For the first time since 2019, West Virginia University’s free welcome-back-to-campus concert for students returns Tuesday, Aug. 16. The concert starts at 5:45 p.m. on the Evansdale Rec Fields adjacent to the Student Rec Center. Gates open at 5 p.m.
West Virginia University scientists have developed a way for extraplanetary rovers to use nonvisual information to maneuver over treacherous terrain. This will help to prevent future losses of expensive equipment like that of the Martian exploration rover Spirit, which ceased communications after its wheels became trapped in invisibly shifting sands in 2010.
The National Science Foundation is awarding a $1.6 million grant to Kevin Daly and collaborator Andrew Dacks, both biology professors in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, to study how the brain coordinates movement and sensory function in animals. Its practical applications could shed light on human disease and human performance.
For the fiscal year from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022, WVU Foundation data shows 20,206 donors – including 9,360 alumni – made 39,347 gifts totaling $213.8 million. This total is second only to $270.1 million donated in fiscal year 2021. The gifts will benefit education, health care and prosperity to make a positive impact across the Mountain State and beyond for years to come.
West Virginia University researchers will have a chance to better understand blotchy bass syndrome with data collected by citizens through a mobile app. With a grant from the U.S. Geological Survey totaling $314,975, the team plans to look into the prevalence, distribution, seasonality and potential risks and impacts that are still unknown.
The prevalence of gender diversity is largely unknown, especially in rural areas. To fill that knowledge gap, researchers at WVU with colleagues at other institutions surveyed junior high and high school students in rural Appalachia about their gender identity. More than 7% of young people surveyed shared a gender identity that did not fully align with the sex they were assigned at birth, findings that appear in JAMA Pediatrics.
The return of FallFest highlights a packed Welcome Week at West Virginia University which begins Thursday, Aug. 11, and continues through the start of the fall semester Wednesday, Aug. 17. New events include a pool party for all students at the Student Rec Center Aug. 13 and a service project to benefit the West Virginia United Way Collaborative during Monday Night Lights for first-year students Aug. 15.
West Virginia University is stepping up to support residents affected by flooding in eastern Kentucky, southern West Virginia and southwestern Virginia with the restart of Dollars for Disaster, a campus-wide disaster response effort organized through the Center for Community Engagement.
Clearcutting and wildfires destroyed the red spruce which were once the dominant tree species in West Virginia. Today, only 10% of the state’s red spruce coverage remains and it faces a new threat in climate change. West Virginia University researchers are working toward restoring some of the original tree habitat by studying the long-term effects of climate change on red spruce and the surrounding environment.
West Virginia University researchers are exploring the potential for certain grasses planted on reclaimed mine land to help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. A grant will support the two-year study at WVU’s West Virginia Water Research Institute.