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Research

Overview

The +Policy Network sponsors two competitive funded research programs, the flagship +Policy Fellow program and the newer Policy Scholar award. Applicants' proposals are reviewed and ranked by a group of stakeholders and affiliates based on their proposals' fit to the call, intellectual merit, interdisciplinary scope, likelihood of success and future potential for external funding. A key component of both research calls is the extent to and the ways in which the Fellow or Scholar extends policy-based thinking to new fields, new research teams, or develops new competencies that extend the applicant's domain of expertise related to policy.

Research Calls

The 2025-2026 call for policy research applications is currently open. | Click here to view

Research Products

Explore publications, presentations, white papers, and other works created by +Policy Fellows, Scholars, and affiliates. | Click here to access

 +Policy Fellows

Structures and Machines: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Mapping the Policy Implications of Generative AI in Higher Education.

  • Andrew Katz, Assistant Professor of Engineering Education
  • Collaborator: Aditya Johri, Professor, Department of Information Sciences and Technology (George Mason University)

Increased Accessibility and Usability of Flood Hazard Models and Maps for Local Flood Hazard Policies, through Knowledge Co-Production

  • Yang Zhang, Associate Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning
  • Collaborator: Dr. Jennifer Irish, Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering

Pain and Risk Assessment for Aging Rural Populations: Implications for Clinical Practice and Health Policy

  • Huaiyang Zhong, Industrial Systems Engineering

A Policy Analysis Tool for Measuring the Effectiveness of Cycling Infrastructure in Blacksburg Area

  • Md Sami Hasnine,  Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • Collaborator: Junghwan Kim (Geography)

Exploring AI Ethics Policy Concerns and Career Pathways of the AI Professionals with Policy Training Experience.

  • Dayoung Kim, Engineering Education. 
  • Collaborators: Qin Zhu (Engineering Education) and Hoda Eldardiry (Computer Science).

Remotely sensed data, climate change and poverty: A Zimbabwean study.

  • Jeffrey Alwang, Agricultural and Applied Economics. 
  • Collaborator:  Brianna Posados (School of Plant and Environmental Sciences) 
  • Stakeholders:  World Bank, Government of Zimbabwe.  

Responsible innovation and governance of climate smart irrigation technologies in the Hindu Kush Himalayas.

  • Maaz Gardezi, Sociology.  
  • Collaborators:  Sumit Vij (University of Geneva, Sz); Ryan Stock (Northern Michigan University); Asif Ishtiaque (University of Michigan); Megan Schaefer.  

Allotment and Individual Bank Accounts: Using Financial Records to Understand Land Dispossession.

  • Melinda Miller, Economics & History.  
  • Collaborators:  Matthew Gregg (Center for Indian Country Development, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis).  

Understanding Incentives to Plant Trees in Urban Settings Using a Framed Field Experiment Approach.

  • Stella Schons, Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation.  
  • Collaborator:  Eric Wiseman (FREC).

Visualizing Policy: Making Chemical Governance Legible Through Deep Mapping.

  • Jennifer Lawrence, Political Science. 
  • Collaborator:  C.L. Bohannon (Landscape Archiecture). 

Regional environmental planning and policy for bioenergy production and infrastructure: A linked water-energy-agricultural systems approach.

  • Theo Lim, Urban Affairs and Planning.  
  • Collaborators:  John Fike, Ryan Stewart (School of Plant and Environmental Sciences); John Little, Sarah Fletcher (Compuer and Electrial Engineering);  Quinn Thomas (Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation); (Morgan Rae Edwards, U Maryland Public Policy)Kyle Landseth (Langseth Engineering), Amanda Cuellar (B&D Engineering and Consulting LLC).

Advancing Invasive Species Science, Policy & Management.

  • Todd Schenk, Urban Affairs and Planning.  
  • Collaborators: Jacob Barney, David Haak (School of Plant and Environmental Sciences);  Scott Salom (Entomology); Bryan Brown (Biological Sciences).  

Redistricting Analytics at Virginia Tech (RAVT).

  • Nicolas Goedert, Political Science.  
  • Collaborators:  Robert Hildebrand (Industrial and Systems Engineering); Laurel Travis, (Business Information Technology); Peter Sforza, Matthew Pierson (Center for Geospatial Information Technology).

Vibrant Virginia: Advancing community and economic development across urban and rural Virginia.

  • Maggie Cowell, Urban Affairs and Planning
  • Collaborators: Dr. John Provo, Dr. Scott Tate, Albert Alwang (Office of Economic Development); Conaway Haskins (Virginia Cooperative Extension); Sarah Lyon Hill. 

Whole-body Exoskeletons for Advanced Vocational Enhancement (WEAVE) (Policy supplement to NSF CONVERGENT grant).

  • Suquin Ge, Economics
  • Collaborators:  Divya Srinivasan, Maury Nussbaum, Nathan Lau (Industrial and Systems Engineering); Alex Leonessa, Alan Asbeck (Mechanical Engineering), & Zhou, Y. 

Redistricting Analytics at Virginia Tech (RAVT).

  • Nicolas Goedert, Political Science.
  • Collaborators:  Robert Hildebrand (Industrial and Systems Engineering); Laurel Travis, (Business Information Technology); Peter Sforza, Matthew Pierson (Center for Geospatial Information Technology).

+Policy Scholars

Framing the Intersections of Policy with Security and Privacy in the Future of XR Technology.

  • Brendan David-John, Computer Science.  
  • Policy Mentor:  Saul Halfon (Science, Technology and Society).