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A Transformative Graduate Education

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What Do You Need to Graduate?

Whether you’re completing a thesis or taking a comprehensive exam, here's everything you need to complete your degree.

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We offer training for students who want to teach at the college level, professional development courses, assistance with writing academic papers, and other resources to help you succeed.

Upcoming Defenses

Joshua David Thompson (PHD, EDCI) Joshua David Thompson (PHD, EDCI)
4/7/26, 10:00 AM
Rooted Here, Rooted There: Theory, Pedagogy, and Research in Rural Study Abroad
@ 4347 Corporate Research Ctr, Blacksburg
Ze Zong (MS, EE) Ze Zong (MS, EE)
4/7/26, 1:00 PM
Hydrogel-Integrated MIM-SERS For In Situ, Spatiotemporal Profiling of E. coli Biofilm Responses to Chemo-Physical Perturbations
@ 654 Whittemore Hall, Blacksburg
Dini Hajarrahmah (PHD, BHTM) Dini Hajarrahmah (PHD, BHTM)
4/8/26, 9:30 AM
Making Sense of Regenerative Tourism: From Inspiration to Institutionalization through Social Movements, Framing and Co-Creation
@ 364 Wallace Hall, Blacksburg
Md Sifat Hossain (PHD, CHE) Md Sifat Hossain (PHD, CHE)
4/8/26, 10:00 AM
Engineering Active Sites in Mo- and Mo-Fe/ZSM-5: External Site Control, Precursor Effects, and Bimetallic Interactions in Methane Dehydroaromatization
@ 285 Goodwin Hall, Blacksburg
Yelim Erin Kim (PHD, BHTM) Yelim Erin Kim (PHD, BHTM)
4/9/26, 1:00 PM
Signals and Market Valuation in Tourism: From Market Recognition to Strategic Signals
@ 364 Wallace Hall, Blacksburg
Behrokh Bazmara (PHD, CE) Behrokh Bazmara (PHD, CE)
4/9/26, 1:00 PM
Modeling and Evaluation of Pavement Surface Properties for Safety Analysis Across Roadway Functional Classifications
@ 102A VTTI Building Addition, Blacksburg
Karla Piedl (PHD, CHEM) Karla Piedl (PHD, CHEM)
4/9/26, 2:00 PM
DETERMINATION AND ECOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF THE MICROBIOTA OF MOON SNAIL EGG COLLARS
@ 402 Hahn Hall North, Blacksburg
Janice Susan O'Brien (PHD, BMVS) Janice Susan O'Brien (PHD, BMVS)
4/10/26, 12:30 PM
Companion dog nutrition epidemiology
@ GENERAL The Inn at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Mason Lee Wheeler (PHD, TBMH) Mason Lee Wheeler (PHD, TBMH)
4/10/26, 2:00 PM
REDD1 as a Nodal Switch in Cardiac Metabolism
@ 232 Riverside Center 1, Roanoke
Minqian Liu (PHD, CSA) Minqian Liu (PHD, CSA)
4/10/26, 3:00 PM
Holistic and Generalizable Evaluation of Generative Models
@ 468 Data and Decision Sciences, Blacksburg
Lili Guan (PHD, HD) Lili Guan (PHD, HD)
4/13/26, 10:00 AM
Exploring Family Relationships at the Intersection of Family Life and Higher Education: The Experiences of First-Generation College Students
@ 300 Wallace Hall, Blacksburg
Gunjan Barua (PHD, GAEA) Gunjan Barua (PHD, GAEA)
4/13/26, 11:30 AM
Advancing Yield Predictions in Pinus taeda (L.): An Artificial Intelligence (AI) Approach Leveraging LiDAR-derived Individual Tree Crown (ITC) Metrics, Competition Indices (CI), and Satellite Remote Sensing Indices
@ 102 Fralin Biotechnology Center, Blacksburg
Tonya Lenee Spruill (EDD, ELPS) Tonya Lenee Spruill (EDD, ELPS)
4/15/26, 2:00 PM
High School Dropout Among Black Male Students: Lived Experiences of Institutional Disconnection and Academic Resilience
@ GENERAL Educational Media Co at V, Blacksburg
Yanan Pan (PHD, MINE) Yanan Pan (PHD, MINE)
4/15/26, 3:00 PM
Nanostructured Adsorbents for Selective Lithium Recovery: Mechanisms, Fabrication, Performance Evaluation, and Applications in Desalination
@ 321 Holden Hall, Blacksburg
Zachary Lemuel Bucholz (EDD, ELPS) Zachary Lemuel Bucholz (EDD, ELPS)
4/16/26, 10:00 AM
The Relationships Among Schoolwide Positive Behavior Interventions and Support Implementation Fidelity, Teacher Perceptions, and Teacher Self-Efficacy
@ GENERAL CRC, Blacksburg
Nicole Leary Furr (PHD, HNFE) Nicole Leary Furr (PHD, HNFE)
4/16/26, 11:00 AM
An Exploration of University Students' Perspectives and Food Environments to Support Sustainable Dietary Patterns for Personal and Planetary Health
@ 328 Wallace Hall, Blacksburg
Joshua Aaron Eanes (EDD, ELPS) Joshua Aaron Eanes (EDD, ELPS)
4/16/26, 1:00 PM
Exploring Professional Learning of Experienced Principals in Rural Virginia: Engagement and Contextual Factors
@ GENERAL VT Richmond Center, Richmond
Joung Min Choi (PHD, CSA) Joung Min Choi (PHD, CSA)
4/16/26, 1:00 PM
Deep Learning for Enhancing Human and Environmental Health
@ 3140 Innovation Campus Academic, Alexandria
Lois Kwane Kyei (PHD, CHEM) Lois Kwane Kyei (PHD, CHEM)
4/16/26, 2:30 PM
Ecology-Guided Natural Products Discovery from Moon Snail Egg Mass Microbiome
@ 402 Hahn Hall North, Blacksburg
Zeynep Sahin (PHD, BBIT) Zeynep Sahin (PHD, BBIT)
4/16/26, 4:30 PM
Exploring Challenges of the Cybersecurity Workforce: Perspectives from Legitimacy and Professional Identity Theories
@ 1007 Pamplin Hall, Blacksburg
Arnaz Cyrus Dotivala (EDD, ELPS) Arnaz Cyrus Dotivala (EDD, ELPS)
4/17/26, 9:00 AM
Teacher Implementation of 21st-Century Skills in the Career and Technical Education Classrooms
@ GENERAL CRC, Blacksburg
Tommy Lam (PHD, PHYS) Tommy Lam (PHD, PHYS)
4/17/26, 9:00 AM
A search for inelastic dark matter at the Belle II Experiment
@ 304 Robeson Hall, Blacksburg
Haylee Montez Downey (PHD, TBMH) Haylee Montez Downey (PHD, TBMH)
4/17/26, 10:00 AM
From measurement to policy: Sugar-sweetened beverages as a public health nutrition target
@ 231 Riverside Center 1, Roanoke
Raisa Rahman (MS, AAEC) Raisa Rahman (MS, AAEC)
4/17/26, 11:00 AM
Economic Evaluation of Agricultural and Related Research and Extension in Virginia
@ 302 Hutcheson Hall, Blacksburg
Sandesh Sharma Dulal (MS, GEO) Sandesh Sharma Dulal (MS, GEO)
4/17/26, 2:30 PM
Evaluating Function Calling in Large Language Models through a Conversational Agent
@ 234 Wallace Hall, Blacksburg
Rose Allison Campbell (PHD, CHEM) Rose Allison Campbell (PHD, CHEM)
4/20/26, 10:00 AM
Chemical Investigation of Lipopeptides and Oxaboroles Toward the Development of Crop and Medical Antifungals
@ 402 Hahn Hall North, Blacksburg
Samuel Laurence Winter (PHD, HD) Samuel Laurence Winter (PHD, HD)
4/20/26, 1:00 PM
Measuring LGBTQ+ Client-Reported Discrimination in Psychotherapy: Scale Development and Initial Validation
@ 100 Pointe West Commons, Blacksburg
Allison Pitzl (MS, EE) Allison Pitzl (MS, EE)
4/20/26, 2:00 PM
Validation of Phase Modulated Pulse Compression and Investigation of Passive Multistatic Reception for Software-Defined SuperDARN
@ 460 Durham Hall, Blacksburg
Nandini Das (PHD, ECSG) Nandini Das (PHD, ECSG)
4/20/26, 3:00 PM
Essays on Economic Outcomes of Training-Based Knowledge Interventions
@ 240 Data and Decision Sciences, Blacksburg
Amy Hagen (PHD, GEOS) Amy Hagen (PHD, GEOS)
4/21/26, 12:30 PM
Geochemical, Paleontological, and Sedimentological Exploration of the Co-Evolution of Life and Environment during the Cambrian Period
@ 4069 Derring Hall, Blacksburg
Peidong Liu (PHD, MINE) Peidong Liu (PHD, MINE)
4/21/26, 3:00 PM
Integrated Critical Minerals Recovery from Produced Water and CO2 Sequestration
@ 419 Holden Hall, Blacksburg
Zhenru Yang (MA, PHIL) Zhenru Yang (MA, PHIL)
4/21/26, 3:00 PM
Whose Struggle? Whose Freedom? How Community Pride Makes a "We"
@ 501 War Memorial Gymnasium, Blacksburg
Shahabedin Sagheb (PHD, ME) Shahabedin Sagheb (PHD, ME)
4/21/26, 3:30 PM
Learning to Collaborate: Toward Robust, Adaptive Policies for Human–Robot Teams
@ 440 Goodwin Hall, Blacksburg
Olivia Jane Ryan (PHD, ENGE) Olivia Jane Ryan (PHD, ENGE)
4/22/26, 11:00 AM
The Role of Math Courses in Engineering Education: Examining How Math Courses Shape First-Year Student Transition, Curriculum Complexity, and Time-to-Degree
@ 340 Goodwin Hall, Blacksburg
Rose Gabrielle Newell (MS, BIOL) Rose Gabrielle Newell (MS, BIOL)
4/22/26, 11:00 AM
Determining the role of density-dependent effects in disease induced population impacts
@ 118 Steger Hall-South Wing, Blacksburg
Hannah Rose Gignoux (PHD, ASPT) Hannah Rose Gignoux (PHD, ASPT)
4/23/26, 9:00 AM
Beyond the Hidden Abode: A Critique of the Labor Theory of Value
@ 134 Lane Hall, Blacksburg
Theodore Ernest Shelton (PHD, EDP) Theodore Ernest Shelton (PHD, EDP)
4/23/26, 2:00 PM
curb: a journey into the work
@ GENERAL Washington-Alexandria Arch, Alexandria
Bradley Earl Cantrell (PHD, EDP) Bradley Earl Cantrell (PHD, EDP)
4/24/26, 8:00 AM
Adaptive Epistemologies and Neo-Wilds
@ 001 Burchard Hall, Blacksburg
Dongping Du (PHD, CPE) Dongping Du (PHD, CPE)
4/24/26, 9:00 AM
Machine Learning Approaches for a Comprehensive Reference-Free Deconvolution Framework of Complex Biological Data
@ 4-206A VT Research Ctr-Arlington, Arlington
Kimberly Dawn Clark (PHD, HGED) Kimberly Dawn Clark (PHD, HGED)
4/24/26, 10:00 AM
Factors That Influence Retention Outcomes Among Black Transfer Students at Predominantly White Institutions Using the Culturally Engaging Campus Environments (CECE) Model
@ GENERAL CRC, Blacksburg
Dibyendu Brinto Bose (PHD, CSA) Dibyendu Brinto Bose (PHD, CSA)
4/24/26, 2:00 PM
Beyond the Visible: Transforming AR/VR Software Engineering Through Empirical Discovery, Metamorphic Testing, and Multi-Agent Intelligence
@ 4001 Gilbert Place, Blacksburg
Xiaofeng Wu (PHD, CPE) Xiaofeng Wu (PHD, CPE)
4/24/26, 2:00 PM
Rapid Characterization of Metal Additive Manufacturing Material Heterogeneity through Laser Acoustic Resonance Spectroscopy and Physics-informed Artificial Intelligence
@ 185 Holden Hall, Blacksburg
Xinlei Zhang (PHD, STAT) Xinlei Zhang (PHD, STAT)
4/27/26, 9:30 AM
Contributions to Machine Learning with Abstention and Surrogate Modeling with Complex Outputs
@ 345 Data and Decision Sciences, Blacksburg
Maegan Aubrey Colbert (PHD, HD) Maegan Aubrey Colbert (PHD, HD)
4/27/26, 10:00 AM
Understanding and Predicting the Presence and Efficacy of the Work Children Show When Solving Math Word Problems
@ 300 Wallace Hall, Blacksburg
Hannah Leigh Steinhauer (PHD, ASPT) Hannah Leigh Steinhauer (PHD, ASPT)
4/27/26, 10:30 AM
Posting in the Dark: The Experiences of Reproductive Health Communications Workers in the Post-Dobbs United States
@ 132 Lane Hall, Blacksburg
Robert Andrew Gustafson (PHD, PHYS) Robert Andrew Gustafson (PHD, PHYS)
4/27/26, 2:00 PM
Looking for New Particle Physics with Astrophysical Origin
@ 1028 Pamplin Hall, Blacksburg
Anna Rabren Flowers (PHD, STAT) Anna Rabren Flowers (PHD, STAT)
4/28/26, 10:00 AM
Multi-Stage Modeling with Gaussian Processes
@ 468 Data and Decision Sciences, Blacksburg
Emily Ann Ellis (PHD, GEOS) Emily Ann Ellis (PHD, GEOS)
4/28/26, 1:00 PM
Joining Water Quantity and Water Quality: Assessing Altered River Thermal Regimes with Satellite Remote Sensing
@ 2062 Derring Hall, Blacksburg
Cory Higgs (PHD, ASPT) Cory Higgs (PHD, ASPT)
4/28/26, 2:00 PM
Cryptid Becomings: The Transfiguration of Visual Rhetorics & Cryptid Folklore in a Re-imagining of Appalachia
@ 207A Carol M Newman Library, Blacksburg
Alexander Giovannelli (PHD, CSA) Alexander Giovannelli (PHD, CSA)
4/28/26, 2:00 PM
Investigating Immersive Collaboration Across Temporal States
@ 3211 Gilbert Place, Blacksburg
Aditya Khanna (PHD, MATH) Aditya Khanna (PHD, MATH)
4/29/26, 10:00 AM
Combinatorics of Transition Matrices of Symmetric and Polysymmetric Functions
@ 455 McBryde Hall, Blacksburg
Sarah Michele Skeen (PHD, EDCI) Sarah Michele Skeen (PHD, EDCI)
4/29/26, 11:00 AM
Programmatic Approaches to Preparing Mainstream Educators for Multilingual Learners: A Study of Teacher Preparation Through a Linguistically Responsive Teaching Framework
@ GENERAL CRC, Blacksburg
Ronnie Mondal (PHD, CHEM) Ronnie Mondal (PHD, CHEM)
4/29/26, 1:00 PM
Modeling the Role of Water in Protein Structure and Function
@ 120 Davidson Hall, Blacksburg
Seun Idowu Imani (PHD, TBMH) Seun Idowu Imani (PHD, TBMH)
4/29/26, 1:00 PM
Impacts of Sleep Disturbance and Circadian Disruption On Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
@ R1101 VT/Carilion Med Sch & Res Ins, Roanoke
Taylor McElwain (PHD, SOC) Taylor McElwain (PHD, SOC)
4/29/26, 2:00 PM
Seed and Shield: A Qualitative Investigation of Black Middle-Class Families and Their Literacy Practices
@ 560 McBryde Hall, Blacksburg
Vinicius Alves Cruz (PHD, APSC) Vinicius Alves Cruz (PHD, APSC)
4/29/26, 2:30 PM
MATERNAL NUTRITION MANAGEMENT IN LATE GESTATING BEEF CATTLE AND ITS IMPACT ON OFFSPRING PERFORMANCE
@ 101 Life Sciences 1 Facility, Blacksburg
Evangelos Piliouras (PHD, PHYS) Evangelos Piliouras (PHD, PHYS)
4/30/26, 10:30 AM
Robust control of quantum processors using space curves
@ 304 Robeson Hall, Blacksburg
Thuc Anh Dinh (PHD, LSBC) Thuc Anh Dinh (PHD, LSBC)
5/1/26, 11:00 AM
Characterization of canonical and noncanonical nickel metallochaperones in Methanococcus maripaludis
@ 102 Fralin Biotechnology Center, Blacksburg
Ian Robert Moore (PHD, MATH) Ian Robert Moore (PHD, MATH)
5/1/26, 1:00 PM
Filtering and Domain Decomposition Techniques for Intrusive and Non-intrusive Reduced Order Models of Convection-Dominated Problems
@ 455 McBryde Hall, Blacksburg
Sunday David Ubur (PHD, CSA) Sunday David Ubur (PHD, CSA)
5/4/26, 12:00 PM
AI-Driven Interpretation of Nonverbal Communication in Real-Time Captions: Effects on Cognitive Load, Comprehension, and User Engagement
@ 3211 Gilbert Place, Blacksburg
Adaline Lok-Yee Lee (MS, EE) Adaline Lok-Yee Lee (MS, EE)
5/4/26, 1:00 PM
Spectrum Compression of Complex IQ Samples
@ 460 Durham Hall, Blacksburg
Joanna Ruth Swift Culligan (PHD, IPHD) Joanna Ruth Swift Culligan (PHD, IPHD)
5/4/26, 2:00 PM
Understanding and enhancing communication for persons living with dementia and their carepartners through music.
@ 104 Creativity and Innovation Dist, Blacksburg
Amanda Christine Silva (MFA, ENCW) Amanda Christine Silva (MFA, ENCW)
5/4/26, 4:00 PM
The Crumbling House
@ 403 Shanks Hall, Blacksburg
Khadijat Olorunsefunmi Oyediran (MS, BMES) Khadijat Olorunsefunmi Oyediran (MS, BMES)
5/5/26, 11:30 AM
No title on record.
@ 210 Kelly Hall, Blacksburg
Laurence Garrett Bangert (PHD, BMES) Laurence Garrett Bangert (PHD, BMES)
5/6/26, 11:00 AM
Characterizing Distal Tibia Fractures in Motor Vehicle Crashes: Assessing Occupant Risk, Vehicle Crashworthiness, and Clinical Outcomes
@ 210 Kelly Hall, Blacksburg
Xiao Zhu (PHD, EDRE) Xiao Zhu (PHD, EDRE)
5/8/26, 9:00 AM
Examining Lord's Paradox from Causal Inference Perspective: A Simulation Study
@ GENERAL CRC Phase II, Blacksburg
Alaina Jane Crowell (MA, MCP) Alaina Jane Crowell (MA, MCP)
5/8/26, 1:00 PM
Doing museum work with care: How to handle and reflect complexity through curation and approach to work in U.S. history museums
@ 209 Norris Hall, Blacksburg

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