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.

One of the newest additions for this mission is the Foundational STEM Collaborative, a hub for all foundational University STEM courses required by more than 47 science-focused undergraduate degree programs. Launched in Fall 2023 by the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences and the WVU Office of the Provost, the Collaborative quickly expanded its services in Fall 2024 with the opening of the STEM Learning Center and Student Collaboration Space on the ground floor of the Chemistry Research Laboratory, providing students access to drop-in and appointment-based academic assistance, study space, and areas to relax and recharge between classes while making connections with each other.

Recognized as champions for justice, civil rights and world peace, four West Virginia University undergraduate students are the recipients of the prestigious 2025 Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship. Selected by the Center for Black Culture based on an essay and letters of recommendation, Tysa James, Janelle LaBarbera, Cheyenne Torres and Gabrielle Williams were honored at the annual MLK Unity Breakfast on Jan. 18 in the Mountainlair Ballrooms.

Jessica Deshler, director of the School of Mathematical and Data Sciences, and Erin Goodykoontz, mathematics teaching associate professor, discuss the University’s responsibilities to its students and the state of West Virginia.

An Eberly College alumna with a passion for storytelling and exploring cultural similarities between Appalachia and the Arab world is the recipient of a prestigious Fulbright scholarship. 

Clara Haizlett of Bethany is one of approximately 2,200 college students and recent graduates selected to participate in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program. 

2 Eberly College students earned Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships to travel abroad without financial constraints.

The best word for this is an experience — a potentially life-changing one for those students who earn the opportunity. This is the WVU Medical and Dental Brigades. The term brigade is fitting. It’s tactical, strategic, well-organized, and intense. A lightning rod. And for the students and volunteers who are accepted to participate, it’s often a wake-up call. “This is a different type of clinical experience, educational experience. It’s not one that happens in a classroom. I'm not even sure if it happens in a hospital space,” Brewster said. “They're learning a more holistic understanding of health and medicine.”

Three outstanding West Virginia University students have been named winners of the 2024 Goldwater Scholarship, the nation’s premier undergraduate scholarship in mathematics, engineering and the natural sciences. Easton Cahill, Rachel King and Christopher Smith are among the 438 scholars selected nationwide and join the ranks of 47 Mountaineers selected before them. Each scholarship provides as much as $7,500 annually for up to two years of undergraduate study.

A faculty-mentored undergraduate research program at West Virginia University has led to higher student retention rates than institutional averages, according to a new study. Additionally, data revealed higher retention rates for participants from historically marginalized populations.