Inaugural postdoctoral awards cap appreciation week

Virginia Tech capped this year’s National Postdoc Appreciation Week by naming the winners of its inaugural awards for its postdoctoral associates and supporting faculty.

“The postdocs at Virginia Tech add tremendous value to the university, their research groups, field, and community,” said Chris Smith, postdoctoral affairs program administrator. “These awards are just one way we want to recognize them and their work as well as the important role faculty mentors play in this critical aspect of our research ecosystem.”

Declared by the National Postdoctoral Association, National Postdoc Appreciation Week was officially held Sept. 16-20. During this time, Virginia Tech’s Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, which is housed in the Office of Research and Innovation, recognized the university’s postdocs with a weeklong celebration. This included an appreciate lunch, an online career panel, a postdoc scholars showcase, and the three awards.

The awards

Postdoc Scholarly Excellence Award: Freya Olsson, biological sciences

This award recognizes individuals who have made a global impact in addition to publishing high-quality publications and presenting at academic conferences.

During her two-year postdoc appointment, Olsson has developed a reputation as a global leader in the area of ecological forecasting, helping others understand the subject’s nuances and how they can contribute to a growing body of knowledge, especially related to freshwater forecasting. “Dr. Olsson has empowered the ecological research community to forecast lake and stream water quality across the world,” Cayelan Carey and Quinn Thomas, Olsson’s faculty advisors, wrote in a statement.

Notable achievements include

• Contributed to three peer-reviewed publications with her postdoctoral group, including one as first-author
• Led the aquatic section of NEON Forecasting Challenge, a National Science Foundation-funded, Ecological Forecasting Initiative Research Coordination Network effort
• Conducted ecological forecasting workshops for domestic and international audiences totaling more than 1,000 researchers

“In a recent analysis of the number of environmental forecasts that have been submitted to the NEON Challenge across all variables (e.g., tree carbon, beetle densities, etc.), the number of aquatic forecasts numerically dominates, which is largely due to Dr. Olsson’s efforts to train aquatic scientists in this field,” Carey and Thomas wrote.

Carey is professor in biological sciences and Thomas, associate professor of forest resources and environmental conservation. Together they co-direct the Virginia Tech Center for Ecosystem Forecasting.

Postdoc Service Excellence Award: Maria Amaya, civil and environmental engineering 

This award recognizes individuals who have made substantial contributions beyond research and scholarly projects, including mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, serving in leadership roles, engaging in community outreach, and volunteering.

During her time at Virginia Tech, Amaya has contributed to each of these areas, highlighted by mentoring the next general of researchers, all while also engaging in her own research efforts with international impact.

“Overall, I would not be the researcher I am today without the guidance of Dr. Amaya,” said Lillian Kobe, a senior studying civil and environmental engineering mentored by Amaya.

Notable achievements include

• Worked with a variety of graduate and undergraduate students
• Contributed to four peer-reviewed articles since August 2022
• Delivered five guest lectures
• Assisted with community outreach efforts through programs such as Kids’ Tech University

“Her mentorship extends beyond day-to-day research supervision. Dr. Amaya is currently serving on two graduate student committees, demonstrating her dedication to supporting students throughout their academic journeys,” said Landon Marston, her faculty advisor and an associate  professor in the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Faculty Mentor Award: Jamie Smyth, associate professor at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC

This award recognizes individuals who have excelled in supporting and enhancing the experience of postdoctoral researchers.

Smyth not only excelled in mentoring his postdoc but also supported many other postdocs at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC.

“Out of all my scientific mentors over the years, Dr. Smyth has been the most intentional about his mentorship,” said Chelsea Phillips, a postdoctoral associate in Smyth’s lab. “When talking to Dr. Smyth, it is clearly evident that he cares about mentoring and has poured time and energy into developing his mentoring philosophies and enacting them.”  

Notable achievements include:

• Co-writing a proposal for the development of more postdoc programming and support at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute
• Helping establish the institute’s Postdoctoral Excellence Award program

“In addition to being an outstanding mentor to me, Dr. Smyth has made it his personal mission to help establish a welcoming, fun, and inclusive ecosystem for all postdocs at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute,” Phillips said. “He has provided guidance and informal mentorship to many postdocs outside his lab, demonstrating generosity with his time and wisdom. Smyth also co-wrote the original case to create a postdoctoral association and helped to secure a budget to start-up programming and fellowship opportunities at the institute.”

Scholars showcase

The Postdoc Scholars Showcase featured 11 scholars presenting their research in 10-minute talks. The audience then voted for the three presentations that “were deserving as the best overall in terms of quality of delivery and clarity in the research question, results, and its potential impact.”

Many of the postdocs presenting at the showcase had engaged in a series of workshops over the summer organized by the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs that focused on presenting effectively and crafting compelling presentations and were able to put the practices they learned to use during the event.

The winners were

• Pranav Khandelwal, Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow, mechanical engineering, “Understanding Animal Movement in the Wild: From Flying Lizards to Zebras”
• Lindsay Miles, postdoctoral associate, entomology, “Bed Bug Genome-wide Patterns of Demographic History Mirror Human Global Expansion”
• Ryan Montalvo, Research and Innovation Postdoctoral Scholar, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, “Promotion of Healthspan by Exercise: Examining the Role of the Mitochondria”