Virginia Tech at the 2025 Engagement Scholarship Consortium Conference
This fall, the Engagement Scholarship Consortium’s annual conference will bring changemakers, researchers, and community leaders together in Roanoke — and Virginia Tech will be well represented. Our faculty and staff are presenting innovative, community-centered work that reflects the university’s land-grant mission and commitment to engaged scholarship.
Explore the list of Hokies who will be presenting at this year’s conference:
| Speaker name | Department/Unit | Description |
| Craig Arthur | College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences | Lessons Learned from 10 Years of VTDITC: Hip-Hop Studies VTDITC has been a collaborative, creative force in Southwest Virginia for a decade. Rooted in hip-hop pedagogy, we center community voices while including academic perspectives. We have hosted 1500 events. This workshop will expand on our 2019 and 2021 presentations and our 2022 Excellence in Student Community Engagement award. Co-Presenter: Freddy Paige |
| Felicity Bilow | Graduate student, Engineering Education |
Broadening Rural Students’ Participation in Engineering Through School-University Partnerships This presentation will discuss an effort aimed at supporting rural K-12 teachers in Southwest Virginia who teach a variety of subjects (e.g., math, science, art, technical drawing, etc.) in integrating and/or teaching engineering in their classrooms through school-university partnerships. Co-Presenters: Hannah Glisson, Jacob Grohs |
| Jodie Brinkmann | School of Education | Advancing Professional Organization Partnerships, Post-Covid, to Build Stronger Communities After the COVID-19 pandemic, many professional organizations had to restructure and employ creative strategies to re-engage members transitioning back to in-person meetings and conferences. Learn how two educational leadership research-focused organizations created a new partnership for annual conferences, engaging stakeholders from across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Co-Presenters: Susan Johnstad, Carol Cash |
| Rachael Budowle | Honors College | Reimagining a Service-Learning Course as a Campus Community Sustainability Living-Laboratory By reimagining a service-learning course, we co-developed a campus sustainability living laboratory. We share pedagogies, projects, reflections, and best practices. Findings show internal campus partnerships mimic external community-university partnerships, requiring similar proactive strategies while also providing a supportive context for honing practices and relationships before engaging in the broader community. Co-Presenters: Kristina Cook, Isabelle Largen |
| Jon Catherwood-Ginn | School of Performing Arts, Center for Communicating Science | Wellness Begins with ‘We:’ Trust in Pandemic Prediction & Prevention Conversations about pathogens of pandemic potential are typically confined to laboratories, yielding downstream skepticism. How could community-scientist collaboration bolster the responsiveness and efficacy of pandemic science? We’ll discuss the NSF COMPASS Center’s “Ethics and Pandemic Science: A National Dialogue” and how community dialogue can influence pandemic science before outbreaks emerge. Co-Presenters: Brittney Harris, Carrie Kroehler, Lisa M. Lee |
| Terry Clements | School of Design, Landscape Architecture Program | Leveraging Students and Communities to Envision Better Public Open Spaces In practice, landscape architects engage with diverse community members and local leadership to envision the future of public open spaces. Partnerships between local communities and landscape architecture students have helped identify and address local public landscape planning and design needs and opportunities resulting in creation of tomorrow’s loved places. |
| Terry Clements | School of Design, Landscape Architecture Program | A Scaffolded Approach to Community Engagement Across a Design Curriculum Community engagement is a foundational element within design disciplines concerned with the built environment. This scaffolded framework embeds community engagement learning objectives across the landscape architecture curriculum, encompassing contemporary theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, and a range of experiential modalities. |
| Jama S. Coartney | Graduate student, Agriculture, Leadership, and Community Education |
Planting Seeds: Ripple Effects of Bridging Resources and Community Leadership This session explores the ripple effect of VALOR, a two-year leadership fellowship to help cultivate strong communities. Through co-creative learning and cross-sector collaboration, participants gain skills to bridge rural-urban divides and spark systemic change. Discover how this adaptable model empowers community leadership and fosters solutions to today’s most pressing challenges. Co-Presenters: Megan M. Seibel |
| Jama S. Coartney | Graduate student, Agriculture, Leadership, and Community Education |
Documenting Engaged Learning: Digital Learning Badges and Community Impact This roundtable explores digital learning badges as a tool for recognizing non-traditional learning and empowering community engagement. Participants will examine how badges can bridge educational gaps, support community development, and enhance partnerships between universities, nonprofits, and civic organizations. Collaborative dialogue will delve into co-creating systems for documenting and celebrating learning. Co-Presenters: Eric K. Kaufman |
| Joanna Collins | School of Education | Expanding Access to Mental Health: The VT Counselor Education Clinic Learn how the Virginia Tech Counselor Education Clinic offers free, community-based mental health services through a university–community partnership model. Presenters will discuss how the clinic prepares future counselors, meets regional mental health needs, and collaborates with local organizations to create sustainable, trauma-informed, and inclusive care for underserved populations. |
| Austin Council | Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education | Beyond the Ivory Tower: Humility as a Virtue for Engagement This interactive workshop explores how leader-centered outreach in higher education can hinder authentic community engagement. Participants will reflect on humility as a leadership virtue, evaluate current outreach models, and re-imagine university-community partnerships to foster mutual respect, learning, and impact through a more balanced and service-oriented approach. Co-Presenter: Eric Kaufman |
| Diane Deffenbaugh | Outreach and International Affairs | University, Enslaved Descendants Collaborate to Reframe Historic Plantation’s Narrative Virginia Tech’s Reynolds Homestead, a university community engagement and cultural center, is working to tell the full history of the former tobacco plantation by centering enslaved descendants' voices, using collaborative research to reconnect families, challenge historical narratives, and create a powerful model of community-driven scholarship. Co-Presenters: Julie Walters Steele, Kimble Reynolds Jr. |
| James Dubinsky | English | Advocacy: Activist Literacies and Civic Duty Our panel focuses on advocacy, which we frame as an essential means to address “critical issues” facing our institution and the communities we serve. Our advocacy combines research about and engagement with nonprofit organizations. We study “activist literacies” and share them with our partners. Co-Presenters: Annaliese Sutton, Phoebe Hayashi, Angela Lee, Eliza Quesenberry |
| Elizabeth Gilboy | Community Design Assistance Center | Community-Engaged Design Process for the Donnkenny Site in Floyd, Virginia Floyd has a unique infill redevelopment opportunity for its former Donnkenny textile facility. With funding from DEQ, the Town of Floyd and Virginia Tech’s CDAC have engaged residents in a series of meetings, surveys and workshops to re-envision the site addressing the community’s need for workforce housing. Co-Presenters: Harry Gleason, Raj Kumar Jami, Aida Hassani, Helya Sehat, Lara Nagle |
| Andrew Gibe-Lazarou | Architecture | AI-Accessibility: Reimagining the Future of Community-Led Design Virginia Tech's "AI-Accessibility" team presents its approach to community-engaged research and scholarship, emphasizing the inclusion of underrepresented communities across multiple constituencies of disability, in the design and testing of innovative building strategies, elements, and systems which maximize the functionality of artificially-intelligent navigation aids for individuals with vision-impairment. Co-Presenter: Luis Borunda |
| Ying-Xian Goh | Graduate research assistant, Civil and Environmental Engineering |
Eight Years of Community-Centered Science Outreach Program: Lessons Learned Science on Tap New River Valley is a monthly outreach program that has fostered scientist-public dialogue since 2017. Its success stems from interactive presentations, speaker support, and tasks shared by a well-balanced organizing team. This model minimizes financial and logistical barriers, enhancing effective science communication and ensuring long-term program sustainability. Co-Presenters: Anu Rai, Carolyn Kroehler, |
| Melissa Greco | Medical student, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine |
Advocating for Resettlement Health Through Medical School and Community Partnerships Refugee and immigrant families face complex medical and social needs during resettlement. The Roanoke-based Refugee and Immigrant Medical Association (RIMA) through VTCSOM addresses the challenges of accessing health-related resources. By partnering with local nonprofits in Roanoke, RIMA educates families, provides hope, and offers support for acculturation for these marginalized families. Co-Presenters: Vaishnavi Nandanam, Bryan Kim, Anvitha Metpally |
| Jaeyoung Ha | School of Design/Landscape Architecture Program | The Community's Perception of Local Flooding in Downtown Roanoke The primary aim of this study is to assess the community's perception of flood risks for a flood resilience plan. To conduct this research, we developed a digital twin model of Roanoke, Virginia, integrating a flooding simulation using virtual reality platforms. The community workshops include seminars, discussion sessions, and surveys. Co-Presenters: Nicholas Polys, David Sample, Terry Clements |
| Grant Hamming | College of Architecture, Arts, and Design | Rhizome VT and Community Housing Partners: Collaborating on Affordable Housing This presentation considers three years of engagement between Community Housing Partners (CHP), a nonprofit working in Virginia’s New River Valley, and the Rhizome Community at Virginia Tech. We will reflect upon the challenges, successes, and lessons learned from working with first-year undergraduates on design-based projects in support of affordable housing. Co-Presenter: Michael George |
| Etta Hanlon | Medical student, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine |
Creating Sustainable Partnerships: Connecting CHIP and Feeding Southwest Virginia This project builds a sustainable partnership between Feeding Southwest Virginia, Virginia Tech Students, and CHIP of Roanoke to address food insecurity among low-income families. Medical students deliver healthy food boxes for distribution during CHIP home visits, improving nutrition access, advancing health equity, and promoting child wellness through this community partnership. Co-Presenters: Blaire Barton, Colby Mallett, Jade Bajic |
| Mariam Ismail | University Libraries | Fostering Reparative Relationships with/in Digital Spaces The session presents several digital humanities projects, highlighting steps in the process to foster reciprocity, shared authority, counter-narratives, and community engagement. It also engages with power and resource dynamics between institutions and communities and how university members can leverage their positions to develop sustainable and facilitative models for community-led projects. Co-Presenters: Lauren Trice, Kerri Mosley-Hobbs, Jason Higgins, Estela Knott, Dave Berzonsky |
| Lia Kelinsky-Jones | Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education | Collaborating for Climate Action: Local Government Research Engagement Needs University-locality engagement for climate action is important and impactful, yet these collaborations do not always develop organically. This research asked, do local government sustainability officials have the research collaboration they need? This presentation shares findings from interviews with 42 local sustainability officials situated near research-intensive universities with community engagement commitments. |
| Gary Kirk | Center for Educational Networks and Initiatives | Community Sensemaking for Heat Resilience This presentation highlights the H.O.P.E. for Heat Resilience project, a community-engaged planning initiative in northwest Roanoke, which incorporated art, youth programs, and trauma-informed education in a multi-faceted approach. The results of research and practical tools to understand individual and collective sensemaking by community members will be discussed. Co-Presenter: Jacob Grohs |
| Gary Kirk | Center for Educational Networks and Initiatives | Perspectives on Equity and Justice in a Community Network Using equity and justice frameworks, we present a research-based case study of local community network formation and expansion to address emergent public health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic and a range of interconnected, systemic concerns. Participants will consider actions to center justice in their own partnerships. |
| Kara Long | University Libraries | Equitable Co-Authorship in Community-Engaged Research This workshop explores equitable co-authorship in community-engaged research (CER). Using the Rematriation Project as an example, we present a cultural humility framework rooted in Inuit practices to guide collaborative writing. Participants will engage in discussion and exercises to refine their approaches to ethical authorship and fair representation in academic publishing. Co-Presenters: Cana Itchuaqiyaq, Andi Ogier |
| Makenzie Mann | Graduate research assistant, Center for Economic and Community Engagement |
Building a Sustainable Early Childhood Education Workforce in Southwest Virginia This poster highlights the Virginia Tech Center for Economic and Community Engagement's evaluation of the Ready SWVA Early Childhood Education Career Pathways Program. The program provided training for the early-childhood education workforce in Southwest Virginia, and the evaluation guides suggestions on further program improvement to strengthen the child care ecosystem. |
| William McKeon | VT Engage: The Center for Leadership and Service Learning | The Civic Leadership Academy & Civic Leadership 101 Do you avoid discussing politics when you're on campus? Come learn about The Civic Leadership Academy, a cohort of students guided through the process of self reflection and understanding, constructive dialogue, and intentional community engagement. Hear about our approach to civic leadership, and what we have learned so far. Co-Presenter: Tony Trimpe |
| Sarah Misyak | Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise | Partnership Between Nutrition and Dietetics Internship and SNAP-Ed: Community-Engaged Practice A strategic mentorship model between the Virginia Tech Internship in Nutrition and Dietetics and the Virginia Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education for dietetic interns can be replicated to prepare students for careers in community engaged service and practice, offering key disciplinary knowledge development, as well as community outreach and engagement skill-building. Co-Presenters: Emily Myers, Amy LaFalce |
| Zahra Modarres Vahid | Graduate student, History |
Relational Methods for Community-Engaged Research This workshop explores alternative approaches to community-engaged research, using a project with international spouses as a case study. Participants will discuss how trust, informal networks, and lived experience can shape meaningful research practices beyond conventional methods and leave with tools for relational and inclusive engagement in their own work. Co-Presenter: Catherine Cotrupi |
| Dulguun Myagmarsuren | Medical student, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine |
Building Stronger Health Care Communities: AI Medical Education for Equitable Care Integrating AI into medical education bridges healthcare disparities in underserved regions such as Southwest Virginia. Our initiative equips future physicians with AI skills to enhance collaboration, resource allocation, and patient care. Additionally, AI-assisted medical writing improved efficiency and accuracy, demonstrating AI’s potential to empower equitable, community-focused health care delivery. Co-Presenters: Aysha Alani, Calvin Harris, Saif Pasha |
| Lara Nagle | Institute for Policy and Governance | Community-Engaged Design Process for the Donnkenny Site in Floyd, Virginia Floyd has a unique infill redevelopment opportunity for its former Donnkenny textile facility. With funding from DEQ, the Town of Floyd and a team from Virginia Tech have engaged local residents and town council in a series of activities to re-envision the site to address the need for workforce housing. Co-Presenters: Max Stephenson, Harry Gleason, Lisa Tucker |
| Phyllis Newbill | Center for Educational Networks and Impacts | Holistic Relationship-Building Between Higher Education and K-12 Virginia Tech and five local school systems have built a network of liaisons for holistic management of the relationships between and among them. Panelists will share experiences from perspectives of researcher, school system leader, liaison, and Virginia Tech administrator. Co-Presenters: Jacob Grohs, Gary Kirk, Aparna Shah |
| Kim Niewolny | Agricultural, Leaderhsip, and Community Education, Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation |
Exploring Social Vulnerabilities of Virginia Farmworkers Through Community-Based Participatory Research This study applies a community-based participatory research approach to examine the social vulnerabilities of farmworkers in Virginia. Through cross-sector collaboration, we identify key public health disparities, actionable policy and program recommendations, and strategies for fostering engaging research that centralizes cultivating relationships between institutions, organizations, and communities to inform social change. Co-Presenters: Elli Travis, Beth Sastre, Ana María Camargo Palomino |
| Katalin Parti | Sociology | Reducing Online Scams: Community-Based Interactive Theater for Older Adults This study employs collaborative ethnography with 50 older adults to examine the financial and psychological impacts of scams and barriers to seeking help. Through co-developed narratives, it created an interactive theater-based scam prevention initiative. Mixed-method evaluations reveal its community impact, offering insights into participatory, age-sensitive crime prevention strategies. Co-Presenters: Sophia Silis, Addison Midkiff |
| Cecily Peeples Rodriguez | Institute for Policy and Governance | Understanding Language Access in Public Behavioral Health Systems in Virginia The Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance assessed how Virginia’s Community Service Boards support Limited English Proficient individuals in accessing behavioral and mental health services. Through surveys and interviews, we identified challenges, best practices and recommendations for providing support to individuals needing both language services and mental health care. Co-Presenters: Anne Walters, Andrea Briceno, Laura Taylor, Hilal Yalcin, Olabisi Akinwunmi |
| Madisen Plunkert | Graduate teaching assistant, Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education |
Collaborative Learning for Sustainable Food Systems: Bridging Academics and Community The Food, Agriculture, and Society minor at Virginia Tech combines interdisciplinary teaching, community engagement, and experiential learning. Students in the Sustainable Food Systems course collaborate with local partners, enhancing their understanding of sustainable agriculture and food security. This session will share how this program prepares students for impactful, community-centered careers. Co-Presenters: Pete Ziegler, Lia Kelinsky-Jones, Kim Niewolny |
| Shruthi Prabhakar | Medical student, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine |
ScholarDOCs: Inspiring Curiosity in Future Health Care Leaders and Researchers ScholarDOCs combine hands-on simulations, interactive activities, and thoughtful self-reflection to develop the student’s clinical reasoning and communication skills to inspire the next generation of healthcare thought leaders. Attendees will gain practical knowledge and strategies through similar initiatives, sparking excitement and long-term community engagement. Co-Presenters: Roger Luong, Kristofer Rau |
| Anu Rai | Graduate assistant, Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation |
How Can We Include Indigenous Women in Community-Based Conservation? Indigenous women face systemic exclusion from major decision-making spaces in community forestry decision-making. Our research identifies entrenched barriers and proposes collaborative interventions — such as mentorship programs, leadership development, policy changes — to facilitate their transition from informal participation to recognized leadership roles, ensuring their voices are included in conservation decision-making at all levels. |
| Angela Scarpa | Center for Autism Research | Engaging Rural Communities Through Technological Innovations to Advance Autism Care This panel will cultivate a dialogue of research-based presentations to highlight active engagement with families, educators, providers, and researchers. The purpose is to emphasize the importance of technology-based strategies in the advancement of early diagnosis, empowering caregivers and educators, and fostering community capacity to build inclusive and equitable autism services. Co-Presenters: Daniele Martino, Alan McLucas, Nadia Shafique |
| Aparna Shah | School of Neuroscience | Weaving Perspectives: Strengthening the Community Fabric as We Face SUDs The Neuroscience of Drug Addiction course at Virginia Tech integrates community-engaged learning through student-led projects addressing local needs. A panel featuring community partners and alumni will share insights on collaborative efforts, impacts, and strategies for sustaining partnerships that apply neuroscience to support and educate communities affected by substance use disorders. Co-Presenters: Annie Walls, Meredith Lane |
| Roberto Silva | University Libraries | Stronger Together: Academic Library Meets Community Needs What started as a mutual research collaboration during COVID-19 in late 2020, between an academic institution and a nonprofit organization in Roanoke, has transformed into a friendship that sparked two book clubs in Spanish for local members of the community, giving them access to medical libraries and research facilities. |
| Christina Stolarchuk | Medical student, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine |
Building Global Health Infrastructure in Institutions Without Global Health Programs Addressing global health in communities without institutional infrastructures, like Global Health Institutes, presents unique challenges. This poster explores strategies for launching and sustaining initiatives, focusing on community-driven solutions, local partnerships, as well as current efforts led by VTCSOM's Global Health Club within Roanoke region. Co-Presenters: Monique Gainey, Karima Abutaleb, Aniee Sarkissian, Brian Meier, David Trinkle |
| Laura Taylor | Institute for Policy and Governance | Engagement for Collective Impact to Address the Addiction Crisis Since September 2018, the Roanoke Valley Collective Response has utilized the Collective Impact Model to develop a shared understanding of the root causes of how the opioid and addiction epidemic has impacted the Roanoke Valley. Through collective engagement community members and agencies have lessened the burden of addiction. Co-Presenter: Mary Beth Dunkenberger |
| Jennifer Thomas | Landscape Architecture | Empowering Amonate, Virginia for the Future Amonate, an unincorporated community in Tazewell County, Virginia, was a “coal camp” built by Pocahontas Fuel Co. in 1923. “Amonate Always,” a 501(c)(3) organization, contacted the Community Design Assistance Center at Virginia Tech to help them generate a multiphased plan to empower Amonate for the future using a multidisciplinary team. Co-Presenters: Elizabeth Gilboy, Gonazlo Munoz-Vera, Shaun Rosier, Karine Dupre, Laura Iancu |
| Lauren Trice | Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia | Co-Creation With Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia In this Co-Creation workshop, attendees will participate in community listening sessions using Story Circles, a technique used by Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia, housed at Virginia Tech, to engage rural communities in the process of creating new monuments, develop a sense of belonging, and highlight untold stories in Appalachia. Co-Presenters: Kate Skelly, Jacob Robinson, Sarah Plummer, Amber Wendler, Macie Alford |
| Katie Trozzo | Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education | Cultivating Food Systems Change Through Arts and Cultural Approaches Explore how arts and cultural storytelling catalyze food system transformation through Roanoke Foodshed Network's innovative community initiatives. Highlighting projects like "Arts Connect the Food System" and "Stories of Community Food Work," this session offers strategies to strengthen community ties, celebrate diversity, and enhance resilience through culturally-grounded, collaborative approaches. Co-Presenter: Kim Niewolny |
| Crystal Tyler-Mackey | Virginia Cooperative Extension, Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education |
Connect, Convene, and Collaborate: Tools for Effective Community-Engagement Meetings This session aims to equip participants with research-informed strategies for effective community engagement and collaboration. Through interactive discussions, case studies, and practice opportunities, a community development faculty team will highlight strategies for fostering authentic relationships, connecting with previously less-engaged persons, and co-creating solutions to address complex societal issues with communities. Co-Presenters: Scott Tate, Megan Seibel |
| Marti Wagnon | Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia | Disrupting Power: The Emotional Labor of Restorative Community Collaboration Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia supports community-led monument and memory work that resists top-down narratives. This presentation shares practices for navigating complex relationships between communities, institutions, and funders — centering equity, co-creation, and reflection while honoring each project's unique needs, pace, and goals. Co-Presenters: Lauren Trice, Jacob Robinson, Sarah Plummer, Amber Wendler, Macie Alford |
| Jerald Walz | Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education | Building Student Teams for Stronger Communities: Using KAI for Success When working on a problem, teams often struggle with distracting problems, including differences in problem-solving styles that affect communication, trust, and working together. Successful teams minimize secondary problems to solve primary ones. Application of adaption-innovation theory for student service-learning teams is presented with recent results and options for future applications. |
| Scott Weimer | Roanoke Regional Initiatives | Bridging Sectors, Building Hope: A Collective Recovery Response Discover how Virginia Tech and Roanoke Valley Collective Response convened the Recovery Ecosystems Conference. This session highlights how diverse partners co-created space to bridge resources, elevate local work, and spark community-driven solutions to the addiction crisis – demonstrating how collective action is advancing recovery and building stronger, more resilient communities. |
| Peter Ziegler | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Academic Programs | Study Abroad South Africa: Serving Communities Abroad We transformed our study abroad program into an experiential learning opportunity focused on global citizenship and food Security. Students partnered with local NGOs, co-developing projects in fall and implementing them in winter, while exploring South African history to understand socio-economic factors impacting food security. Co-Presenters: Ozzie Abaye, Mark Reiter, Will Ubben |