Curious Conversations

Carrie Fearer joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about forest health in the wake of natural disasters. She explained how storms and disturbances affect forest ecosystems, the importance of human interaction in promoting healthy forests, and the opportunities for restoration following catastrophic events. She also emphasized the significance of native species and the role of decomposition in maintaining forest health.

About Fearer

Carrie Fearer is an assistant professor of forest health in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation at Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. Her research focuses on forest pathology, early disease detection, and microbes in tree health. Fearer gained international recognition for identifying the cause agent of beech leaf disease, a new threat to the global nursery trade and native beech species across North America, Europe, and Asia.

Tina Dura joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about subduction zones, particularly the Cascadia Subduction Zone, earthquakes and tsunamis. She explained the mechanics of earthquakes, and how the geological record and fossilized algae are helping researchers better understand past occurrences and predict future ones. Dura emphasized the importance of translating scientific research into actionable information for the public, especially regarding tsunami preparedness and community resilience.

About Dura

Dura is an assistant professor in the Department of Geosciences and an affiliate of the Global Change Center where she leads Virginia Tech’s Coastal Hazards Lab. Her research specializes in subduction zone paleogeodesy, which combines a variety of scientific methods to reconstruct long-term histories of coseismic vertical deformation and tsunami inundation along subduction zone coastlines. 

Guoliang “Greg” Liu joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about his journey in sustainability, focusing on the innovative process of converting plastic waste into soap. He shared insights on the challenges of controlling the chemical processes involved, the types of plastics used, and the potential for creating both liquid and solid soap products. He emphasized the importance of sustainability in the detergent industry and expressed hope for future commercialization of his work.

About Liu

Liu is a professor of chemistry in the College of Science, as well as an affiliated faculty member of the nanoscience program in the Academy of Integrated Science, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in the College of Engineering, the Macromolecules Innovation Institute, and the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology. His research focuses on novel ways to integrate materials in order to solve energy and environmental problems.

James Harder joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about entrepreneurship and emerging technologies, specially highlighting the Department of Computer Science’s initiative, CS/root. Harder shared his belief that the entrepreneurship process can be learned and applied to various novel ideas and the ways the program hopes to teach and support it, as well as the role it will play in putting emerging technology in more people’s hands.

About Harder

Harder is the external engagement manager for Virginia Tech's Department of Computer Science and the executive director of CS/root. The department’s program to support and encourage computer science-focused entrepreneurship. His research interests include agricultural applications of blockchain, as well as other emergent technologies such as artificial intelligence, internet of things, and cybersecurity.

Shalini Misra joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about how artificial intelligence (AI) might be used in the field of emergency management. She shared some of the different ways AI is currently being used and the concerns she’s heard from emergency managers. Misra also talks about the steps she believes will be necessary for the technology to reach its full potential in this field.

About Misra

Shalini Misra is an associate professor of urban affairs and planning in the School of Public and International Affairs, which is located in the Virginia Tech Research Center — Arlington. She is also an administrative fellow in the Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment. Misra’s research interests include the social, psychological, and health implications of the Internet and digital communication technologies, as well as public interest technology, its design and deployment, and the governance of digital technologies.

Farida Jalalzai joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about the state of female leadership globally, with a focus on the United States. She shared how she believes the U.S. compares to other nations in terms of female political representation, the unique challenges women face in the U.S. political landscape, and the impact of gender roles  on women's leadership opportunities. She also shared the insights she gained through her research of female leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

About Jalalzai

Jalalzai is a professor in the Department of Political Science and the associate dean for global initiatives and engagement in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. Her research focuses heavily on the representation and behavior of women and minorities in politics and the role of gender in the political arena.

Feras Batarseh joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to discuss the intersection of water systems and technology, specifically focusing on aspects of artificial intelligence (AI). He shared the importance of using AI to predict and prevent water quality issues, such as high turbidity, and highlighted the need for water systems to become more intelligent and cyber-secure. 

About Batarseh

Batarseh is an associate professor in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering and the director of the AI Assurance and Applications (A3) Lab, as well as a researcher with the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative. His research interests include artificial intelligence assurance, intelligent water systems, cyberbiosecurity, context and causality, AI for agricultural policy

Meagan Brem joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to discuss the intersection of alcohol use and intimate partner violence, highlighting the importance of understanding the causal relationship between the two. She debunked common myths, identified current knowledge gaps, and shared insights from ongoing studies. She also described the unique challenge of understanding these topics as they relate to LGBTQ+ populations and shared possible interventions on both societal and individual levels. 

About Brem

Brem is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and the director of the Research for Alcohol and Couple’s Health Lab at Virginia Tech. Her research examines targetable factors that moderate the risk of alcohol use leading to intimate partner/sexual violence, particularly among those who are at high risk of problematic drinking and violence.

Read Montague joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about the role of dopamine and serotonin in learning, motivation, memory, mood, and decision-making. He discussed his research on measuring dopamine and serotonin dynamics in the brain in real time using electrodes in epilepsy patients and explained the role neuroeconomics are playing  in that research. 

About Montague

Montague is the Virginia Tech Carilion (VTC) Vernon Mountcastle Research Professor and the director of the Center for Human Neuroscience Research and the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. His lab’s work focuses on computational neuroscience – the connection between physical mechanisms present in real neural tissue and the computational functions that these mechanisms embody. Montague’s early theoretical work focused on the hypothesis that dopaminergic systems encode a particular kind of computational process, a reward prediction error signal, similar to those used in areas of artificial intelligence like optimal control.

Lingjia Liu joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about the future of wireless networks and wireless communications. He explained the evolution of cellular networks from 1G to 5G and the potential for 6G, as well as how open radio access networks (O-RAN) can help advance innovation in this space. 

About Liu

Lingjia Liu is a professor of electrical and computer engineering and a member of the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus faculty. He is also the director of Wireless@Virginia Tech and a researcher with the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative. His research interests include 6G networks, machine learning for wireless, ORAN, and dynamic spectrum access/sharing.