Eberly News

Tagged with Research
An important breakthrough in how we can understand dead star collisions and the expansion of the universe has been made by an international team that includes researchers with the Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology at West Virginia University. They have discovered an unusual pulsar – one of deep space’s magnetized spinning neutron-star ‘lighthouses’ that emits highly focused radio waves from its magnetic poles. The newly discovered pulsar (known as PSR J1913+1102) is part of a binary system – which means that it is locked in a fiercely tight orbit with another neutron star. The research has been published in Nature.

How colliding neutron stars could shed light on universal mysteries

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An important breakthrough in how we can understand dead star collisions and the expansion of the universe has been made by an international team that includes researchers from the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

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.

Known for their brilliant colors and captivating scents, orchids are a favorite household plant. But many types of orchids are endangered due to constant threats from invasive species and habitat loss driven by climate change. Since few resources are available to protect these endangered species, one West Virginia University biology student is developing new ways to sustain them.

Love orchids? Thank their fungus.

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Since few resources are available to protect these orchids, one biology student is developing new ways to sustain them.

West Virginia University’s Duncan Lorimer might be the godfather of the fast radio burst, but a pair of international students has taken exploring these mysterious cosmic flashes to a new level. In 2007, Lorimer was credited for helping discover fast radio bursts - intense, unexplained pulses of energy, light years away, that pop for mere milliseconds. Ever since, only around 100 have been spotted. But astronomers knew there were more out there. One major obstacle to new discoveries came in the form of researchers having to manually read data plots, recorded by satellite imaging, for hours on end.

Signals from deep space

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West Virginia University’s  Duncan Lorimer might be the godfather of the fast radio burst, but a pair of international students has taken exploring these mysterious cosmic flashes to a new level.

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.

Costa Rica is known around the world over for its rainforests, coffee and beaches. But despite Costa Rica's reputation for safety and its recent economic growth, criminals use its strategic location for smuggling activities. A team of U.S. forensic science experts, led by two professors from Costa Rica, aim to fix that. A new international and multidisciplinary partnership between West Virginia University’s Department of Forensic and Investigative Science and the Costa Rican government is working to build the country’s capacity for law enforcement, forensic laboratories and legal medicine – and lifting it up as a model for better criminal justice practices across Central America.

Overcoming crime in Costa Rica

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Costa Rica is known around the world for its rainforests, coffee and beaches. But despite Costa Rica's reputation for safety and its recent economic growth, criminals use its strategic location for smuggling activities. A team of U.S. forensic science experts, led by two WVU professors from Costa Rica, aim to fix that.

Nonstop family time during the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified challenges for parents caring for young children around the clock. Using research-backed therapies that she helped pioneer, a West Virginia University psychology professor has quick relief strategies for parents struggling with child misbehavior during the lockdown. Cheryl McNeil’s Cooperation Chart is a tool parents and caregivers can use to help communicate with their children about their behaviors, using praises and warnings to identify positive and negative actions, respectively.

WVU psychologist shares quick relief for parents struggling with child behavior during COVID-19 pandemic

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Nonstop family time during the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified challenges for parents caring for young children around the clock. Using research-backed therapies that she helped pioneer, a psychology professor has quick relief strategies for parents struggling with child misbehavior during the lockdown.

A new West Virginia University research collaborative is working to address the many challenging conditions facing the state and Appalachia. In the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Interdisciplinary Research Collaborative for a Safe and Healthy Society, researchers from a wide range of disciplines are working together with partners across campus to seek solutions to these pressing issues. The collaborative brings together faculty, staff and students who work in communities around the state in areas like community development, substance use prevention and treatment, drug policy, healthcare policy, medical sociology and crime.

Planting seeds for a safe and healthy society

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A new WVU research collaborative is working to address the many challenging conditions facing the state and Appalachia. In the Eberly College's Interdisciplinary Research Collaborative for a Safe and Healthy Society, researchers from a wide range of disciplines are working together with partners across campus to seek solutions to these pressing issues.

Michael Germana

English professor named 2019-2020 Benedum Distinguished Scholar

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Professor of English Michael Germana has been named a 2019-2020 Benedum Distinguished Scholar in recognition of the high caliber of his research and scholarly activity.

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

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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.