Eberly News

Tagged with Geology and Geography
A coalition of West Virginia University researchers is working together to address the state’s most pressing water issues through Bridge, a campus-wide science and technology policy, leadership and communications initiative. The impetus for the initiative is to translate the work of WVU researchers to policymakers as part of the University’s land-grant mission.

A new initiative aims to bridge the gap between science and policy, names inaugural faculty fellows

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More than two dozen WVU researchers are addressing the state's most pressing water issues through the Bridge Initiative's Waters of West Virginia project.

Eberly College announces outstanding seniors, teaching assistants and Eberly Scholars

Eberly College announces outstanding seniors, teaching assistants and Eberly Scholars

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The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences has recognized 64 outstanding seniors, graduate teaching assistants and graduating Eberly Scholars for their academic achievements in 2020-2021.

New research from West Virginia University is transforming understanding of the Mountain State’s famous landscape – and identifying ways to preserve it. As WVU’s latest NSF CAREER Award winner, Assistant Professor of Geography Aaron Maxwell will use big data to map what the surface of West Virginia looked like over the last 60 years. The funding includes $636,785 over five years. Maxwell will use data analytics and advanced computational methods to extract valuable information from existing geospatial data over wide regions of the state. Through these methods, his research can increase our understanding of natural landscapes and how they change over time.

Mapping the past, present and future of West Virginia

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New geography research is transforming understanding of the Mountain State’s famous landscape – and identifying ways to preserve it.

Michelle Bester

Laser focused

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Growing up in rural South Africa, Michelle Bester always aspired to pursue graduate school internationally. Today, she is living that dream as a geography student studying how remote sensing technology can help prevent and control wildfires.

Growing up as a loyal fan of “Jurassic Park” in a family of nature lovers, West Virginia University student Sam Ocon always knew she wanted to be a paleontologist. Some of Ocon’s earliest memories are learning to identify the local fauna around her hometown of Gainesville, Florida, with her dad and digging for fossils in the limestone among her grandfather’s plants. Today, Ocon is fulfilling her dream of studying invertebrate paleontology in the WVU Department of Geology and Geography.

Unlocking the history of life on Earth

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Growing up as a loyal fan of “Jurassic Park” in a family of nature lovers, graduate student Sam Ocon always knew she wanted to be a paleontologist.

In association with the ongoing generosity of the Eberly family, the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Board established the Eberly Scholars program in 1988. Each year, up to 25 students majoring in the arts and sciences are designated as Eberly Scholars. They are provided with scholarship support in recognition of their outstanding academic achievement. This award is the Eberly College’s most prestigious scholarship honor for undergraduate students. Kyle Roberts Hometown: Morgantown, West Virginia Major: Environmental Geoscience Minor(s): Japanese Studies

2020-2021 Eberly Scholars: Kyle Roberts

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Meet environmental geoscience student Kyle Roberts.

Thirteen first-year college students, including four enrolled in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, connected with West Virginia University in July for a virtual summer camp to get a head start on their college experiences. The students are part of the First2 STEM Success Network, an INCLUDES Alliance and statewide collaboration supported by the National Science Foundation. The WVU Center for Excellence in STEM Education is one of the five lead organizations in the alliance and WVU was one of nine research immersion host sites this summer. The alliance is working to improve the college enrollment and retention rates of rural, first-generation and other underrepresented undergraduate STEM students from around the state, specifically during their first two years of college, a critical time when many students drop out.

Experience, guidance and community

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Thirteen first-year college students, including four enrolled in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, connected with WVU in July for a virtual summer camp to get a head start on their college experiences.

A new portal created at West Virginia University is increasing access to surface and groundwater water quality data from shale gas regions around the state to inform stakeholders about trends in water quality. The West Virginia Water Quality Impact Portal allows people to investigate water quality in shale gas regions of West Virginia. It contains data for more than 1.3 million surface and ground water samples from 14 counties where most Marcellus Shale gas development has occurred. Funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the portal’s data was gathered from federal and state agencies, including the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Geological Survey Water Science Center, as well as local nonprofit organizations.

Quenching the need for water quality data in West Virginia

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A new portal created in the Department of Geology and Geography is increasing access to surface and groundwater water quality data from shale gas regions around the state to inform stakeholders about trends in water quality.

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

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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

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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.