364) 319 Burruss Hall (0265) 702 University City Blvd. (0364) Blacksburg, VA 24061 Blacksburg, VA 24061 Blacksburg, VA 24061 540-231-4691 540-231-2021 540-231-5633 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Gary Kirk, Director Commonwealth Conference Facilities VT ENGAGE: THE Campus Centers COMMUNITY LEARNING Gary Walton, Vice President and COLLABORATIVE Melissa M. Lubin, Director General Manager 113 Burruss Hall (0168) HAMPTON ROADS CENTER, THE HOTEL ROANOKE & Blacksburg, VA 24061 VIRGINIA BEACH CONFERENCE CENTER 540-231-0691 110 Shenandoah Ave. [email protected] 1444 Diamond Springs Road Virginia Beach, VA 23455 Roanoke, VA 24016 www.engage.vt.edu 757-363-3930 540-985-5900 [email protected] [email protected] Donna Augustine, Director www.hotelroanoke.com YOUTH SCIENCE www.hrc.vt.edu COOPERATIVE HAMPTON ROADS CENTER, Tom Shaver, Hotel Manager OUTREACH PROGRAM NEWPORT NEWS THE INN AT VIRGINIA (STEM–Science, Technology, 600 Thimble Shoals Blvd. TECH and SKELTON Engineering, and Mathematics) Newport News, VA 23606 CONFERENCE CENTER 702 University City Blvd. (0364) 901 Prices Fork Road (0104) Blacksburg, VA 24061 Julie Walters Steele, Director Blacksburg, VA 24061 540-231-6120 REYNOLDS HOMESTEAD 540-231-8000 [email protected] 463 Homestead Lane [email protected] www.usaeop.com Critz, VA 24082-3044 www.theinnatvirginiatech.com 276-694-7181 [email protected] Faren McNabb, Manager Center for Organizational www.reynoldshomestead.vt.edu EXECUTIVE BRIEFING and Technological Melissa M. Lubin, Director CENTER – ARLINGTON 900 N. Glebe Road, 2nd Floor Advancement (COTA) RICHMOND CENTER Arlington, VA 22203 2810 North Parham Road, Suite 300 571-858-3030 Richmond, VA 23294 Jeri Childers www.ncr.vt.edu/arlington Engagement and New Initiatives 804-662-7288 108 North Jefferson St., Suite 701 [email protected] Roanoke, VA 24061 www.richmond.vt.edu 540-767-6145 Southside [email protected] Kay Dunkley, Director ROANOKE CENTER Liam Leightley, Executive Director E. Wayne Harris 108 North Jefferson St., Suite 701 INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED School Leadership Roanoke, VA 24016 LEARNING and RESEARCH 702 University City Blvd. (0364) 540-767-6100 150 Slayton Ave. (0175) Blacksburg, VA 24061 [email protected] Danville, VA 24540 540-761-1488 www.vtrc.vt.edu 434-766-6700 [email protected] [email protected] Penny McCallum, Director www.ialr.org Robert Herbert SOUTHWEST CENTER Environmental Management P.O. Box 1987, One Partnership Circle The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center Abingdon, VA 24212-1987 110 Shenandoah Ave. (0175) 276-619-4310 Roanoke, VA 24016 [email protected] 540-853-8275 [email protected] www.swvac.vt.edu

VT/912/9M/130427/TP VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY NONProfit Outreach NOW Organization Virginia Polytechnic Institute U.S.Postage and State University Paid 702 University City Boulevard Blacksburg Blacksburg VA 24060-2706 VA 24060 Permit No. 28 OUTREACH OUTREACH

Sam Linkous tries to never be caught without a camera in hand. He is always looking for art in everyday objects and particularly looks for interesting colors and textures. He shot this at a produce market in Cana, Va. Linkous works in Continuing and Professional Education as a program coordinator.

www.outreach.vt.edu