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.
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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.
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More than 50 freely available and openly licensed textbooks are among our most downloaded items.
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Recent Submissions
Tracks Magazine, Summer 2025
(Virginia Tech, 2025)
This edition of Tracks provides a snapshot of multiple aspects of clinical care, research, and education that are ongoing at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.
Climate change adaptation and adaptive efficacy in the inland fisheries of the Lake Victoria basin
Nyboer, Elizabeth A.; Musinguzi, Laban; Ogutu-Ohwayo, Richard; Natugonza, Vianny; Cooke, Steven J.; Young, Nathan; Chapman, Lauren J. (Wiley, 2022-10)
Inland fisheries support the livelihoods of millions of people in riparian communities worldwide but are influenced by increasing climate variability and change. Freshwater fishing societies are among the most vulnerable to climate change given their dependence on highly threatened aquatic resources. As climate change intensifies, building adaptive capacity within communities and understanding the efficacy of adaptive strategies for maintaining household stability is essential for coping with ongoing social and environmental change. In this study, we examined household perceptions of climate change, livelihood impacts and responses to socio-ecological changes in fishing-dependent households in the Lake Victoria basin in Uganda, East Africa. Through a series of household surveys and focus group discussions in five fish landing sites, we assessed social adaptive capacity (SAC) based on 207 households and identified adaptive strategies that are effective for coping with climatic change. We found that people in fishing households are aware of environmental change but that most households do not have adaptive strategies that are efficacious for securing long-term income and food security. We also investigated household demographics that contribute to SAC, examined links between SAC and adaptive efficacy and established potential routes towards developing effective adaptive approaches in small-scale fisheries. This work contributes to a growing foundation of documented community-based knowledge for building adaptive capacity in inland fisheries and the communities around the world that depend on them. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Overturning stereotypes: The fuzzy boundary between recreational and subsistence inland fisheries
Nyboer, Elizabeth A.; Embke, Holly S.; Robertson, Ashley M.; Arlinghaus, Robert; Bower, Shannon; Baigun, Claudio; Beard, Douglas; Cooke, Steven J.; Cowx, Ian G.; Koehn, John D.; Lyach, Roman; Milardi, Marco; Potts, Warren; Lynch, Abigail J. (Wiley, 2022-11)
Inland recreational fisheries provide numerous socio-economic benefits to fishers, families and communities. Recreationally harvested fish are also frequently consumed and may provide affordable and sustainable but undervalued contributions to human nutrition. Quantifying the degree to which recreationally harvested fish contribute to food security and subsistence is impeded by lack of data on harvest and consumption and by the difficulty in differentiating among recreational and subsistence fisheries. Recreational harvest records tend to be limited to wealthy, food-secure countries and well-monitored fisheries with clear regulations or permitting systems. These records often neglect components of recreational harvest among food-insecure fishers who are potentially more likely to have consumption as a motivation. Here, we highlight the ‘fuzzy boundary’ that can exist between inland recreational and subsistence fisheries and argue that unreported consumption is likely to be a hidden contributor to food security in some populations. We draw on local case studies from around the world to highlight specific instances where recreationally harvested fish species contribute food and subsistence benefits to participating communities. We use these examples to highlight the diversity of ways that inland recreational fisheries contribute to human nutrition, knowledge gaps in understanding recreational fishing for food, and consequences of not accounting for them as food fisheries in policy and management. The aim of this paper is to draw the attention of resource managers and policy makers, create greater social awareness of the importance of recreational fisheries and bring to light this hidden contribution of inland fisheries to nutrition and subsistence.
Towards vibrant fish populations and sustainable fisheries that benefit all: learning from the last 30 years to inform the next 30 years
Cooke, Steven J.; Fulton, Elizabeth A.; Sauer, Warwick H. H.; Lynch, Abigail J.; Link, Jason S.; Koning, Aaron A.; Jena, Joykrushna; Silva, Luiz G. M.; King, Alison J.; Kelly, Rachel; Osborne, Matthew; Nakamura, Julia; Preece, Ann L.; Hagiwara, Atsushi; Forsberg, Kerstin; Kellner, Julie B.; Coscia, Ilaria; Helyar, Sarah; Barange, Manuel; Nyboer, Elizabeth A.; Williams, Meryl J.; Chuenpagdee, Ratana; Begg, Gavin A.; Gillanders, Bronwyn M. (Springer, 2023-06)
A common goal among fisheries science professionals, stakeholders, and rights holders is to ensure the persistence and resilience of vibrant fish populations and sustainable, equitable fisheries in diverse aquatic ecosystems, from small headwater streams to offshore pelagic waters. Achieving this goal requires a complex intersection of science and management, and a recognition of the interconnections among people, place, and fish that govern these tightly coupled socioecological and sociotechnical systems. The World Fisheries Congress (WFC) convenes every four years and provides a unique global forum to debate and discuss threats, issues, and opportunities facing fish populations and fisheries. The 2021 WFC meeting, hosted remotely in Adelaide, Australia, marked the 30th year since the first meeting was held in Athens, Greece, and provided an opportunity to reflect on progress made in the past 30 years and provide guidance for the future. We assembled a diverse team of individuals involved with the Adelaide WFC and reflected on the major challenges that faced fish and fisheries over the past 30 years, discussed progress toward overcoming those challenges, and then used themes that emerged during the Congress to identify issues and opportunities to improve sustainability in the world's fisheries for the next 30 years. Key future needs and opportunities identified include: rethinking fisheries management systems and modelling approaches, modernizing and integrating assessment and information systems, being responsive and flexible in addressing persistent and emerging threats to fish and fisheries, mainstreaming the human dimension of fisheries, rethinking governance, policy and compliance, and achieving equity and inclusion in fisheries. We also identified a number of cross-cutting themes including better understanding the role of fish as nutrition in a hungry world, adapting to climate change, embracing transdisciplinarity, respecting Indigenous knowledge systems, thinking ahead with foresight science, and working together across scales. By reflecting on the past and thinking about the future, we aim to provide guidance for achieving our mutual goal of sustaining vibrant fish populations and sustainable fisheries that benefit all. We hope that this prospective thinking can serve as a guide to (i) assess progress towards achieving this lofty goal and (ii) refine our path with input from new and emerging voices and approaches in fisheries science, management, and stewardship.
On embracing the concept of becoming environmental problem solvers: the trainee perspective on key elements of success, essential skills, and mindset
Gale, A. P.; Chapman, J. O.; White, D. E.; Ahluwalia, P.; Williamson, A. K. J.; Peacock, K. R.; Akagbosu, R.; Lepine, T. M.; Arizor, I.; Bone, L. A.; Brown, J.; Fahrngruber, A. M.; Goldberg-Flood, A.; Kovirineni, S.; Lamb-Laurin, S. J.; Zia, N.; Innocent, S.; Lee, W.; Moran, G.; Nwasoria, B.; Ouellette, N. A.; Pendlebury, R.; Prue, A.; Sokolowski, J.; Namutosi, P.; Tesfay, T.; Oliver, M. C. M.; Nyboer, Elizabeth A.; Cooke, S. J. (Canadian Science Publishing, 2022-01-01)
Life in the Anthropocene is characterized by many environmental problems, and unfortunately, more continue to emerge. Although much effort is focused on identifying problems, this does not necessarily translate to solutions. This situation extends to the training environment, where students are often adept at understanding and dissecting problems but are rarely explicitly equipped with the skills and mindset to solve them. Herein, a group of undergraduate students and their instructors consider the concept of becoming environmental problem solvers. We first identified themes associated with historical and contemporary environmental successes that emerged from our reading, or more specifically, we identify the elements that underlie environmental success stories. The key elements of success involved setting clear objectives, identifying the scale of the problem, learning from failure, and consulting diverse knowledge sources. Next, we reflected on the skills and mindset that would best serve environmental problem solvers and enable future successes. Essential skills include innovative and critical thinking, ability to engage in collaborative teamwork, capacity to work across boundaries, and resilience. In terms of mindset, key attributes include the need for courage, enthusiasm and commitment, optimism, open mindedness, tenacity, and adaptability. We conclude with a brief discussion of ideas for revising training and curriculum to ensure that students are equipped with the aforementioned skills and mindset. The ideas shared here should contribute to ensuring that the next generation of learners have the ability to develop solutions that will work for the benefit of the environment, biodiversity, and humanity. Solving environmental problems will increasingly fall to the next generation, so it is time to ensure that they are prepared for that task.