Eberly News

Three Eberly College students,  Daniel Campa, Rebecca Ozbolt, and Samuel Stalnaker have joined the ranks of the nation’s top emerging researchers after earning prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships. 

Each spring, WVU recognizes selected faculty members for their exceptional and innovative teaching. This year, the WVU Foundation Awards for Outstanding Teaching honored two Eberly College faculty members for their commitment to impactful instruction: Cody Hood, teaching assistant professor in the School of Mathematical and Data Sciences and Erin Brock-Carlson, associate professor in the Department of English.

First-generation faculty from West Virginia University’s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences and FirstGen Initiatives, housed within REACH Student Success, are playing a central role in expanding mentorship and support systems for first-generation students, contributing their expertise to a statewide initiative funded by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission.

For trailblazing robots and  West Virginia University students alike, the first step is sometimes the hardest. That was the case for Camndon Reed, a  robotics engineering and  mathematics major from Watertown, Massachusetts, who designs autonomous robots that navigate hiking trails.

“I wish I had always known that the best way to get started is simply to begin,” Reed said. “You don’t need to wait for the perfect idea or a class on a subject — just start experimenting.”

West Virginia University researchers are changing how college mathematics is taught by evaluating and sharing a model for problem-solving that supports what students learn in other courses like business or biology.

Every year, students from across Eberly College are selected as  Outstanding Seniors and  Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistants.  Eberly Scholars are also chosen annually for a monetary award to help offset the cost of their education as they work to achieve their academic goals. Read about all three groups below.

Each year, Eberly College honors faculty members with its Outstanding Teacher Awards, Outstanding Researcher Awards and the Award for Outstanding Outreach or Public Service. Recipients in each category receive a stipend to help further their research, teaching and service efforts.

Eight remarkable members of the West Virginia University Class of 2025 who have distinguished themselves through academic excellence and by making significant contributions on campus, across the Mountain State and beyond have been honored with the Order of Augusta, the most prestigious University student award.

Renee LaRue, teaching associate professor in the School of Mathematical and Data Sciences, was named the 2025 College Level Mathematics Teacher of the Year during the West Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics Conference held at Stonewall Resort.

For Amy Hessl, professor of geography at West Virginia University, the past can predict the future. Hessl is a dendrochronologist, a scientist who unravels climate histories and trends through the study of tree ring growth patterns. So when wildfires engulfed the Los Angeles, California area in January 2025, resulting in dozens of deaths and tens of thousands of destroyed structures, Hessl wasn’t taken aback. In fact, she said, ongoing warm air temperatures and variable precipitation – which can be presumed from her studies of climate history trends — will lead to even more extreme fires in the future.