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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More than 50 freely available and openly licensed textbooks are among our most downloaded items.
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Recent Submissions
Creative Conversations: The Un-Meeting as an Approach to Agricultural Extension Communication
Spence, Jessica R.; Kaufman, Eric K.; Seibel, Megan M.; Parrella, Jean A.; Tyler-Mackey, Crystal; Grove, Benjamin B.; Adebayo, Bolanle; Olowoyo, Olamide; Poudel, Sonika; Zhu, Stephanie; Gutter, Michael (Extension Journal Inc., 2026-10-13)
The agricultural industry increasingly faces complex challenges that require diverse stakeholder input, and traditional meeting approaches often limit engagement and perpetuate top-down dynamics that can inhibit effective problem-solving. This article explores the ``un-meeting'' format as an alternative, highlighting its ability to foster inclusive, participant-driven discussions that encourage collaborative brainstorming and actionable outcomes. Based on our experience with a statewide agriculture summit, we discuss the principles underlying un-meetings, the facilitation process, and the practical implications for Extension professionals. Recommendations include the importance of knowledgeable facilitators, a large team for effective management, and limiting session cycles to maintain focus and depth in discussions.
Respirable Aerosol Production and Reduction of Avian Influenza Transmission Risk during Chicken Processing, Bangladesh
Rimi, Nadia Ali; Saifullah, Md. Khaled; Fahad, Md. Habibullah; Hossain, Kamal; Sultana, Rebeca; Shanta, Ireen Sultana; Swayne, David E.; Mortaza, Syed Mohammad Golam; Giasuddin, Md.; Hassan, Md Zakir; LeBoa, Christopher; Biswas, Debashish; Rahman, Mahbubur; Mott, Joshua A.; Kennedy, Erin D.; Lindsley, William G. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2026-04-01)
In Bangladesh, influenza A(H5N1) viruses are endemic in poultry. Processing infected chickens can aerosolize viruses, increasing the risk for human infections. We evaluated particulate matter (PM₂.₅) mass concentration during slaughtering and defeathering methods used in live bird markets in Bangladesh to identify solutions to reduce aerosol exposure. We slaughtered 675 chickens using cones and barrels with 3 lid types and defeathered 45 chickens using a defeathering machine with 5 lid types. We interviewed 3 slaughterers to understand method preference. For slaughtering, barrels with a solid or star-cut lid reduced PM₂.₅ mass concentrations by 65%–73% compared with uncovered barrels. For defeathering, machines fully covered by a solid lid or lid with a hole and pivot door reduced PM₂.₅ mass concentrations by 50% compared with machines with no lid. Slaughterers preferred barrels covered with solid lids and defeathering machines covered with solid or hinged lids. Those methods might reduce aerosol exposure during poultry processing.
Stabilized vs. Unstabilized Barrier Islands: How Shoreline Engineering Shapes the Habitat, Prey, and Distribution of Red Knots, Black‑bellied Plovers, and Piping Plovers after Five Years
Alvino, Camille Rose (Virginia Tech, 2026-10-23)
Climate change-driven storms and sea-level rise are altering Mid-Atlantic coastlines at accelerating rates, particularly in barrier-island landscapes. Migrating shorelines threaten coastal infrastructure and create pressure on imperiled shorebirds that depend on high-quality foraging grounds year-round. Shoreline-stabilizing techniques, including beach nourishment, breakwaters, and revetments, are used to mitigate coastal erosion and protect local infrastructure, but their direct and indirect impacts on shorebird populations and their prey are poorly understood. The Virginia barrier island system, recognized for its ecological importance to shorebirds, is currently undeveloped except for one island, Wallops Island, which has undergone various stabilization measures to protect critical infrastructure. This system provides a unique opportunity to expand existing knowledge of how ecological and geomorphic factors influence shorebird foraging habitat use in the context of anthropogenically altered shorelines. The goals of my thesis were to quantify the ecological and geomorphological drivers of the federally threatened piping plover (Charadrius melodus), the federally threatened rufa red knot (Calidris canutus rufa) and the black-bellied plover (Pluvialis squatarola) and their prey in the context of stabilized and unstabilized shorelines in coastal Virginia. We evaluated 4 important foraging habitats (sandy ocean beach, peat banks, bay shoreline, and interior pools) on the 5 northernmost barrier islands in Virginia: partially stabilized Wallops Island and unstabilized Assawoman, Metompkin, Assateague Islands, and Gargatha Beach. In 2024 and 2025, we conducted monthly point count surveys from May 1st to August 31st for breeding season adult piping plovers and from April 15th to June 30th and August 1st to October 15th for migratory red knots, black-bellied plovers, and co-occurring shorebirds, and collected core samples to evaluate benthic prey availability. We also sampled terrestrial insects monthly from May to August due to their importance to piping plover foraging ecology during the breeding season. We implemented Bayesian mixed-effects modeling on a series of a priori candidate models to estimate the effect of distance to the nearest and each individual type of stabilization, along with important environmental and geomorphological covariates, on the presence of all three focal species and their benthic and terrestrial prey densities. We also compared our terrestrial prey densities and habitat distributions with historical data in Virginia and with 2 recent studies in New York and North Carolina to examine geographic or longitudinal differences in terrestrial prey availability for piping plovers in our study. We found that piping plovers were more likely to be present, and total benthic, worm and crustacean prey abundances were higher at greater distances from the stabilization actions during the piping plover breeding season at 4-5 years since the most recent activities. However, other factors such as habitat type and beach width were stronger predictors of piping plovers and their prey than distance to the nearest stabilization, with foraging piping plovers most likely to be present on peat bank habitats and on wider beaches. We found the opposite relationship with benthic insect larvae and terrestrial prey, which were more abundant closer to the stabilization actions during the piping plover breeding season; likely driven by their high abundances in the human-created borrow pool adjacent to the stabilization footprint. We found that red knot presence was more likely farther from the nearest stabilization features in all habitat types, but that stabilization was a weaker predictor of red knot presence than other ecological and geomorphic factors. Black-bellied plovers were strongly influenced by distance to stabilization, with contrasting relationships with stabilization depending on habitat type. Black-bellied plovers were more likely to be present farther from stabilized features when using peat, bay and pool habitats, all of which occurred outside of the footprint of stabilization. However, black-bellied plovers were more likely to be present closer to stabilization when foraging in sandy ocean intertidal habitat. Both red knots and black-bellied plovers were more likely to be present with higher abundances of other shorebirds and increased prey species richness, and black-bellied plovers were more present in areas where the shoreline change rate was negative (e.g., eroding or retreating). Our results showed that 4-5 years after shoreline stabilization actions on Wallops Island, benthic invertebrates in the sandy ocean intertidal zone had recovered to similar densities as the surrounding islands, but the highest densities occurred on peat banks outside stabilized areas. We suggest that future stabilization efforts both create high-quality foraging habitats, such as the borrow pool, within or adjacent to the stabilization footprint and conserve the potential for adjacent areas to respond to natural coastal processes that create bayside, pool, and peat habitats for foraging shorebirds. Future studies should deploy a before-after-control-impact design for at least 4 years pre- and post-action to better understand recovery times of avian and prey metrics, and to better tease out the impacts of individual stabilization actions.
Protecting Apple Blossoms from Spring Frost: The Potential and Limitations of Cryoprotectants
Jahed, Khalil R.; Sherif, Sherif M. (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2026-10-21)
Spring frost presents a major abiotic constraint on apple production, with shifting climates increasing the risk of early bloom exposure to sub-zero temperatures. To evaluate alternative mitigation strategies, we tested the efficacy of four commercial foliar cryoprotectants (KDL, ThermoMax, Glacier, and diKap) on 'Pink Lady' apple blossoms across three growing seasons. Biochemical analyses revealed that these applications enhance frost resilience by triggering the accumulation of protective metabolites, specifically proline and non-structural carbohydrates, which minimize cellular dehydration and membrane rupture. Field evaluations demonstrated that cumulative sub-zero exposure time is the primary driver of floral mortality, with a critical lethal threshold of approximately 30 minutes. Although freezes exceeding two hours overwhelmed all treatments, specific applications such as ThermoMax and diKap successfully preserved 5?6% of king flowers under severe stress, a margin physiologically sufficient to maintain a commercial crop load. Furthermore, these pre-bloom treatments proved safe for commercial implementation, presenting no negative effects on fruit quality and occasionally improving harvest size, sweetness, and firmness.
Protecting Peaches from Spring Frost: Delaying Bloom with JA Inhibition
Jahed, Khalil R.; Sherif, Sherif M. (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2026-08-26)
Spring frost threatens temperate fruit production by damaging early-blooming floral tissues. Modulating bloom phenology offers a viable mitigation strategy. Because jasmonic acid (JA) promotes budbreak, we hypothesized that JA inhibitors could delay peach flowering. Over three seasons (2023-2025), two JA inhibitors, propyl gallate and antipyrine, were applied as foliar sprays to "Redhaven" and "Sunhigh" peach cultivars. Antipyrine consistently delayed full bloom by 2 to 5 days across years and cultivars. Propyl gallate induced delays of 1 to 3 days, exhibiting higher inter-annual variability dependent on early spring temperatures. Crucially, neither compound negatively impacted final fruit set at harvest. Furthermore, treatments maintained essential fruit quality attributes, including firmness and total soluble solids, while, in some cases, enhancing fruit size. These findings demonstrate that bloom delay offers a novel, resource-efficient strategy to protect deciduous orchards from late spring frost damage without compromising yield or quality.