Virginia Tech's vice president for equality and inclusion has taken a job as the chief diversity officer for Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y.

Kevin McDonald has held the position at Tech since 2007 and oversaw the creation of the Presidential Scholarship Initiative, a partnership with the An Achievable Dream organization and established the university Conflict Resolution Program, according to a news release from the university.

Karen Eley Sanders, Tech's associate vice president for academic support services, will become interim vice president for equity and inclusion when McDonald leaves in January.

McDonald was hired in July 2005 as director of equal opportunity and promoted to vice president after a national search. The office was later renamed equity and inclusion in 2008.

SPEAKER

NASA scientist to discuss discoveries

Radford University's CSAT STEM Club will host a talk by Russell De Young, a senior research scientist in the Science Directorate of NASA Langley Research Center, at 7 p.m. today.

De Young will talk about recent discoveries by NASA and other nations in understanding the characteristics of the individual planets as well as the search for life beyond our own planet. He will also discuss space missions that are in progress or being planned from the sun to Pluto, according to a news release from the university.

The talk in 206 McGuffey Hall is free and open the public.

OUTREACH

Student's program seeks to aid refugees

A six-week summer program created by a Virginia Tech doctoral candidate for refugee girls has become a full-time commitment.

Laura Boutwell of Abingdon, who is working on her doctorate in sociology, created Imani Nailah from that six-week program in June 2008. The name, a combination of Arabic and Swahili, means "faith in one who succeeds," was chosen by the middle and high school girls the Roanoke-based program serves.

Today, Imani Nailah meets once a week to provide tutoring, youth leadership training, career exploration and community engagement opportunities, according to a news release from the university.

"The young girls and women in Imani Nailah come from the Sudan, Somalia, Liberia, Haiti, Eritrea, and Burundi," Boutwell said in the news release. "I wanted to support young women in dreaming big dreams and in reaching their educational goals."

The program is working with 15 girls between the ages of 13 and 20.

Boutwell earned a bachelor's degree from Hollins University in political science and sociology, and a master's degree in social work from Radford University. In 2008, Boutwell was named a citizen-scholar by the Virginia Tech Graduate School for her work with the refugee program.

CONFERENCES

Education event gets under way next week

The Governor's Conference for STEM Education, a forum for educators and other stakeholders to help advance science, technology, engineering and mathematics education in Virginia, is Monday and Tuesday at the Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center.

The keynote speaker will be Aneesh Chopra, who in August became the first chief technology officer of the United States, according to a news release from Virginia Tech.

Chopra, formerly Virginia's secretary of technology, is tasked with using applied technology in fields such as jobs, health care and national security.

Monday's speakers will include experts from the International Technology Education Association, the National Center for Technological Literacy, the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project, the Science Museum of Virginia, the Fralin Life Science Institute at Virginia Tech, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, James Madison University and the College of William and Mary.

Virginia's secretary of education, Tom Morris, is also scheduled to speak, as well as Tech administrators who created the event.

Registration for the conference is $175 for general admission and $95 for students.

To register or for more information, go to www.cpe.vt.edu/stem or contact Scott Weimer at weimers@vt.edu or 231-7887.

RESEARCH

RU study looks at decay rates of remains

Radford University professors Cliff and Donna Boyd, along with senior Lindsay Sliwa, are conducting a study on the decay rates of human remains.

The study will use stillborn pigs to compare the decay of bodies that have suffered blunt force trauma with those that have suffered no trauma, according to a news release from the university.

The research could help crime scene investigators in determining a person's time of death and could be particularly helpful with identifying the types of trauma in child abuse cases.

The Boyds and Sliwa are expected to present their findings in February at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences annual meeting in Seattle.

The Boyds, who serve as co-directors of Radford's Forensic Science Institute, obtained nine stillborn pigs from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine to conduct the research. Three of the pigs were subjected to blunt force trauma, three others were subjected to sharp force trauma. All six were then buried at the Selu Conservatory and eventually exhumed.

The experiments took place over the spring and summer, and the Boyds also are conducting the same experiment in the fall and winter to observe and compare decomposition rates through the four seasons in the Southwest Virginia climate, according to the news release.

STUDENTS

Web site wants to use RU junior's song

Radford University junior Alex O'Masta's digital tune "Dryll" recently appeared on the flash games-audio community Web site at www.newgrounds.com.

Before the site administrator contacted him for permission to use it, O'Masta said he didn't even realize the piece he had posted for feedback almost three years ago was still out there in the online community, according to a news release from the university.

"I'm surprised the guy found it because it was the first song I ever submitted out of more than 100 submissions," the music business major said in the release.

O'Masta also is a finalist in the online 100% Music Songwriting Contest. Winners are expected to be announced Nov. 30.

-- The Roanoke Times