Eberly News

Tagged with Biology
Justin Mathias headshot

WVU biology student links Clean Air Act to red spruce recovery in Appalachia

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A dramatic recovery of red spruce trees in the central Appalachian Mountains led West Virginia University researchers to pursue the driving factors behind improved forest health. 

Zoe Dobler

Meet the Grads: Zoe Dobler

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More than 1,000 students from the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences will walk across the stage on Sunday, May 13 as they graduate from West Virginia University, ready to take on the world.  

Studying how insects’ wing movements affect their sense of smell has the potential to explain underlying causes of disorders like schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease and shortness of breath, according to new research from West Virginia University. When our nervous systems send motor commands to our muscles, they also send a copy of that command, called a corollary discharge, to the parts of our brains that process sensory information, including our sense of smell. This approach allows the brain to differentiate between self-generated sensation produced by moving and sensation generated by other sources. Though this process has been studied extensively for senses like sight and hearing, almost nothing was known about how a corollary discharge would function for the sense of smell—olfactory processes—until now. A new study by Phil Chapman, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Biology, and his colleagues found that corollary discharges from the insect wing motor control center informs their olfactory systems about wing movements, which directly affects sensory processes.

WVU biology student connects sense of smell to brain diseases

Eberly News /

Studying how insects’ wing movements affect their sense of smell has the potential to explain underlying causes of disorders like schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease and shortness of breath, according to new research from West Virginia University.

2018 Fulbright Scholars

Record number of WVU students receive Fulbright Scholarships

Eberly News /

A record number of West Virginia University students have been named Fulbright Scholars this year, doubling the previous record of five. 2018 Fulbright Scholars

Joe Carrara headshot

WVU biology student uses Appalachian forests to improve future climate predictions

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A West Virginia University student is using Appalachian forests to improve predictions of future climate change. 

Global Medical Dental Brigades

57 WVU students travel to Nicaragua to address medical needs

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For the last nine years, the West Virginia University Global Medical and Dental Brigades groups have worked in collaboration with Global Brigades to facilitate work in Latin America. 

School of Social Work jumps to top 100 in latest U.S. News graduate rankings

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The  School of Social Work at  West Virginia University shot up into the top third in the latest rankings of graduate programs by  U.S. News & World Report.

West Virginia University Center for Excellence in STEM Education received $100,000 from the Eberly Foundation to support WVUCE-STEM’s teacher education program, WVUteach, to produce additional STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) secondary education teachers. The funding will support a master teacher assistant, allowing nearly 100 additional students to enter WVUteach over the span of four years.

WVU Center for Excellence in STEM Education receives $100,000 Eberly Foundation grant to expand WVUteach program

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Through WVUteach, the West Virginia University Center for Excellence in STEM Education is set to produce nearly 25 STEM teachers each year, accelerating the pace of placing certified teachers in vacant West Virginia classrooms. 

Kristyn Lizbinksi, a doctoral student studying biology at West Virginia University.

When science and art collide

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WVU biology student wins first place in national science photo contest

Jonathan Cumming has always been interested in plants and the way they grow. A professor of biology at West Virginia University, it all started when he was growing plants in his house as a child and, years later, he chose to focus his career on identifying specific plants and how they thrive in different types of soil. Today, he is studying willow and poplar trees by analyzing their differential sensitivity to soils that are left behind after mining by using the inductively-coupled plasma emission spectrometer, or ICP, which will allow researchers to analyze elemental profiles of samples. The ICP is used not only to analyze plant genotypes to determine their metals and nutrients, but to analyze soils and water samples as well and can support research by faculty and students across the Department.

Regrowth

Eberly News /

WVU biologist to use reclaimed mines for plant growth