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Looking back on her career at West Virginia University, Elizabeth Young, a Charleston, West Virginia, native reflects on memories of her adventures competing on the rowing team, walking through the snow blanketed campus and the lifelong friendships she created along the way. Her passion for history led her to double major in history and geography and obtain a minor in French. In summer 2018, the Gilman Scholarship sent Young on a four-week study abroad trip to Montpellier, France, where she was able to practice her French language speaking skills.

Meet the Grads: Elizabeth Young

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Researchers from West Virginia University have received $1.34 million to develop machine-learning software for the U.S. Department of Energy. The researchers, James Lewis and Aldo Romero from the Department of Physics and Astronomy, will lead a team from WVU, University of Southern California and Kitware, Inc. to develop new machine-learning tools for advancing chemical and materials science discoveries on the nation’s future high-speed computing platforms.

WVU physicists awarded $1.34 million to develop machine-learning software

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Researchers from West Virginia University have received $1.34 million to develop machine-learning software for the U.S. Department of Energy.

While taking a drive down West Virginia’s “country roads,” have you ever considered the origins of the windy hills and valleys that make up the landscape fondly thought of as “Almost Heaven?” West Virginia University geologist Joseph Lebold leads you through them in his new book, “Roadside Geology of West Virginia.” Part of Mountain Press Publishing Company’s national series, “Roadside Geology,” it is available now.

West Virginia is shaped by geology

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WVU geologist gives tour of state's 'roadside geology' in new book

WVU chemists find new frontier for pharmaceutical development

WVU chemists find new frontier for pharmaceutical development

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West Virginia University chemists have developed an experiment to improve the efficiency of creating new medicine. 

In Cuba, over 65 percent of the archipelago of islands is karst, a landscape that is characterized by numerous caves, sinkholes, fissures and underground streams. These caves are rich in biology, archeology and history and played an important role in the interactions between American and Cuban scientists during the Cold War and in the years following. Maria Perez, an assistant professor of geography in West Virginia University’s Department of Geology and Geography, led members of the student caving club, WVU Student Grotto, on a new study abroad trip to Cuba in May 2018.

Beneath the surface: WVU students cave in Cuba

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WVU students cave in Cuba

WVU researchers to study Fallout 76 gamers' perceptions of West Virginia

WVU researchers to study Fallout 76 gamers' perceptions of West Virginia

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Through the coming weeks, video gamers will be blasting away mutated monsters, exploring nuked country roads and rebuilding America, a noble duty that begins in virtual West Virginia. 

Wheeling, West Virginia, native London Orzolek will present her research on first-generation college students at the 117th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association on Thursday, Nov. 15 in San Jose, California. Orzolek is a West Virginia University senior studying anthropology and women’s and gender studies with a minor in development studies. She is also the president and founder of the WVU Anthropology Club and a member of the Pi Beta Phi women’s fraternity, the honors society Order of Omega, anthropology honors society Lambda Alpha and the Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology Association, a WVU student organization. She sat down with us to discuss her research and plans for the future.

WVU anthropology student to present research at 117th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association

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Wheeling, West Virginia, native London Orzolek will present her research on first-generation college students at the 117th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association on Thursday, Nov. 15 in San Jose, California. Orzolek is a West Virginia University senior studying anthropology and women’s and gender studies with a minor in development studies. She is also the president and founder of the WVU Anthropology Club and a member of the Pi Beta Phi women’s fraternity, the honors society Order of Omega, anthropology honors society Lambda Alpha and the Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology Association, a WVU student organization. In celebration of National First-Generation College Student Day, she sat down with us to discuss her research and plans for the future. 

Prior to regulations, lead-infused paint covered the walls of American homes, leaded gasoline fueled cars and lead pipes carried water into glasses. Through these factors, Americans were in direct and regular contact with lead contamination. While the United States took precautions to help reform and prevent lead contamination in the 1970s, some countries around the world, such as Uruguay, didn’t take precautions until recent years. An economic crisis in the early 2000s resulted in Uruguayan families being forced from their homes. They often moved to “squatter settlements,” or informal housing located on precarious plots of land alongside river banks, in empty lots and even on old factory grounds.

Life without lead

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WVU anthropologist researches lead contamination in Uruguay

The Native American Studies Program at West Virginia University welcomes the public to its 26th anniversary of the Peace Tree Ceremony on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 11:30 a.m. at the Peace Tree, located between Martin and Elizabeth Moore halls. The Mountainlair ballrooms will serve as a rain location for the ceremony.

WVU Native American Studies Program to host 26th anniversary of the Peace Tree Ceremony Oct. 30

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The Native American Studies Program at West Virginia University welcomes the public to its 26th anniversary of the Peace Tree Ceremony on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 11:30 a.m. at the Peace Tree, located between Martin and Elizabeth Moore halls. The Mountainlair ballrooms will serve as a rain location for the ceremony.

Video games and interactive media like the Fallout series and Fortnite, which is currently one of the nation’s most popular games, have interested Nick Bowman, associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies and a research associate of WVU’s Interaction Lab, for years. Growing up around interactive media such as video games, Bowman has been researching how people experience and interact with video games and other virtual environments.

Not ‘just for kids’: WVU communication studies professor researches the interactivity of video games

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WVU communication studies professor researches the interactivity of video games