Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources and Environment

These researchers are protecting Appalachian biodiversity. 🦎

Virginia Tech students and faculty are surveying a rare salamander, the eastern hellbender, to better understand and protect them. Their work informs conservation decisions and highlights the biodiversity of Appalachia.

Bees may hold the key to the next generation of biodegradable plastics. 🐝

A Virginia Tech lab has partnered with ecologists at the University of Tennessee to study so called “cellophane bees”, which produce a biodegradable polyethylene-like plastic for their nests.

🎥: go.vt.edu/upQhG

Virginia Tech research is exploring biodegradable alternatives to conventional plastics, which would help address microplastic pollution. 🙌

Virginia Tech students recently helped launch a research-grade weather balloon to collect atmospheric data nearly 30,000 feet up, where many of the conditions that shape weather forecasts begin. ⛅️

The real-time data gathered will feed into operational weather models and help improve forecasts, including the one on your phone.