Research and VAES

About us
In the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, our ambition to help communities flourish is at the center of what we do. CALS has identified four major strengths — food, health, economy, and environment — that we will use to address the shared challenges facing our world. By working together, we can 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 off-campus agricultural research and Extension centers (ARECs). Research activities within the College of Natural Resources and Environment (CNRE) and Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine (VMCVM) also are part of VAES. Our team includes >350 scientists located in 5 colleges on the VT campus (CALS, CNRE, VMCVM, College of Science, College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences). VAES, along with our partner Virginia Cooperative Extension, comprise the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Agency 229. Together with our partners across the Commonwealth and around the world, VAES scientists and engineers are bringing innovation and securing agriculture, food, and health through basic and applied research.
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 Department of Animal and Poultry 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.
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.
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 ItemCheers to Tony Wolf: The wine grape expert officially retires , article
The renowned viticulturist devoted his career to advancing Virginia wines, now a billion dollar industry.
Date: 08.12.2022 -
Article ItemNew director named for Alson H. Smith Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center , article
Kevin Rice has extensive entomology experience and a strong record of scholarship and graduate student mentoring.
Date: 08.11.2022 -
Article ItemIndoor Ag-Con, Controlled Environment Agriculture Innovation Center partner to launch CEA Summit East , article
Indoor Ag-Con and the Controlled Environment Agriculture Innovation Center — a joint project of the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences at Virginia Tech and the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research — have partnered to launch the CEA Summit East, on Oct. 25-26 in Danville, Virginia.
Date: 07.27.2022 -
Article ItemBrian Bond named College of Natural Resources and Environment’s associate dean for extension, outreach, and engagement , article
Bond will work with Extension agents and specialists within the college and throughout Virginia Cooperative Extension to increase their visibility, collaboration, and representation.
Date: 07.19.2022 -
Article ItemCenter for Advanced Innovation in Agriculture, Virginia Cooperative Extension help Virginia Tech showcase its land-grant mission at 2022 Virginia Ag Expo , article
The members of Virginia’s largest private industry will gather at the 2022 Virginia Ag Expo on Aug. 4 to examine the latest trends, technologies, and research in agriculture that will help shape the agricultural future.
Date: 07.19.2022 -
Article ItemNew livestock and poultry facilities at Virginia Tech help grow agriculture , article
Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences recently finished $31 million of construction on a series of new and renovated buildings around the Blacksburg campus that helps cement the university’s role as a source of research, education, and outreach that serves the commonwealth’s largest private industry – agriculture.
Date: 07.14.2022
Latest intiatives
Contact
104 Hutcheson Hall (0402)
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Phone: (540) 231-6336
Fax: (540) 231-4163