VAES and Research

About us
In the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, our ambition to help communities flourish is the core of what we do. By using four major identified strengths — food, health, economy, and environment — we address the shared challenges facing our world. Through collaboration, we all thrive.
Our research focuses on:
- Comprehensive health & wellness
- Community empowerment
- Predictive environmental solutions
- Cultivating lifelong learners
- Resilience and productivity through innovation
The Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station (VAES) is the research enterprise for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, including academic departments and the off-campus Agricultural Research and Extension Centers (ARECs). Our team includes more than 350 scientists located in three colleges at Virginia Tech: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), College of Natural Resources and Environment (CNRE), and Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine (VMCVM). VAES, along with our partner Virginia Cooperative Extension, comprise the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Agency 229. Together with our partners across Virginia and around the world, including the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), VAES scientists and engineers are bringing innovation and securing agriculture, food, and health through basic and applied research.
Agricultural Research and Extension Centers (ARECs)
ARECs deliver research and Virginia Cooperative Extension programs, serve as field-research sites and field laboratories, and are program sites for producers, school groups, and the state's citizens.
Departmental research
Faculty at the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics maintain research programs that address a wide array of topics that impact both Virginians and people around the world. Research is conducted in five broad areas: agribusiness, environmental and natural resource economics, food and health economics, international development and trade, and rural and regional development.
The Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education focuses on three core program areas: teaching and learning in agriculture, leadership and social change, and community education and development. Faculty and graduate students have responsibilities in the missions of each core area: teaching, research, and Extension.
The School of Animal Sciences main research objective is to optimize efficiency of animal production, while maintaining or enhancing the environment. The research programs focus on applied science, which has an immediate application to animal agriculture, and basic science, which provides scientific foundation for further basic and applied research discoveries.
We are involved in generating new tools and knowledge that will advance our understanding of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, Drug Discovery, Microbiology, Stress Responses in Plants, Alzheimer’s, Cancer and Type 2 Diabetes. Faculty recruit graduate students from our own PhD and MS programs, as well as students from the Microbiology, Translational Plant Sciences, Genetics, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (GBCB) and Translational Medicine and Biomedical Health (TMBH) graduate programs on campus.
Our faculty and students work in a broad range of biological systems, from natural systems, such as watersheds with a focus on water resources, to built systems, such as bioreactors and bioprocessing facilities. We work from the nanoscale to the macroscale. We seek to improve animal, human, and environmental health through development and design of healthy food products, vaccines, bioenergy, biomaterials, and water quality management practices. We convert biological resources, such as switchgrass, plant proteins, and animal manure, into value-added products, such as biopharmaceuticals, biofuels, and biomaterials, in a sustainable manner.
Research in the Department of Dairy Science falls under the following four categories:
- Physiology
- Nutrition & Feeding
- Breeding Genetics
- Forage Evaluation & Management
Our scientists explore the diversity, benefits and risks of insects everywhere, in our crops, forests, water and homes. The Department's work includes biomedical research on vector-borne diseases, description and discovery of new species, evaluation of water quality through the insects living there, pollinator biology, smart and sustainable management of pests wherever they occur, and more.
Departmental research areas are internationally recognized for cutting edge, industry-revelant research in protecting public health, enhancing food quality and making technological advancements in the field of food science.
HNFE's unique fusion of nutrition, foods, and exercise science positions us to advance knowledge in education, prevention, research, and translational studies. Collaborative interactions among faculty are strong and span from cells to society.
Research in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences is broken up into the following four communities:
- Ecosystem Science and Management Community
- Plant Health and Improvement
- Plant Production Systems
- Agroenvironmental Information Systems Community
Research in action
Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station (VAES)
VAES performs basic and applied research on agricultural, environmental, natural, and community resource issues related to the future needs of Virginia — and the world.
Agricultural Research and Extension Centers (ARECs)
ARECs deliver research and Extension programs, serve as field-research sites and field laboratories, and are program sites for producers, school groups, and the state's citizens.
Latest CALS research updates
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Article ItemNew research finds mechanism that regulates PTSD in the female brain , article
Virginia Tech researchers discovered a protein that could lead to better therapeutic treatment for females with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Date: 05.18.2023 -
Article ItemVirginia Tech researchers conduct proof-of-concept study on mosquito scent preferences , article
Using scented soaps, Virginia Tech researchers found that the smell of certain body soaps could make humans more or less attractive to mosquitoes.
Date: 05.16.2023 -
Article ItemVirginia Tech student part of cohort to advance solutions for issues in agriculture through Farm Foundation scholar program , article
Evan McKay, a master’s student in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was recently accepted into the Farm Foundation’s Agricultural Scholars program.
Date: 04.14.2023 -
Article ItemCalling all canines: Help sniff out the dangerous spotted lanternfly , article
Researchers in Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are deploying teams of dogs and their owners to help detect spotted lanternfly eggs before they become a major threat to growers.
Date: 04.11.2023 -
Article ItemVirginia Tech researchers to investigate transcriptional regulation of cannabinoid synthesis in industrial hemp , article
Industrial cultivation of hemp is seeing a massive expansion in the United States due to new federal laws and consumer demand. Researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences have received a $600,000 grant to study the regulation of the genes that are responsible for cannabinoid biosynthesis.
Date: 03.31.2023 -
Article ItemVirginia Tech’s Commodity Investing by Students and alumni take a bite out of the Big Apple , article
Members of the group, also known as COINS, met with leading companies in banking and commodities, alumni, and previous members of the student organization.
Date: 03.31.2023
Mary Burrows
Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, Director of VAES
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Kang Xia
Interim Associate Director of VAES, Interim Director of the Center for Advanced Innovation in Agriculture (CAIA)
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Contact
104 Hutcheson Hall (0402)
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Phone: (540) 231-6336
Fax: (540) 231-4163