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
Fossil fuel industry influence in higher education: A review and a research agenda
Hiltner, Sofia; Eaton, Emily; Healy, Noel; Scerri, Andrew J.; Stephens, Jennie C.; Supran, Geoffrey (Wiley, 2024-11)
The evolution of fossil fuel industry tactics for obstructing climate action, from outright denial of climate change to more subtle techniques of delay, is under growing scrutiny. One key site of ongoing climate obstructionism identified by researchers, journalists, and advocates is higher education. Scholars have exhaustively documented how industry-sponsored academic research tends to bias scholarship in favor of tobacco, pharmaceutical, food, sugar, lead, and other industries, but the contemporary influence of fossil fuel interests on higher education has received relatively little academic attention. We report the first literature review of academic and civil society investigations into fossil fuel industry ties to higher education in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. We find that universities are an established yet under-researched vehicle of climate obstruction by the fossil fuel industry, and that universities' lack of transparency about their partnerships with this industry poses a challenge to empirical research. We propose a research agenda of topical and methodological directions for future analyses of the prevalence and consequences of fossil fuel industry–university partnerships, and responses to them.
From politics to democracy? Bernard Williams' basic legitimation demand in a radical realist lens
Prinz, Janosch; Scerri, Andrew J. (Wiley, 2024-09)
Conundrums and Bellwethers: Interpreting Research Trends
Wells, John G. (Virginia Tech Publishing, 2025-05-16)
Yield Impacts of Agricultural Conservation Programs
Zhang, Wei; Li, Yanggu; Bovay, John (Agricultural & Applied Economics Association, 2025-09)
Conservation programs funded and managed by the USDA have two key goals: protecting natural resources and supporting farm profitability. The environmental benefits of these programs, such as reduced soil erosion and improved habitat for wildlife, are important for societal well-being. Their impacts on farm productivity and profitability are equally important. Conceptually, conservation programs could increase yields because some conservation efforts boost soil health on the fields where they are implemented or on nearby fields. They could also increase county-level yields through retirements of less-productive land. However, if there are tradeoffs between yield and ecological functions, or if some productive land is taken out of production, then conservation programs could decrease yields. This article provides evidence that USDA conservation programs can increase agricultural yields. Our findings make a compelling case for continued funding of USDA conservation programs that could simultaneously boost agricultural productivity and improve environmental outcomes.
Silica-Biomacromolecule Interactions: Toward a Mechanistic Understanding of Silicification
McCutchin, Christina A.; Edgar, Kevin J.; Chen, Chun-Long; Dove, Patricia M. (American Chemical Association, 2024-10-09)
Silica-organic composites are receiving renewed attention for their versatility and environmentally benign compositions. Of particular interest is how macromolecules interact with aqueous silica to produce functional materials that confer remarkable physical properties to living organisms. This Review first examines silicification in organisms and the biomacromolecule properties proposed to modulate these reactions. We then highlight findings from silicification studies organized by major classes of biomacromolecules. Most investigations are qualitative, using disparate experimental and analytical methods and minimally characterized materials. Many findings are contradictory and, altogether, demonstrate that a consistent picture of biomacromolecule-Si interactions has not emerged. However, the collective evidence shows that functional groups, rather than molecular classes, are key to understanding macromolecule controls on mineralization. With recent advances in biopolymer chemistry, there are new opportunities for hypothesis-based studies that use quantitative experimental methods to decipher how macromolecule functional group chemistry and configuration influence thermodynamic and kinetic barriers to silicification. Harnessing the principles of silica-macromolecule interactions holds promise for biocomposites with specialized applications from biomedical and clean energy industries to other material-dependent industries.