Eberly News

Future geologists and engineers studying at West Virginia University are using the same advanced software as oil and natural gas professionals thanks to an in-kind gift from Petroleum Experts Limited worth nearly $6.4 million.

In prior research, Jonah Katz, associate professor in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, had observed unusual patterns for consonants between vowels across “language after language.” Katz’s observations led him to question what most linguists believe: that these aspects of speech are learned by internalizing abstract rules about how to deal with, say, a “t” sound when it is between vowels within a word, as opposed to when it starts or ends a word.

Tatiana Trejos, assistant professor in the West Virginia University Department of Forensic and Investigative Science, and graduate student Meghan Prusinowski have developed a one-of-a-kind method that can help piece together a crime scene by literally piecing the evidence together. Or not.

Professor Katie Corcoran of the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences will analyze national Medicaid data to evaluate how patients’ gender and race affect doctors’ diagnostic accuracy and speed, asking whether marginalized patients with symptoms that aren’t clear cut are more likely to experience diagnostic delays than patients from non-minoritized groups.

Twenty undergraduate students from across the University received the competitive national award funded by the U.S. State Department to travel abroad without financial constraints. Twelve of those 20 students are studying in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

Nkatha Mercy, a PhD candidate in the Department of Geology and Geography and Community Engaged Research Assistant in the WVU Center for Resilient Communities, has been selected by the American Association of Geographers to participate in its Elevate the Discipline program.

Dead from a cocaine overdose, a waitress found in a trendy Wilmington, Delaware neighborhood set the gears in motion for one of James Nolan’s last cases as a vice detective. It also served as the catalyst for his next career investigating different strategies in policing as a West Virginia University sociology professor.

Discoveries by West Virginia University forensic scientists about how gunshot residue behaves on skin, hair and fabric will allow crime scene investigators to catch up to the proliferation of new, eco-friendly types of ammunition and make faster, more informed decisions at crime scenes and in forensic laboratories.

Each year, the organization awards $3,000 grants to a select group of teachers, college faculty and independent scholars to support research and writing projects in the humanities. The 2023 Humanities Council Fellows from Eberly College are Brooke Durham, Enkeshi El-Amin, Sean Lawrence, Austin McCoy, Mason Moseley and Devin Smart.

The 2023 Shaw Prize has been awarded to Astronomy professors Duncan Lorimer and Maura McLaughlin for the discovery of fast radio bursts (FRBs).