Eberly News

Tagged with Research
For teenagers with cystic fibrosis, maintaining a healthy weight can be a daily struggle. Any given day can include two to three hours of medical treatments, eating the caloric equivalent of a daily Thanksgiving meal to maintain nutrients and dealing with the stigmas of body image. A West Virginia University psychology student is trying to make life easier for those teens. Park Ridge, Illinois, native Kristine Durkin, a fourth-year clinical psychology doctoral student, is conducting a study to identify the factors that contribute to meeting their dietary recommendations.

Reaching the heart and soul of research

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For teenagers with cystic fibrosis, maintaining a healthy weight can be a daily struggle. Any given day can include two to three hours of medical treatments, eating the caloric equivalent of a daily Thanksgiving meal to maintain nutrients and dealing with the stigmas of body image. A WVU psychology student is trying to make life easier for those teens. Park Ridge, Illinois, native Kristine Durkin, a fourth-year clinical psychology doctoral student, is conducting a study to identify the factors that contribute to meeting their dietary recommendations.

West Virginia University Professor of Physics Paul Cassak is among a select group of scientists tackling grand challenges in space in a new series from the American Geophysical Union. In celebration of AGU’s centennial, the special series explores major research discoveries over the last century and where research is still needed to address fundamental questions in our understanding of Earth and the solar system. Cassak, in collaboration with University of Bergen physicist Michael Hesse, highlighted the past, present and future of magnetic reconnection research in a February 2020 article.

Celebrating the past, present and future of space science

Eberly News /

Professor of Physics Paul Cassak is among a select group of scientists tackling grand challenges in space in a new series from the American Geophysical Union.

Log cabins in West Virginia’s Appalachian Mountains have a story to tell: when people leave, the forest takes over. Researchers at West Virginia University are using tree-ring dating to determine not only when trees were cut down to build historic log buildings in the region but also what the forests were like before European immigrants arrived. This could help researchers shed light on when Native Americans abandoned the area and how their absence altered the landscape. Geography graduate student Kristen de Graauw and her mentor, Professor Amy Hessl, uncovered evidence of the significant growth of trees in what may have been a previously cleared area. That growth in the late 17th century coincided with the estimated timing of Native American population decreases following the arrival of European immigrants. This corroborated the hypothesis that a change in the land’s use caused forests to regrow, they explained.

If trees could talk

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Log cabins in West Virginia’s Appalachian Mountains have a story to tell: when people leave, the forest takes over.

For more than a decade, astronomers across the globe have wrestled with the perplexities of fast radio bursts — intense, unexplained cosmic flashes of energy, light years away, that pop for mere milliseconds. Despite the hundreds of records of these enigmatic sources, researchers have only pinpointed the precise location of four such bursts. Now there’s a fifth, detected by a team of international scientists that includes West Virginia University researchers. The finding, which relied on eight telescopes spanning locations from the United Kingdom to China, was published Monday (Jan. 6) in Nature.

In a nearby galaxy, a fast radio burst unravels more questions than answers

Eberly News /

For more than a decade, astronomers across the globe have wrestled with the perplexities of fast radio bursts — intense, unexplained cosmic flashes of energy, light years away, that pop for mere milliseconds. 

A West Virginia University history alumnus is the recipient of the nation’s top award for his dissertation research in Italian history. Luke Gramith (PhD History, ’19) received the 2019 Cappadocia Award from the Society for Italian Historical Studies in December.

Gaps in the Iron Curtain

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History alumnus Luke Gramith (PhD History, ’19) is the recipient of the nation’s top award for his dissertation research in Italian history.

West Virginia University geographers are linking the political and human rights issues at borders today to the legacies of foreign and domestic policy across the globe since World War I. Karen Culcasi and Cynthia Gorman, of the Department of Geology and Geography in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, have studied more than 100 years of international laws that have led, perhaps unintentionally, to the existing hostile climate for refugees.

Beyond borders

Eberly News /

Geographers link formation of international laws to refugee crisis

Ángel Tuninetti is a passionate advocate for the importance of the humanities in higher education and society. He has been named the 2019 Armand E. and Mary W. Singer Professorship in the humanities, recognizing his dedication and commitment to the study of the Spanish language and Latin American literature and cultures in West Virginia University’s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

Tuninetti named 2019 Singer Professor in the Humanities

Eberly News /

Ángel Tuninetti is a passionate advocate for the importance of the humanities in higher education and society. 

Rocks may be the key to discovering life on Mars. When samples from the Mars 2020 expedition eventually make their way to Earth, the scientists of tomorrow will have a Mountaineer to thank. West Virginia University geologist Kathy Benison is representing the Mountain State as one of 10 scientists selected as a Return Sample Selection Participating Scientist for NASA’s Mars 2020 expedition. She is responsible for helping to select the rocks and sediments that will be gathered, or cached, by the Mars 2020 rover.

On a mission to Mars

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WVU geologist selected for NASA's Mars 2020 team

A group of students, studying everything from criminology to creative writing, are working together to make a difference and find purpose in their careers. A new Social Justice Research Fellowship in West Virginia University’s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences is empowering graduate students to connect their research to social justice issues.

Weaving social justice into graduate studies

Eberly News /

A group of students, studying everything from criminology to creative writing, are working together to make a difference and find purpose in their careers.

New research from West Virginia University is simplifying mass spectrometry experiments. While mass spectrometers require materials to be ionized, or gain an electrical charge, before they can be examined, a research team in the C. Eugene Bennett Department of Chemistry has created an instrument that goes straight to the source. The vibrating sharp-edge spray ionization device, created by Assistant Professor Peng Li and his research group, is a small, rectangular piece of glass approximately 2.5 inches long and one inch wide that collects and ionizes samples on the spot.

Straight to the source

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WVU chemists lead the ‘charge’ with new molecular research tool