Class of 2026: Michaela Foster jumps in ecological engineering
Guided by a love for the outdoors, Foster blends ecological engineering, hands‑on research, and vibrant student communities to shape a future focused on restoring and protecting natural systems.
Name: Michaela Foster
College: College of Engineering
Major: Biological Systems Engineering
Hometown: Durham, North Carolina
Plans after graduation: Work as a Water Resources Professional I at WithersRavenel in Raleigh, North Carolina
Favorite Hokie memory: Visiting a local dairy farm to learn about waste management systems. “We put on little plastic booties and got to go in some pens with a bunch of baby cows. Just walking around with them was super fun while learning about the various systems.”
Outdoors spurs passion
Michaela Foster's path to Virginia Tech didn’t start in a classroom or a lab; it began outside, on the trails, in tents, and beside streams. Camping and backpacking shaped her early fascination with the environment and water. That connection deepened in high school when she visited a stream restoration project. Standing beside the flowing water, she remembers thinking, “This is what I really want to do in the future. This is my dream major.”
That moment stayed with her. When she arrived at Virginia Tech, she already knew she wanted to study biological systems engineering. “I really appreciate the tight‑knit community the department has,” she said. “I’ve been able to make some really great connections as well as friendships.”
Those relationships — and the department’s emphasis on nature‑based solutions — helped her find her place at Virginia Tech. “Using natural resources to protect and enhance the environment really spoke to me,” she said. It was the kind of engineering that felt grounded in the landscapes she grew up loving.
A research journey shaped by curiosity and persistence
As a sophomore, Foster joined the ecological engineering lab taught by Assistant Professor Natasha Bell, a decision she describes as transformative. “[Dr. Bell] was really influential in helping me choose a [research] project,” Foster said. “She’s been a really great mentor throughout the whole research process.”
In collaboration with Zach Easton, H.E. & Elizabeth Alphin Professor of Agriculture and Life Sciences, they shaped a project focused on subsurface denitrifying bioreactors: systems that use carbon‑based media, in this case, bark and wood chips, to remove excess nitrate from groundwater. The work is especially relevant in Virginia’s karst regions, where cold spring water and long histories of agriculture contribute to nutrient pollution.
Foster wanted to know if potentially excessive nutrients, specifically nitrogen, could be reduced. Designing the experiment required months of planning, troubleshooting, and patience. She and a team of undergraduates collected more than 600 water samples, tested water quality, and analyzed the data in R. “One of the biggest challenges was running this experiment for a long time,” she said. “But seeing how my skills improved was super neat.”
Her results revealed that bark performed better than wood chips — an unexpected finding for a technology widely used in warmer regions. She is now preparing a first‑author manuscript about the results for publication. The experience taught her that research rarely moves in straight lines. “The scientific process takes a lot of patience,” she said. “Sometimes you get results you weren’t expecting, and it’s all about digging into the literature.”
Finding community through engineering and movement
While research shaped her academic identity, Foster was also active outside the lab.
As a first-year student she joined the Concrete Canoe team in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, where she now serves as mix lead, a role that helps the team decide what materials to use to ensure the concrete will have good consistency while keeping the canoe lightweight. Her fellow students quickly became like family. “What draws me to it is the hands-on work and the community,” she said. “We’ve become really close since we spend so much time at the lab together.”
She has watched the team grow from a difficult first season to sweeping regionals and placing second nationally this past year. “We ended up winning at a regional competition and then going to nationals for the first time in over 20 years,” she said. “That was super exciting.”
Her other major community is one she brought with her from childhood: competitive jump rope. She has been jumping since second grade, and on campus she joined a club founded by other lifelong jumpers. Now president, she coaches new members and leads performances and workshops across the community. “It’s been really nice to work with a diverse group of people and push my boundaries,” she said.
In April, the team hosted the National Collegiate Jump Rope Summit, an event Foster helped plan for more than a year. “We’re super excited,” she said. “There are normally about 90-100 athletes across 10 events, which range from team events to individual." Throughout her four years at Virginia Tech, Foster has also been part of the Galileo and Hypatia Living‑Learning Community, first as a resident and later in leadership roles supporting student well‑being and orientation.
As a BSE Ambassador, she helps prospective students and families understand the major she loves. “A lot of people don’t know what biological systems engineering is,” she said. “Opening up people’s minds to what the major is and what we do is super exciting.”
