Eberly News

Just as no two snowflakes are alike, a new study by Kristyn Lizbinski, a doctoral student studying biology at West Virginia University, reveals that neurons may be just as diverse. Neurons communicate via chemicals called neurotransmitters that can have different effects on the brain based on the receptor proteins expressed by other neurons. Neurotransmitters are often used to classify neuron types because each neurotransmitter can be thought of as a tool for communicating with other neurons.

Is every neuron a unique snowflake? WVU biology student studies organizing principles of neuron diversity

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WVU biology student studies organizing principles of neuron diversity

The MARIA Project, or Moral Agency in Robot-human InterActions, is funded by a three-year, $730,000 award from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research. In that project, Banks is investigating people’s ideas about machines’ moral agency, meaning the ability to consider right and wrong and act on that consideration. This study emerged from her extensive work on player-avatar relationships in video games.

Air Force funds WVU research on morality in human-robot interactions

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“The mediator between the head and the hands must be the heart,” says Maria, the working class advocate-turned machine in Fritz Lang’s 1927 film, “Metropolis.”

A team of West Virginia University researchers are investigating the impact of the Clean Air Act on soil and tree growth in the eastern U.S. Soil plays a major role in a healthy climate. As the largest reservoir of carbon on land, soil can directly affect the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. When more nitrogen is concentrated in soil, the amount of carbon that soil can store tends to increase, which reduces carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In this way, forests can help mitigate rising atmospheric carbon dioxide. Past research also shows that this greater soil nitrogen in forests may help increase tree growth. Researchers from WVU’s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences and Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design have teamed up with collaborators at Lawrence Livermore National Lab to predict the future of these effects on Earth’s ecosystem and understand why soil under some tree species gain more carbon in response to nitrogen deposition than others.

WVU researchers linking Clean Air Act to soil composition

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A team of West Virginia University researchers are investigating the impact of the Clean Air Act on soil and tree growth in the eastern U.S.  

Gay Stewart

WVU physics professor awarded 2019 Hans Christian Oersted Medal

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A  West Virginia University professor joins the ranks of luminaries Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman and Nobel laureates as the recipient of the prestigious Hans Christian Oersted Medal from the American Association of Physics Teachers. 

West Virginia University continues to be part of a multimillion dollar effort across a 10-university alliance to support STEM education for underrepresented students in Appalachia. Funded for a third phase by a five-year, $3.5 million National Science Foundation grant beginning fall 2018, the Kentucky-West Virginia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation will examine underrepresented students’ perceptions of science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines and careers and work to improve recruitment, retention and graduation rates of these students.

WVU part of 10-university alliance improving diversity in STEM

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West Virginia University continues to be part of a multimillion dollar effort across a 10-university alliance to support STEM education for underrepresented students in Appalachia.  

Eberly College hires Julie Cryser as assistant dean for development

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Julie Cryser, assistant dean of advancement for the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design at West Virginia University, has accepted a position as the assistant dean for development for the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

Hindered by access to high-quality healthcare, West Virginia children demonstrate some of the worst health outcomes in the nation. Over 25 percent of West Virginia children live in poverty. Many rural communities do not have nearby OB-GYN providers, let alone hospitals. Moreover, West Virginia has the highest rate of opioid drug overdoses in the nation. A valuable resource for children is available in the one place they find themselves daily: their local schools. School-based health centers provide services ranging from preventative and immediate healthcare to behavioral and dental care. An interdisciplinary team of West Virginia University researchers are investigating how children’s health and education outcomes can be improved through these school-based health centers. 


WVU researchers focus on school-based healthcare in Appalachia

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Hindered by access to high-quality healthcare, West Virginia children demonstrate some of the worst health outcomes in the nation.  

Improving shale energy productivity and reducing the environmental footprint of the natural gas industry are the goals of a West Virginia University partnership at a second Marcellus Shale Energy and Environmental Lab to be located in western Monongalia County. WVU researchers from multidisciplinary departments, as well as undergraduate and graduate students, will use the advanced models they develop for this project, continuing to address complex technical, environmental and social issues surrounding unconventional energy development. The researchers will use best practices in environmentally responsible shale development as they undertake subsurface scientific investigations.

WVU advances technology and transparency to shale gas in new MSEEL site

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Improving shale energy productivity and reducing the environmental footprint of the natural gas industry are the goals of a  West Virginia University partnership at a second  Marcellus Shale Energy and Environmental Labto be located in western Monongalia County. 

Before he was rafting 40 miles down a river in Alaska and sailing in the South China Sea, West Virginia University student Ben Johnson was an engineering major at Michigan State University. However, he quickly realized that engineering was not for him. Recognizing the combination of taking an introductory geology course and his love of being outside, Johnson knew a geology major would be the right fit for him. After completing his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Michigan State University, Johnson enrolled at WVU to pursue a Ph.D. in the Department of Geology and Geography in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

WVU geology student researching “world of the past”

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Before he was rafting 40 miles down a river in Alaska and sailing in the South China Sea, West Virginia University student Ben Johnson was an engineering major at Michigan State University. However, he quickly realized that engineering was not for him. Recognizing the combination of taking an introductory geology course and his love of being outside, Johnson knew a geology major would be the right fit for him.

ocial workers at West Virginia University are leading the way in opioid treatment and prevention in West Virginia, where overdose rates are the highest in the U.S. The WVU School of Social Work has received 2018 Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training supplemental funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration to support these efforts.

School of Social Work receives federal funding to address opioid addiction

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Social workers at West Virginia University are leading the way in opioid treatment and prevention in West Virginia, where overdose rates are the highest in the U.S.