Eberly News

Articles for the month of June 2021

A coalition of West Virginia University researchers is working together to address the state’s most pressing water issues through Bridge, a campus-wide science and technology policy, leadership and communications initiative. The impetus for the initiative is to translate the work of WVU researchers to policymakers as part of the University’s land-grant mission.

A new initiative aims to bridge the gap between science and policy, names inaugural faculty fellows

Eberly News /

More than two dozen WVU researchers are addressing the state's most pressing water issues through the Bridge Initiative's Waters of West Virginia project.

West Virginia University researchers are part of a team that was recently awarded $17 million from the National Science Foundation for the renewal of the NANOGrav Physics Frontiers Center. Maura McLaughlin and Sarah Burke-Spolaor, both faculty in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, will direct WVU’s $3.9 million share of the award.

West Virginia University Advances Collaborative Research as NSF Funds NANOGrav Physics Frontiers Center

Eberly News /

West Virginia University researchers are part of a team that was recently awarded $17 million from the National Science Foundation for the renewal of the NANOGrav Physics Frontiers Center. 

Researchers, led by Rachel Stein, associate professor of sociology, analyzed obituary information published in an Amish/Mennonite newspaper to examine excess death among this segment of the population in 2020. Their results are published in the Journal of Religion and Health.

Death and religion: ‘Excess deaths’ sweep through Amish and Mennonite communities during COVID-19 pandemic

Eberly News /

Sunday church service in Amish country is more than just belting out hymns, reading Bible passages and returning home an hour later to catch a football game or nap. 

Lily Wright in blue shirt and black blazer

WVU student seeks to make change through Humanity in Action Fellowship

Eberly News /

With a passion for human rights at home and abroad, Lily Wright, a junior Honors student double-majoring in English and French at the West Virginia University Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, has been recognized as a 2021 Humanity in Action Fellow.

For some folks, however, reentering society - after a deadly pandemic shuttered the world for a good chunk of one year - can be a bit terrifying. Kevin Larkin, chair of the West Virginia University Department of Psychology, equates it to entering the deep end of a cold pool: You can either dip your toe into the shallow part and edge toward deeper water or dive headfirst into the deep end. Either way, it’s all about habituation, a process in which one’s response to a stimulus decreases after repeated or prolonged exposure to that stimulus.

Dip your toe – or dive right in: WVU psychologists spill advice on reentering the world post-COVID

Eberly News /

Slowly, but surely, America is returning to some semblance of normalcy.

Four eminent West Virginia University alumni were appointed to serve the WVU Alumni Association Board of Directors at its fourth quarterly meeting on Friday, June 4. Kamau Brown, Gabrielle St. Léger, Nesha Sanghavi and Monté Williams have been selected to serve six-year terms. Brown, St. Léger and Williams are all Eberly College alumni.

WVU Alumni Association Board of Directors welcomes new members

Eberly News /

Four eminent West Virginia University alumni were appointed to serve the WVU Alumni Association Board of Directors at its fourth quarterly meeting on Friday, June 4. Kamau Brown, Gabrielle St. Léger, Nesha Sanghavi and Monté Williams have been selected to serve six-year terms.