Virginia Tech experts available to discuss headlines in the news

The Virginia Tech media relations office has the following experts available for interviews this week surrounding issues in the news. To schedule an interview, please contact mediarelations@vt.edu.

Rebuilding after devastating wildfires in Hawaii

It will take years to rebuild Lahaina after the wildfires decimated the town. Liesel Ritchie is a disaster resilience expert. As a professor of sociology and associate director of the Center for Coastal Studies at Virginia Tech, Ritchie travels to disaster sites all over the world to work with communities with the goal of influencing government and industry policy. She has examined devastating events like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Hurricane Katrina, and various earthquakes across the globe. “Even after a natural disaster has ended people are going to need help; they’re going to need financial support and they’re going to need social support,” says Ritchie.”

Possible fourth indictment looming for Trump

Starting on Monday morning, prosecutors are expected to present a Georgia grand jury with the findings from their two-and-a-half-year investigation into former President Donald Trump and more than a dozen others tied to an effort to overturn Trump's narrow loss in Georgia during the 2020 election. The former president has already been indicted in three other cases. The grand jury will likely decide within days whether Trump will be indicted in this case. Virginia Tech political science professor Karen Hult is available to discuss this potential indictment and its possible effects on the presidential campaign, voters, and members of Congress. Note: She is only available after 4 p.m. Monday and Tuesday.

What the U.S. credit rating downgrade means

The United States experienced a rare and significant event this month: a downgrade in the nation’s credit rating. Fitch Ratings lowered the U.S. long-term credit rating from AAA to AA+, in part as a reaction to federal government battles over the debt crisis. Virginia Tech economics professor Jadrian Wooten explains what the credit downgrade means nationally and globally. “The downgrade is more of a warning that things need to change in Washington rather than a sign that the U.S. isn’t a good investment,” says Wooten. “Think of the downgrade more like a wake-up call.” Read more here.

Expert offers advice for parents, schools on bullying

Bullying is an unfortunate reality for some as they return to the classroom. Virginia Tech psychology expert Rosanna Breaux is available to discuss the risk factors of bullying. As she points out, research on how parents can help children is limited because bullying is a group behavior maintained by peers who silently support it or are reluctant to defend victims. That makes it hard for teachers or parents to be able to effectively intervene. The other problem is that those being bullied are often reluctant to ask for help. However, there are several things that can be done to prevent and limit the negative effects, which Breaux is able to elaborate on and provide resources for schools.

Research Highlights

Virginia Tech and Hardywood draft Fightin’ Hokies Hefeweizen to Hokie beer lineup

A new member has been drafted to Hokie Nation’s official beer lineup. Fightin’ Hokies Hefeweizen is now available in select Virginia grocery stores, restaurants, and independent bottle shops across Virginia on draft and in 16-ounce cans. This traditional Bavarian wheat beer — the latest brew developed by faculty in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' Department of Food Science and Technology as part of Virginia Tech’s ongoing partnership with Hardywood Park Craft Brewery — follows the success of the award-winning Fightin’ Hokies Lager and limited edition sesquicentennial dry-hopped amber ale All Hail to Thee. 

As with Virginia Tech’s previous beers, a portion of the proceeds from sales of Fightin’ Hokies Hefeweizen will go to support learning opportunities, scholarships, and more for food science students. Video & photo assets here.

Eat your vegetables to protect your brain

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease estimated to affect 6 million Americans and 33 million people worldwide. Large numbers of those affected have not yet been diagnosed. A new study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease by Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine faculty member, Kathleen Dorey, shows that brain levels of dietary lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene, and vitamin E in those with Alzheimer’s disease are half those in normal brains. Higher dietary levels of lutein and zeaxanthin have been strongly linked to better cognitive functions and lower risk for dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. 

“This study, for the first time, demonstrates deficits in important dietary antioxidants in Alzheimer’s brains. These results are consistent with large population studies that found risk for Alzheimer’s disease was significantly lower in those who ate diets rich in carotenoids, or had high levels of lutein and zeaxanthin in their blood, or accumulated in their retina as macular pigment,” said C. Kathleen Dorey, professor in the Department of Basic Science Education at the medical school. “Not only that, but we believe eating carotenoid-rich diets will help keep brains in top condition at all ages.” More here.

An unexpected way to upcycle: Plastic waste transforms into soap

A team led by Virginia Tech researchers has developed a new method for upcycling plastics into high-value chemicals known as surfactants, which are used to create soap, detergent, and more. 

Guoliang “Greg” Liu, associate professor of chemistry in the Virginia Tech College of Science, was struck by inspiration while enjoying a winter evening by a fireplace. He watched the smoke rise from the fire and thought about how the smoke was made up of tiny particles produced during the wood’s combustion. Although plastics should never be burned in a fireplace for safety and environment reasons, Liu began to wonder what would happen if polyethylene could be burned in a safe laboratory setting. Would the incomplete combustion of polyethylene produce “smoke” just like burning wood does? If someone were to capture that smoke, what would it be made of?

With the help of Zhen Xu and Eric Munyaneza, two Ph.D. chemistry students in Liu’s lab, Liu built a small, oven-like reactor where they could heat polyethylene in a process called temperature-gradient thermolysis. At the bottom, the oven is at a high enough temperature to break the polymer chains, and at the top, the oven is cooled to a low enough temperature to stop any further breakdown. After the thermolysis, they gathered the residue — similar to cleaning soot from a chimney — and found that Liu’s hunch had been right: It was composed of “short-chain polyethylene,” or more precisely, waxes. More here.