Eberly News

An important breakthrough in how we can understand dead star collisions and the expansion of the universe has been made by an international team that includes researchers with the Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology at West Virginia University. They have discovered an unusual pulsar – one of deep space’s magnetized spinning neutron-star ‘lighthouses’ that emits highly focused radio waves from its magnetic poles. The newly discovered pulsar (known as PSR J1913+1102) is part of a binary system – which means that it is locked in a fiercely tight orbit with another neutron star. The research has been published in Nature.

How colliding neutron stars could shed light on universal mysteries

Eberly News /

An important breakthrough in how we can understand dead star collisions and the expansion of the universe has been made by an international team that includes researchers from the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Uncovering what drives the evolution of new animals is key for understanding the history of life on Earth. West Virginia University geologist James Lamsdell is embarking on this exploration as a recipient of the National Science Foundation’s CAREER award. One of those evolutionary drivers is how animals adapt to unfamiliar environments. In his new project, Lamsdell will use fossil records to study how arthropods, such as crustaceans and horseshoe crabs as well as extinct species like sea scorpions and trilobites, have adapted to new environments by changing the speed or timing of their development to reshape their adult forms. He will also examine whether these changes in their development alter the speed at which their evolution occurs.

The fossil detective

Eberly News /

Uncovering what drives the evolution of new animals is key for understanding the history of life on Earth. Geologist James Lamsdell is embarking on this exploration as a recipient of the National Science Foundation’s CAREER award.

Known for their brilliant colors and captivating scents, orchids are a favorite household plant. But many types of orchids are endangered due to constant threats from invasive species and habitat loss driven by climate change. Since few resources are available to protect these endangered species, one West Virginia University biology student is developing new ways to sustain them.

Love orchids? Thank their fungus.

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Since few resources are available to protect these orchids, one biology student is developing new ways to sustain them.

West Virginia University’s Duncan Lorimer might be the godfather of the fast radio burst, but a pair of international students has taken exploring these mysterious cosmic flashes to a new level. In 2007, Lorimer was credited for helping discover fast radio bursts - intense, unexplained pulses of energy, light years away, that pop for mere milliseconds. Ever since, only around 100 have been spotted. But astronomers knew there were more out there. One major obstacle to new discoveries came in the form of researchers having to manually read data plots, recorded by satellite imaging, for hours on end.

Signals from deep space

Eberly News /

West Virginia University’s  Duncan Lorimer might be the godfather of the fast radio burst, but a pair of international students has taken exploring these mysterious cosmic flashes to a new level.

Four years after the disastrous flooding in southern West Virginia, new research from West Virginia University’s Department of Geology and Geography highlights the role faith-based groups and other community organizations have played in the relief and recovery efforts. In summer 2017, Assistant Professors of Geography Jamie Shinn and Martina Angela Caretta in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences interviewed 21 Greenbrier County residents and members of relief organizations to understand the lasting effects of flooding in their communities.

Finding renewal in the aftermath of floods

Eberly News /

Four years after the disastrous flooding in southern West Virginia, new research from the Department of Geology and Geography highlights the role faith-based groups and other community organizations have played in the relief and recovery efforts.

Costa Rica is known around the world over for its rainforests, coffee and beaches. But despite Costa Rica's reputation for safety and its recent economic growth, criminals use its strategic location for smuggling activities. A team of U.S. forensic science experts, led by two professors from Costa Rica, aim to fix that. A new international and multidisciplinary partnership between West Virginia University’s Department of Forensic and Investigative Science and the Costa Rican government is working to build the country’s capacity for law enforcement, forensic laboratories and legal medicine – and lifting it up as a model for better criminal justice practices across Central America.

Overcoming crime in Costa Rica

Eberly News /

Costa Rica is known around the world for its rainforests, coffee and beaches. But despite Costa Rica's reputation for safety and its recent economic growth, criminals use its strategic location for smuggling activities. A team of U.S. forensic science experts, led by two WVU professors from Costa Rica, aim to fix that.

Amelia Jones

English student to connect underserved students with academic resources as Newman Civic Fellow

Eberly News /

English major Amelia Jones is a student who has devoted much of her college career to community-engaged leadership. She will continue her work helping connect disadvantaged students with educational resources as WVU's 2020 Newman Civic Fellow.

The coronavirus has driven us indoors and separated us from coworkers, friends and loved ones. That’s nothing really new for Sara Loftus, a West Virginia University geography doctoral student who is studying how to build an online community.

Finding community in digital spaces

Eberly News /

The coronavirus has driven us indoors and separated us from coworkers, friends and loved ones. That’s nothing really new for Sara Loftus, a geography doctoral student who is studying how to build an online community.

Nonstop family time during the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified challenges for parents caring for young children around the clock. Using research-backed therapies that she helped pioneer, a West Virginia University psychology professor has quick relief strategies for parents struggling with child misbehavior during the lockdown. Cheryl McNeil’s Cooperation Chart is a tool parents and caregivers can use to help communicate with their children about their behaviors, using praises and warnings to identify positive and negative actions, respectively.

WVU psychologist shares quick relief for parents struggling with child behavior during COVID-19 pandemic

Eberly News /

Nonstop family time during the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified challenges for parents caring for young children around the clock. Using research-backed therapies that she helped pioneer, a psychology professor has quick relief strategies for parents struggling with child misbehavior during the lockdown.

Two West Virginia University students will work for solutions to world problems and provide education opportunities to refugees as Boren Scholars in Oman and Jordan— two countries identified as critical to U.S. interests. Both 2020 recipients, Adam Craig, of Wheeling and Myya Helm, of West Union, are students in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, and have completed the Honors Foundations program. Craig is slated to return to Oman in 2021 to further his study of Arabic at the Noor Majan Arabic Institute in Muscat. With varied experiences abroad, including a National Model United Nations conference in China, Craig said what makes him most excited about becoming a Boren Scholar is the opportunity to not just talk about the problems caused by global conflicts, but to also work together on solutions.

Two Eberly College students awarded Boren Scholarship

Eberly News /

Two Eberly College students will work for solutions to world problems and provide education opportunities to refugees as Boren Scholars in Oman and Jordan— two countries identified as critical to U.S. interests.