Eberly News

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

WVU Humanities Center announces 2020-2021 grant and fellowship recipients

The WVU Humanities Center announces the recipients of its third annual grants and fellowships competition funded by a WVU endowment from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation. Ten Eberly College faculty received fellowships and grants for 2020-2021.

Eberly College announces 2019-2020 outstanding student awards

Congratulations to our outstanding seniors and graduate assistants for 2019-2020!

With the COVID-19 pandemic upending life as we know it, researchers in West Virginia University’s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences are taking quick action to study how people from Appalachia to Europe are responding to the pressure this crisis has placed on their communities.

A rapid research response to COVID-19’s effect on communities

With the COVID-19 pandemic upending life as we know it, Eberly College researchers are taking quick action to study how people from Appalachia to Europe are responding to the pressure this crisis has placed on their communities.

Female student faces a monitor displaying technical geology images

Donation of industry-leading software gives WVU students an edge

Schlumberger gift to benefit the Department of Geology and Geography

Researchers across the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University have moved quickly to donate personal protective equipment from their laboratories to healthcare workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Putting gloves into the right hands

WVU researchers donate protective gear to COVID-19 efforts

On February 28, 2020, the world lost a preeminent geologist, teacher, leader and philanthropist. John Renton taught in the Eberly College's Department of Geology and Geography for more than 50 years.

In Memoriam: John J. "Jack" Renton, PhD

John J. "Jack" Renton, PhD

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

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