Eberly News

Long before flash floods damaged communities in Ohio and Marion counties this month, West Virginia University researchers were studying community resilience in flood-devastated areas of the state. The toolkit they developed will help communities better prepare for such emergencies and recover quicker.

Fifty-five graduates were inducted as lifelong members into the WVU Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, a national honor society that recognizes outstanding achievement in the liberal arts and sciences, and champions freedom of thought.

Kathleen Benison, professor in the Department of Geology and Geography, has been elected to the Geological Society of America Council, a leadership body that steers and guides this international organization of over 18,000 geologists.

Three Eberly College graduates will spend an immersive summer abroad studying foreign languages as recipients of the U.S. Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship. A love for travel and global learning led Ella Dietz to major in international studies and pursue minors in political science and Russian studies. She will travel to Kyrgyzstan. Wyatt Gaines is an international studies major with minors in conservation ecology and geographic information science. Gaines first traveled to Japan as part of the Model United Nations and then again for a 10-month exchange program at Kansai Gaidai University. Christelle Temple graduated with a degree in public relations and minors in leadership and creative writing, she will return to Tanzania to study Swahili.

Every year, students from across Eberly College are selected as  Outstanding Seniors and  Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistants.  Eberly Scholars are also chosen annually for a monetary award to help offset the cost of their education as they work to achieve their academic goals. Read about all three groups below.

Each year, Eberly College honors faculty members with its Outstanding Teacher Awards, Outstanding Researcher Awards and the Award for Outstanding Outreach or Public Service. Recipients in each category receive a stipend to help further their research, teaching and service efforts.

Eight remarkable members of the West Virginia University Class of 2025 who have distinguished themselves through academic excellence and by making significant contributions on campus, across the Mountain State and beyond have been honored with the Order of Augusta, the most prestigious University student award.

The Stubblefield Institute for Civil Political Communications hosted a student recognition event on April 15 on the Morgantown Campus to recognize three students who completed its Community Leadership and Civil Advocacy Certificate program.

West Virginia University students pursuing careers in geoscience and energy engineering will have access to industry-leading professional software thanks to a $26.8 million gift from Rock Flow Dynamics.

The in-kind gift allows students and faculty at the WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources and the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences to use tNavigator, a state-of-the-art reservoir modeling and simulation platform created by Rock Flow Dynamics.

For Amy Hessl, professor of geography at West Virginia University, the past can predict the future. Hessl is a dendrochronologist, a scientist who unravels climate histories and trends through the study of tree ring growth patterns. So when wildfires engulfed the Los Angeles, California area in January 2025, resulting in dozens of deaths and tens of thousands of destroyed structures, Hessl wasn’t taken aback. In fact, she said, ongoing warm air temperatures and variable precipitation – which can be presumed from her studies of climate history trends — will lead to even more extreme fires in the future.