VTechWorks
VTechWorks provides global access to Virginia Tech scholarship, including journal articles, books, theses, dissertations, conference papers, slide presentations, technical reports, working papers, administrative documents, videos, images, and more by faculty, students, and staff. Faculty can deposit items to VTechWorks from Elements, including journal articles covered by the University open access policy. Email vtechworks@vt.edu for help.
Open Access Policy
Virginia Tech's open access policy enables researchers to deposit the accepted version of scholarly articles with no embargo.
Theses and Dissertations
Virginia Tech was first in the world to require ETDs in 1997, and continues to add scans of older theses and dissertations.
Open Textbooks
More than 50 freely available and openly licensed textbooks are among our most downloaded items.
Communities in VTechWorks
Select a community to browse its collections.
Recent Submissions
Evaluating the Conservation and Ecological Roles of Large Marine Protected Areas for Threatened Sharks
Shea, Brendan Douglas (Virginia Tech, 2026-01-15)
Sharks are among the most threatened groups of vertebrates on the planet, in large part due to historical and ongoing overfishing, both via targeted exploitation as well as bycatch. In recent years, shark conservation has gained increased international attention, particularly with respect to spatial protection. Many of the marine protected areas in the ocean were created specifically with the goal of conserving shark species, despite equivocal evidence for their efficacy, particularly for broad ranging species. Here, I test a set of questions about the role of large marine protected areas in shark conservation using advanced spatial and quantitative analyses. In my first chapter, I investigate how bycatch jeopardizes the conservation goals of shark sanctuaries that continue to permit commercial fishing, by developing a data integration workflow to predict shark bycatch and incidental mortality from longline fishing in remote ocean sectors, based on the level of fishing effort observed via satellite. Next, I explore how the space use of mobile sharks varies over their ontogeny, using a dataset of more than 300 white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) tracks as a case study, highlighting rapid space use expansion in juveniles and early support for a novel pattern of space use refinement in adults. In my third chapter, I report a first of its kind satellite track from a juvenile shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) tagged in the Mediterranean Sea, detailing its rapid movements away from one proposed nursery area and toward another, again highlighting the broad space use of juveniles among mobile species. Finally, I use Bayesian point process species distribution models to analyze an unstructured, opportunistic, presence-only dataset of Mediterranean white shark records to characterize a nursery area for the Critically Endangered population. Overall, I highlight the broad space use of mobile shark species even at early ages, and note that simple targeting or retention bans, like those in many shark sanctuaries, are unlikely to be sufficient. This underscores the need for nesting spatial protections of critical habitat within integrated management frameworks at broader scales, such as gear restrictions or other technical measures, to balance conservation goals with socioeconomic impacts from fisher displacement.
Developmental origins of cortical circuit dysfunction in a 22q11 deletion mouse model
Rukh, Shah (Virginia Tech, 2026-01-16)
Cortical circuit development is tightly regulated by programs of progenitor proliferation, neurogenesis, and neuronal maturation. Disruptions in these processes contribute to the cortical circuit pathology observed in neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia and autism, intellectual disability. The 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) is a major genetic risk factor for psychiatric illness and provides an optimal genetic model disease to explore how gene dosage imbalance impacts cortical circuit development. Study 1 examined the developmental origin of upper layer 2/3 projection neuron (PNs) deficits in the LgDel mouse model of 22q11DS. Bulk and single cell RNA sequencing revealed transient, cell state dependent changes in intermediate basal progenitors at the peak of upper layer neurogenesis. These changes are characterized by reduced proliferation, increased neurogenic gene expression and altered DNA methylation. The divergent progenitor progression resulted in a selective decline and shift in identity of L2/3 PNs generated during this critical developmental window, while earlier and later population of progenitors as well progeny remained unaffected. Study 2 investigated how 22q11 deletion alters L2/3 PN growth and development. LgDel neurons displayed oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and reduced neurite growth. Treatment with the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) improved axonal and dendritic growth but did not restore expression of deleted or differentially expressed genes in LgDel PNs. Instead, NAC induced a distinct antioxidant response via Nrf2 signaling pathway. Together, these studies link early transcriptional dysregulation in cortical progenitors to later metabolic and functional deficits in projection neurons, highlighting oxidative stress as a modifiable driver of cortical circuit dysfunction in 22q11DS.
Professional Credentialing in Higher Ed: The Case of the Certified Nonprofit Professional Credential to Enhance Student Readiness for the Nonprofit Sector
Davis, Stephanie D.; Lee, Chance; Bown, Carolina (Sagamore-Venture Publishing, 2026)
This article examines the value of integrating professional credentialing programs with traditional academic degree pathways using the Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP) credential as a case example. The authors explore how the CNP credential complements undergraduate and graduate programs by enhancing students’ professional readiness and specific competencies for the nonprofit sector. Findings from a survey of campus directors, the primary liaison between the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance and the college or university, provide insight into their perspectives on the importance of professional credentialing. In addition, drawing on case studies from three universities that have implemented the CNP in varied contexts and timeframes, the article analyzes institutional motivations, student outcomes, and effective strategies for credential implementation.
SWOT Satellite: A New Tool for Fluvial Geomorphology
Stroud, Molly; Allen, George H.; Minear, J. Toby; Cisneros, Julia; Smith, Laurence C. (Geological Society of America, 2025-12-01)
Earth-observing satellites have revolutionized the field of fluvial geomorphology by providing large-scale and spatially contiguous observations. The recently launched Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite’s novel interferometric synthetic aperture radar (inSAR) instrument delivers global measurements of several key geomorphic parameters, such as river surface water elevation, slope, and width, and thus presents the opportunity to study fluvial processes in new ways. Here we explore the utility of the SWOT satellite for advancing understanding of fluvial geomorphology across river systems in the United States, specifically focusing on water surface elevation variations in large braided rivers, temporally dynamic shear stress in bedrock rivers, and the processes associated with knickpoints and dam failures. We also discuss other relevant potential applications of SWOT satellite data related to fluvial geomorphology beyond the scope of these early explorations. By providing global multitemporal observations of several key variables in fluvial geomorphology, SWOT represents a major advance in our ability to quantify, monitor, and understand fluvial systems and their dynamics.
What do we need to know about the Chief Information Security Officer? A literature review and research agenda
Sahin, Zeynep; Vance, Anthony (Elsevier, 2025-01)
Since its establishment in the 1990s, the role of chief information security officer (CISO) has become critical to organizations in managing cybersecurity risks. However, despite widespread recognition of the importance of this role in industry, research about CISOs and the problems they face in protecting organizations is nascent. We review the academic and practitioner literature on CISOs to identify existing themes and highlight a range of challenges related to CISOs in which further research is needed, such as establishing legitimacy within C-suite executive teams, appropriate accountability for cybersecurity incidents, CISO turnover, and promoting security in the face of human factors, business realities, and budget constraints. We also propose a research agenda to address these challenges using potential theoretical lenses. In these ways, this study lays the groundwork for future research on CISOs and their essential role in ensuring the cybersecurity of organizations.