This year, West Virginia University became the first university in the state to offer an undergraduate neuroscience major. The program, housed in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, is a dual effort between the departments of psychology and biology.
William Brustein, West Virginia University’s vice president for global strategies and international affairs and Eberly family professor of history, has been recognized for his contributions to international education and leadership in global mobility.
Four prominent leaders in the fields of public relations, library science, finance, and medicine will join an influential group of West Virginia University graduates as this year’s inductees into the Academy of Distinguished Alumni at the Erickson Alumni Center May 17 at 6 p.m.
With 1.3 million active duty military personnel nationwide, coordinating and finding accessible healthcare and social services for their 1.7 million family members is a major challenge. Christopher Plein, the Eberly Family Professor for Outstanding Service at West Virginia University, is working to address these challenges and needs through the Military Families Learning Network.
The four finalists vying for the title to represent the student body as the 67th West Virginia University Mountaineer Mascot come from a variety of academic backgrounds and are involved in an array of extra-curricular activities. All West Virginia natives, they will compete wearing buckskins and carrying the rifle in a cheer-off held during the men’s basketball game vs. Kansas State at 9 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18, in the WVU Coliseum.
The National Science Foundation has awarded a three-year, $219,263-grant to Amy Hessl, professor in the Department of Geology and Geography, to reconstruct the history of the Southern Annular Mode, over the last 2,000 years. Hessl and her research team will study the movement of a westerly wind belt circling Antarctica that influences Southern Hemisphere climate, carbon and heat uptake and Antarctic ice melt.
Following a successful debut at West Virginia University, TEDxWVU returns March 2 at 9 a.m. in the Gladys S. Davis Theatre in the Creative Arts Center with five speakers who will support the theme “Bridging the Gap,” challenging people to look at their similarities instead of their differences.
A field trip to Namibia to study volcanic rocks led to an unexpected discovery by West Virginia University geologists Graham Andrews and Sarah Brown. While exploring the desert country in southern Africa, they stumbled upon a peculiar land formation—flat desert scattered with hundreds of long, steep hills. They quickly realized the bumpy landscape was shaped by drumlins, a type of hill often found in places once covered in glaciers, an abnormal characteristic for desert landscapes.
Karissa Bjorkgren, a second-year student in the Master of Social Work and Master of Public Administration programs at West Virginia University, is dedicated to addressing mental health in rural communities. A native of Franklin, Bjorkgren has experienced first-hand how infrequently rural communities in West Virginia address mental health concerns. She hopes her research will help overcome this disparity.
Each student will receive a $1,000 award: $500 from the Eberly College and $500 from the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium. The recipients are Erica Chwalik, Dillion Cottrill, Ryan Culp, Brenden Glover, Janna Kleinsasser, Maxwell Reese, Simon Wirth and Olivia Young.