NanoEarth Participates in Spring Hokie for a Day
The National Center for Earth and Environmental Nanotechnology Infrastructure (NanoEarth) participated in the Spring 2025 Hokie for a Day. Virginia Tech’s (VT) Center for Educational Networks and Impacts (CENI), hosts multiple Title 1 elementary schools throughout the Fall and Spring semesters. Fifth grade students have an opportunity to experience life on campus, such as eating at dining halls, talking to student athletes, meeting with academic organizations, and learning how to apply to college.
NanoEarth introduced nanoscience concepts to 36 fifth grade students and 5 chaperones from Falling Branch Elementary School and 26 fifth grade students and 4 chaperones from Belview Elementary School. Interactive demonstrations from NISE NanoDays Kits were led by NanoEarth’s Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) Instrument Specialist, Charis Horn, Ph.D.; NanoEarth’s Outreach and Communications Specialist, Sylvianne Velasquez; Nanoscale Characterization and Fabrication Laboratory (NCFL) TEM Instrumentation Laboratory Manager, Hongyu Wang, Ph.D.; and VT Geosciences Ph.D. Candidate, Cece Wood. Through hands-on activities, students learned about the magnetic properties of ferrofluid, hydrophobic nano sand, and hydrophobic fabric fibers.
