Eberly News

Articles for the month of May 2018

Michael Conroy

Meet the Grads: Michael Conroy

More than 1,000 students from the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences will walk across the stage on Sunday, May 13 as they graduate from West Virginia University, ready to take on the world.  

Studying how insects’ wing movements affect their sense of smell has the potential to explain underlying causes of disorders like schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease and shortness of breath, according to new research from West Virginia University. 

When our nervous systems send motor commands to our muscles, they also send a copy of that command, called a corollary discharge, to the parts of our brains that process sensory information, including our sense of smell. This approach allows the brain to differentiate between self-generated sensation produced by moving and sensation generated by other sources.

Though this process has been studied extensively for senses like sight and hearing, almost nothing was known about how a corollary discharge would function for the sense of smell—olfactory processes—until now. 

A new study by Phil Chapman, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Biology, and his colleagues found that corollary discharges from the insect wing motor control center informs their olfactory systems about wing movements, which directly affects sensory processes.

WVU biology student connects sense of smell to brain diseases

Studying how insects’ wing movements affect their sense of smell has the potential to explain underlying causes of disorders like schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease and shortness of breath, according to new research from West Virginia University.

Morgan Stemler

Meet the Grads: Morgan Stemler

More than 1,000 students from the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences will walk across the stage on Sunday, May 13 as they graduate from West Virginia University , ready to take on the world.  

2018 Fulbright Scholars

Record number of WVU students receive Fulbright Scholarships

A record number of West Virginia University students have been named Fulbright Scholars this year, doubling the previous record of five. 2018 Fulbright Scholars

Joe Carrara headshot

WVU biology student uses Appalachian forests to improve future climate predictions

A West Virginia University student is using Appalachian forests to improve predictions of future climate change. 

Lawrence Georgiana

Four WVU, Eberly College students to study abroad as Boren scholars

Four West Virginia University students have been awarded the prestigious Boren Scholarship and will spend a year immersed in the language and culture of countries that have been identified as critical to U.S. interests.

Mark Brazaitis

West Virginia Writers' Workshop to feature West Virginia Poet Laureate

West Virginia’s poet laureate and the winner of the prestigious Drue Heinz Literature Prize will be instructors at this summer’s West Virginia Writers’ Workshop. The workshop, in its 22nd year, will be held on West Virginia University’s downtown campus from July 19 to July 22.