Eberly News

Tagged with Biology
A team of West Virginia University researchers are investigating the impact of the Clean Air Act on soil and tree growth in the eastern U.S. Soil plays a major role in a healthy climate. As the largest reservoir of carbon on land, soil can directly affect the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. When more nitrogen is concentrated in soil, the amount of carbon that soil can store tends to increase, which reduces carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In this way, forests can help mitigate rising atmospheric carbon dioxide. Past research also shows that this greater soil nitrogen in forests may help increase tree growth. Researchers from WVU’s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences and Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design have teamed up with collaborators at Lawrence Livermore National Lab to predict the future of these effects on Earth’s ecosystem and understand why soil under some tree species gain more carbon in response to nitrogen deposition than others.

WVU researchers linking Clean Air Act to soil composition

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A team of West Virginia University researchers are investigating the impact of the Clean Air Act on soil and tree growth in the eastern U.S.  

Andrew Dacks

WVU biologist receives $1.3 million NIH grant to examine fruit flies’ olfactory systems

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Andrew Dacks, assistant professor of neuroscience in the Department of Biology, received a $1.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to conduct research at West Virginia University on the effects of serotonin in fruit flies.  

Kaylynn Coates headshot

WVU biology student receives NASA grant to study the brain

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Kaylynn Coates, a doctoral student in the West Virginia University Department of Biology, has received a grant from the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium to study how serotonin neurons are regulated in the brain.

West Virginia University’s Core Arboretum will bring local and regional nature experts to campus this summer in its annual Nature Connection Series. “We at the Arboretum are excited about the lineup of speakers this year and happy to offer this valuable service for free to local naturalists,” said Zachariah Fowler, director of the WVU Core Arboretum and clinical associate professor in the Department of Biology. “Please join us and connect with nature!” The discussions will take place in June, July and August on Tuesday evenings at 6 p.m. at the Core Arboretum amphitheater. The talks are free and open to the public, and no registration is required. Some discussions will include walking and fieldwork.

WVU Core Arboretum Nature Connection Series begins early June

Eberly News /

West Virginia University’sCore Arboretum will bring local and regional nature experts to campus this summer in its annual Nature Connection Series.

2018 Phi Beta Kappa inductees

WVU’s Phi Beta Kappa inducts 2018 class

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The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University is pleased to announce the induction of its 2018 class of scholars into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honor society for the arts and sciences. 

Justin Mathias headshot

WVU biology student links Clean Air Act to red spruce recovery in Appalachia

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A dramatic recovery of red spruce trees in the central Appalachian Mountains led West Virginia University researchers to pursue the driving factors behind improved forest health. 

Zoe Dobler

Meet the Grads: Zoe Dobler

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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

Eberly News /

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.

2018 Fulbright Scholars

Record number of WVU students receive Fulbright Scholarships

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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

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