Eberly News

For most, a forest is defined by its towering canopy and dense underbrush. But for Hannah DeHetre, a doctoral candidate in biology at West Virginia University, the real story lies beneath her boots. “The soil is the foundation of the forest,” DeHetre explained. “Without soil that can support the trees, there is no forest. It holds the nutrients, holds the landscape, and dictates what can grow there. It’s the very bottom building block of everything.”

Just a few years after graduating from West Virginia University with a criminology degree, Nolan Mattern is back on campus, this time in a University Police Department uniform.

“WVU is, hands down, one of the best universities in the world for behavior analysis, so applying as a brand-new PhD felt like a total long shot,” she said. “But I arrived straight out of grad school, built a career around helping others, and never looked back. Choosing this University remains one of the best professional decisions of my life.”

With support from a prestigious NSF CAREER award, Subhasish Mandal, an assistant professor in the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Department of Physics and Astronomy, is working to discover new materials that can make high-speed quantum computing a reality.

Supported by an Early-Concept Grant for Exploratory Research from the National Science Foundation, Steve Kannenberg, assistant professor of biology in the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, is integrating AI directly into local monitoring sensors to help scientists track ecosystem health in near real time.

Whether improving rural infrastructure, advancing public health, preserving cultural heritage, or expanding agricultural education, the 2026 Hazel Ruby McQuain Graduate Scholarship recipients are pursuing graduate study with one goal in common: making a lasting difference for West Virginians. 

A team of Eberly College researchers is the recipient of a $749,990 U.S. Department of Energy Genesis Mission grant that will be used to develop an artificial intelligence platform that could transform scientists’ ability to predict and engineer microbial communities.

AI may seem intangible, but it has a physical footprint. With support from the Department of English and the Department of Geology and Geography, the WVU Humanities Center welcomed San Diego State University’s Dr. Dustin Edwards, Associate Professor and Director, to campus on April 9. In a recent Q&A, we sat down with Dr. Dustin Edwards as he examines the infrastructure, energy demands, and policy questions surrounding the technologies that power artificial intelligence.

William Hal Gorby spends a lot of time looking backward. As a historian at West Virginia University, he studies the people, decisions and turning points that have shaped a nation. And as the country prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday, Gorby, a teaching associate professor and director of undergraduate advising in the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Department of History, sees a common thread running through both stories: the belief that education helps communities adapt, grow and prosper.

West Virginia University researchers are developing new laser-based techniques to observe plasma behavior in unprecedented detail, opening a window into interactions that shape technologies ranging from computer chips and spacecraft engines to next-generation fusion energy systems.