Research

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.

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.

Driven by a shared passion for scientific discovery, four promising researchers pursuing doctoral degrees at West Virginia University are receiving funding from the Ruby Scholars Graduate Fellows Program to support their studies. This year’s Ruby Fellows are Cameron Wilson, Ashley Martsen, Courtney Glenn and Quinn Hopen.

West Virginia University is sharing updated COVID-19 health and safety guidance as campuses across the WVU System prepare for the start of the 2022-23 academic year and the first day of fall semester classes Aug. 17.

Donald Brown, research assistant professor of wildlife resources in West Virginia University's Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, is leading a team looking at how oil and natural gas activity affects wood turtles.

An employee’s diagnosis of depression or bipolar disorder can spark a fear of discrimination in the workplace, prompting the employee to construct an inauthentic professional identity, according to new research from Kayla Follmer, associate professor in the John Chambers College of Business and Economics.

Most children who get COVID-19 recover quickly and completely, but some develop symptoms that linger for weeks or months. These symptoms constitute “long COVID,” a condition that can cause a range of issues, including altered smell and taste, fatigue and concentration problems. WVU researchers Kathryn Moffett and Lesley Cottrell are investigating how this poorly understood condition affects kids and their families.

A team from West Virginia University and the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium are taking the first steps toward opening the West Virginia Small Satellite Center of Excellence. The SmallSat Center will work with businesses and other organizations to develop West Virginia’s second small satellite and to help those partners offer services and products to clients who want to fly experiments out to low orbit.

A summer program at West Virginia University is providing research opportunities in neuroscience for undergraduate students from underrepresented and global communities, including Ukraine. By training undergraduate students who are interested in continuing their education and conducting state-of-the-art research, the program aims to meet the growing need for neuroscience graduate-level students with research experience.