A Successful 2025 Spring Meeting at the University of Virginia

The 103rd annual meeting of the Virginia Academy of Sciences was held on May 22nd, 2025, at the University of Virginia. This year’s Spring meeting featured events all across the newly renovated science corridor at UVA, in a day that gave Virginia scientists the opportunity to showcase their research to colleagues from all parts of the Commonwealth. 

The morning kicked off with invited and contributed talks in eleven parallel sessions, each focused on a different scientific discipline. One of the best parts of the Spring meeting is the chance for scientists to hear about work outside of their area of expertise – and it was wonderful to see Geologists stopping by the Biology section, Psychologists attending Entomology talks, and yes, even Physicists listening to Chemistry presentations. In total, the morning parallel sessions saw 75 talks, including 45 talks from undergraduates at Virginia institutions, many of whom were presenting for the first time. 

Following the parallel presentation sessions and section business meetings, folks made the brief walk to Alumni Hall for the lunch programming. After a filling catered lunch of fajitas, attendees heard remarks from the VAS executive committee as well as a recorded greeting from Senator Mark Warner. Headlining the lunch programming was the Sidney S. Negus Memorial Lecture, this year given by Professor Ken Ono, the STEM Advisor to the Provost and Marvin Rosenblum Professor of Mathematics at UVA. Professor Ono’s fascinating talk (summarized in greater detail in a dedicated article) focused on the success of his work integrating data analytics into training and strategy for the UVA Swim Team and Team USA at the Olympics. The afternoon continued with more invited talks and a poster session held in the Chemistry building atrium, in which 100 student researchers shared their work. 

The events of the 103rd annual meeting were made possible by the hard work of the VAS executive committee, and in particular, Vice President of VAS Craig Group, Professor of Physics at UVA. To help coordinate the planning of the conference, in the semester leading up to the meeting, Professor Group enlisted the help of a committee of undergraduate and graduate STEM students at UVA. The group helped with the logistics of the day, putting up signs, crafting programs, and providing technical assistance during parallel sessions. Planning lunches and identifying T-shirts for the committee were supported through the Mead Endowment at UVA, which provides funding for student-faculty engagement outside of the classroom. 

At the closing ceremonies, awards and recognition were given to exemplary posters and presentations in each session. However, the day was not yet done, with many staying for a special evening at the historic McCormick Observatory, graciously hosted by Professor Edward Murphy and the UVA Astronomy Department.

With the Spring meeting coming to an official close following the business session on May 23rd, we look forward to the upcoming Fall Undergraduate Research meeting at Virginia State University. 

More photos here! (psswd – vas2025!)

Program and abstracts for the May 2025 meeting are published!