Virginia Tech Hosts Annual Meetings of Virginia Academy of Science
by Shelly Jobst

More than 900 students, teachers and university professors attended the 84th annual meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science (VAS) and the 65th annual meeting of the Virginia Junior Academy of Science (VJAS) at Virginia Tech's Blacksburg campus on May 23-26. The meeting began with a picnic for the students followed by a presentation on ancient volcanoes in Virginia by James Beard, Ph.D. and curator of earth sciences at the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville, VA.

Students in grades 7 through 12 applied to present research at the annual meeting, and their papers were accepted under stringent guidelines. During the conference, students from across the state gave oral presentations to a panel of judges and an audience of peers and teachers, competing for society awards and category placement. Presentation sessions covered all disciplines of science including agricultural, chemical, physical, mathematical, engineering, social, and biological sciences.

More than 125 awards were given to students in each of the subject areas, and Virginia Tech awarded $2,000 scholarships to three future Virginia Tech students who presented outstanding research papers. The Thomas H. Jones Scholarship was presented by Richard G. Oderwald, associate dean for the College of Natural Resources to Holly Stainback from the Chesapeake Bay Governor's School.

Abby Hughes, also from the Chesapeake Bay Governor's School, was awarded the Booker Scholarship for entering freshmen in the College of Science by Jerry H. Via, assistant dean for the College of Science. John Crunkilton, assistant dean for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, presented Amanda L. Thomas from Prince Edward County High School with the John Lee Pratt Scholarship.

The VAS meeting included a reception hosted by Virginia Tech President Charles Steger at the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center, and the closing session was the Sidney S. Negus Memorial Lecture presented by Patrick J. Michaels, a research professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia.

The VAS is the fifth largest state, region, or academy of science in the U.S. It was founded in 1923 to promote the civic, academic, agricultural, industrial, and commercial welfare of the people of Virginia. VJAS is a national model for the new and renewing state junior academies and has been ranked among the top three in the nation for more than two decades. Through VJAS and other programs, VAS reaches more than 40,000 Virginia middle and high school students annually.