Eberly News

In an empty studio room of the Clay Center in Charleston, West Virginia, Princeton Middle School students wriggle neon-colored ropes that coil and arc to the amusement of the youngsters. It’s not all fun and games, though it looks that way from the smiles and giggles. The students are getting lessons on gravitational waves and wave frequencies, courtesy of Science Behind the Sport at West Virginia University. It’s just one of many STEM-related activities for students from all across the Mountain State on NASA Day, sponsored by the student with science experiment NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium at WVU.

Katy Goodrich, an assistant professor in the West Virginia University Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, was honored with a Big 12 Conference Faculty of the Year Award for her groundbreaking work in plasma and space physics. This prestigious award recognizes faculty from all 16 of the Big 12 institutions who have demonstrated incredible work, diversity of research breakthroughs and educational opportunities for their university.

Duncan Lorimer, world-renowned astrophysicist and Professor of Physics and Astronomy in the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, has been appointed as the Eberly Distinguished Chair for Academic Excellence in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the fields of astronomy and astrophysics, excellence in teaching and his significant impact on the scientific research community at WVU and beyond.

West Virginia University astrophysicist Jason Ybarra announced that Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, or C/2023 A3, will brighten as it nears the sun, making it visible to the naked eye in mid-October. This comet, originating from the distant Oort Cloud, is on an 80,000-year journey and may never return due to gravitational interactions. As it approaches the sun, the comet's icy, rocky core heats up, releasing gas and dust to form a glowing tail. This rare “once-in-a-lifetime” sight could be observable under favorable conditions.

Gov. Jim Justice visited the Morgantown Campus Monday (June 24) to present Duncan Lorimer, a 2024 Fellow of the Royal Society, and Maura McLauglin, a new member of the National Academy of Sciences, with Distinguished West Virginian awards.

Duncan Lorimer, professor of physics and astronomy in the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, has been selected as a 2024 Fellow of the Royal Society of London for his contributions to pulsar astrophysics and his role in the discovery of fast radio bursts.

Maura McLaughlin, Eberly Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy, has been selected as a new member of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors in the scientific world. She is the first WVU researcher to join the prestigious group.

Take a walk through the stately brick and limestone White Hall, home to the WVU Department of Physics and Astronomy, and you can almost feel it — the electricity of inspired minds. The faculty roster here is impressive even to a lay audience.

For Duncan Lorimer and Maura McLaughlin, working at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico set off a sequence of life events that would include marriage, children, finding a home at West Virginia University, an out-of-this-world scientific discovery and, now, earning a highly prestigious award described as the “Nobel Prize of the East.”

Faculty and student researchers at WVU and any other university or college in West Virginia can now request access to the new high performance computing cluster called Dolly Sods.