Curious Conversations

Ozzie Abaye joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about her work using the mung bean to diversify the cropping system, empower farmers, and reduce hunger in Senegal, Africa. She explained why the mung bean is a good fit for that region, the process by which she began to share it with farmers, and the collaborations she’s utilized to expand it across the country. She also shared what some of the challenges were in developing recipes across cultural lines. 

About Abaye

Abaye is professor of crop and soil environmental sciences in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and a Virginia Cooperative Extension specialist. Also the Thomas B. Hutcheson Jr. Professor of Agronomy, Abaye is known internationally for her extensive work to improve the livelihoods of farmers, women, and children in West Africa through sustainable agriculture.

Jacob Barney joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about invasive species, their impact on native species, and the challenges of managing them. He explained the history and terminology of invasive species, their economic and ecological consequences, and the interdisciplinary approach to addressing the problem. Barney also highlighted practical steps individuals can take to prevent their spread.

About Barney

Barney is a professor in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences. He is also the director of the Invasive Species Collaborative, which began in the Global Change Center at Virginia Tech with support from the Fralin Life Sciences Institute and the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost.

Richard Hanowski joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations”  to talk about harnessing research to help make motorcycle riding safer in low- and middle-income countries. He shared the difference in riding culture in those areas as opposed to the United States and explained how his team is utilizing some of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute’s pioneering technology to help increase rider safety.  

About Hanowski

Hanowski is a senior research scientist and the director of the Division of Freight, Transit, and Heavy Vehicle Safety at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. He has been the principal or co-principal investigator on over $100 million of contract research resulting in more than 300 publications. His research has impacted national transportation policy on issues such as truck driver fatigue and hours-of-service and driver distraction.

Karen Hult joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to chat about the history and evolution of polling, methods used in modern polling, and how politicians and the average person can interpret poll results. The conversation highlights the importance of probability sampling and inferential statistics in generating accurate poll results, as well as the need for critical thinking when consuming poll results.

About Hult

Hult is an professor of political science at Virginia Tech, serves on the faculty of the School of Public and International Affairs’ Center for Public Administration and Policy, with expertise in the U.S. presidency, federal and state politics, policy and governance, and federal and state courts. Her research is focused on organization and institutional theories, the U.S. presidency, U.S. national executive branch departments and agencies, policy, U.S. state politics, policy, and governance, and social science methodologies.

Rosanna Breaux joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to chat about the challenges and emotions children may experience during the transition back to school. The discussion includes red flags to look for, as well as coping skills and support parents and caregivers can provide to help their children navigate the school year. The conversation touches on the impact of recent bans on students having individual smart devices in schools.

About Breaux

Breaux is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and director of the Child Study Center at Virginia Tech. Her research focuses on the social, emotional, and academic functioning of children and adolescents, particularly those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. She is also interested in understanding the role parents play in shaping children and adolescent's social-emotional development, with a focus on emotion regulation.

Ryan Pollyea joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about geologic carbon sequestration, which is the process of permanently storing carbon dioxide (CO2) thousands of feet below the Earth’s surface. Pollyea explained what types of rock this is currently known to work with, the efforts he and his colleagues are taking to expand this to other geologic regions, and the potential impact that could have for the environment and economics.

About Pollyea

Pollyea is an associate professor in the Department of Geosciences and an affiliate faculty member of the Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering, as well as the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research. His research interests are at the intersection of geofluids and energy resources, including geologic CO2 sequestration, hydrothermal fluid systems, and fluid-triggered earthquakes.

Jason Higgins joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations”  to talk about the intersection of United States military veterans and mass incarceration and his book, “Prisoners After War: Veterans in the Age of Mass Incarceration.” He shared what led him to work at this intersection, some of the reasons he thinks it’s often overlooked, and factors he believes lead many veterans to being in prison. Having interviewed more than 60 veterans whose service ranged from the Vietnam War to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Higgins also compares and contrasts their reported experiences and shares some of the efforts veterans are undertaking to support each other.

About Higgins

Higgins is the digital scholarship coordinator for Virginia Tech Publishing and an assistant professor, jointly affiliated with Virginia Tech University Libraries and the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. He teaches the Vietnam War, African American History, and Oral History. Higgins is also the author of ”Prisoners After War”, which was made into an open-access e-book thanks to a TOME grant.

Hosein Foroutan joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about microplastics, the ocean, and the atmosphere. He explained what microplastics are and shared recent findings that indicate such waste is somehow making its way into the air around the world. He also described some of the research he’s doing to figure out how  this is happening and shared his current theories. 

About Foroutan

Foroutan is an assistant professor in the Charles E. Via Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a faculty affiliate of the Global Change Center in the Fralin Life Sciences Institute. His research interests include atmospheric science, aerosols, air quality, environmental flows, and microplastics.

Sherwood Clements joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about the impact real estate values have on the presidential election. He discussed some recent research he was a part of that explored the impact of the “homevoter,” what findings surprised him, and what he thinks the date tells us about the upcoming election. 

About Clements

Clements is a collegiate assistant professor of real estate and the William and Mary Alice Park, Jr. Faculty Fellow in the Blackwood Department of Real Estate in the Pamplin College of Business. His research focuses on the relationships between the commodity futures markets and real estate markets and the behavioral aspects of residential real estate development. 

Louis Hickman joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) during the hiring process. He shared the ways in which AI has long been a part of the process, the findings from his research on AI evaluating automated video interviews, and some tips on how job seekers can leverage the technology to improve their job hunt.

About Hickman

Hickman is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology in the College of Science. His research focuses on the intersection of technology and work, with an emphasis on applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence to organizational science and practice (e.g., automatically scored interviews). Part of his work includes using computers to measure verbal, paraverbal, and nonverbal behaviors in order to advance our understanding of how interpersonal perceptions form and how cultural, racial, and gender biases function.