New fossil provides clarity to the history of Alligatoridae A new fossil has been identified by Michelle Stocker, of the Department of Geosciences in the College of Science, which will provide some much needed clarity into the complex, and incomplete, history of caimans and their movements across time and space. Jan 15, 2021
Fatal attraction: Bats with white-nose syndrome prefer suboptimal habitats despite the consequences Virginia Tech researchers have been studying little brown bat populations to see if bats alter their preferences across hibernacula, or hibernation sites, in response to the invasion of white-nose syndrome. But instead of avoiding these deadly sites, bats continue to use them year after year. Jan 08, 2021
William Hopkins receives Virginia’s highest faculty honor Hopkins, professor of wildlife in the College of Natural Resources, has been selected to receive a 2021 Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education and Dominion Power. Dec 11, 2020
Low oxygen levels in lakes and reservoirs may accelerate global change In a first of its kind study, researchers at Virginia Tech have experimentally tested, at the whole ecosystem-scale, how different oxygen levels in lakes and reservoirs affect the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and contribute to global change. Dec 09, 2020
Virginia Tech paleontologists find pterosaur precursors that fill a gap in early evolutionary history With the help of newly discovered skulls and skeletons that were unearthed in North America, Brazil, Argentina, and Madagascar, Virginia Tech researchers Sterling Nesbitt and Michelle Stocker from the Department of Geosciences have demonstrated that a group of "dinosaur precursors," called lagerpetids, are the closest relatives of pterosaurs. Dec 09, 2020
In memoriam: Lillian Haldeman 'Peg' Moore, University Distinguished Professor Moore was instrumental in setting up the Anaerobe Lab and served as the associate director. She was an authority in the field of anaerobic bacteriology, food microbiology, and was a pioneer in the field of microbiome research. Dec 08, 2020