Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

As the second-oldest state in the nation, West Virginia is in dire need for professionals who can work with its aging population.

The Native American Studies Program at West Virginia University welcomes the public to its annual Peace Tree Ceremony Oct. 10 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. While the peace tree is located between Martin and Elizabeth Moore halls, this year's ceremony will take place in the Mountainlair Student Union's Blue Ballroom due to forecasted rain.

Just one year after arriving at West Virginia University, physicist Lian Li is taking physics research to new frontiers. In collaboration with fellow WVU condensed matter experiment expert Cheng Cen, he is breaking the rules of classical physics in search of a solution to making computers faster than ever.

Stephanie Foote is the first West Virginia University faculty member to be chosen for a National Humanities Center Fellowship. Foote is in residence at the National Humanities Center in Durham, North Carolina, for the 2017-18 academic year while working on her book about waste. In “The Art of Waste: Narrative, Trash, and Contemporary Culture,” Foote plans to examine the role of garbage in narrating the relationship of American culture to environmental crisis.

West Virginia University’s annual observance of Constitution Day this year will focus on the role of a free press in a democratic society. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist will join WVU communications, journalism and law professors to address the erosion of the First Amendment, fake news, and why a free press is necessary for a strong democracy.

The Department of History at West Virginia University will feature historian and religious studies scholar Jon Butler for its annual Sen. Rush D. Holt Lecture Series. Butler will present his lecture, “Protestantism, American Religion and the Unanticipated Reformation,” Sept. 26 at 7:30 p.m. in G9 White Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Since the early 1900s scientists have known that the Universe is expanding but recent studies have shown that the rate of expansion is accelerating. The reason for this is currently unknown; however, Kevin Bandura, an assistant professor in the Lane Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering at West Virginia University, has been working on the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment, or CHIME, for the past several years to solve the mystery.

West Virginia University biologists are part of a $40 million Department of Energy effort to create sustainable, cost-effective bioproducts through four new bioenergy research centers.

West Virginia University biologists Kevin Daly and Andrew Dacks are working to uncover the mystery of corollary discharge functions for the sense of smell. Funded by a four year, $1.4 million Air Force grant, Daly and Dacks are studying an animal with one of the most sensitive senses of smell—moths.

Five doctoral students are the latest recipients of West Virginia University graduate school funding through the Ruby Scholars Graduate Fellows Program.