UW in the News

State, national and international media frequently feature the University of Wyoming and members of its community in stories. Here is a summary of some of the recent coverage:

The New York Times quoted Arielle Zibrak, a UW Department of English associate professor, for an article titled “Go Ahead, Judge This Book by Its Cover. There’s Nothing Inside.” Zibrak compared today’s use of fake books in home décor to the books’ presence in the fiction of the Gilded Age, where they typically symbolized “the spiritual and intellectual poverty associated with empty consumption and material excess.”

UW staff members making less than $150,000 annually will receive base pay raises of $1,900, along with additional increases based upon merit, market and compression issues, according to The Wyoming Tribune Eagle and The Casper Star-Tribune (CS-T). Staff members making more than $150,000 annually will receive base pay raises of $1,400, and faculty members will see their base pay rise by $1,200, under the plan approved by the UW Board of Trustees. Wyoming News Now also published UW’s announcement.

Marketplace published an article on why inflation has been running high in the Mountain West. Inflation was running at an annual rate of 6 percent in March, which was a percentage point higher than the national average. UW economist Rob Godby was interviewed for the article. Godby also was quoted for a CS-T piece on the debt ceiling issue being discussed in Congress.

UW College of Law Professor George Mocsary collaborated on a piece for The Heritage Foundation titled “Stakeholder Capitalism: Theft, Path to Central Planning, or Both?,” which commented on the nature of modern “stakeholder capitalism” and its effects on markets and businesses.

The Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at UW recently published results of an ongoing project on how mule deer respond when critical habitats, such as winter range, are impacted by development and how their migration routes can be identified and prioritized for conservation.

UW Assistant Professor Thomas Boothby’s research on tardigrades, or water bears, continues to be in the news. In a Wyoming Public Radio article, Boothby noted that understanding how tardigrades protect their proteins in extreme conditions could be used to improve vaccines. Drug Discovery News published a related article titled “Tardigrades protect proteins on the brink of death.”

Cowboy State Daily reported that American Banker, a nationally respected banking industry magazine, lists UW alumna Caitlin Long, CEO of Custodia Bank, among its top 20 innovators nationwide. Long was instrumental in helping write 13 of Wyoming’s blockchain enabling laws.

Anna Chalfoun, assistant unit leader of the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at UW, was co-author on a new paper that explores keys to advancing basic trap theory, including investigation into the mechanisms that lead different species into evolutionary traps. The article was published in a recent edition of Current Opinion on Behavioral Sciences.

Buckrail reported on a special bighorn sheep study between the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and UW that shows an usual pattern for the Jackson bighorn sheep herd: When the population reaches about 500 sheep, an “all ages” pneumonia die-off usually follows.

Wyoming has potential for geothermal energy, but UW Associate Professor Soheil Saraji told Cowboy State Daily that the state is not ideal for traditional geothermal energy. Wyoming could attract companies that are developing new technologies using hydraulic fracturing deep in the earth that could unlock the potential for the energy source, according to the article.

The Sheridan Press reported on the UW Ruckelshaus Institute’s Emerging Issues Forum that focused on outdoor recreation in Wyoming. The recent forum featured experts from across the state who discussed the challenges and opportunities facing the outdoor recreation industry. WyoFile published a related article.

Chelsea-Victoria Turner, a UW junior from Cheyenne majoring in plant production and protection, with a concentration in agroecology and evolution, is one of 55 students nationwide to be selected as a prestigious Udall Scholar. The Wyoming Tribune Eagle published UW’s release.

Sheridan Media reported that UW’s Neltje Center for Excellence in Creativity and the Arts will host a free event and reading with author Gretel Ehrlich this week at Turned Antiques in Banner.

The combination of low cost of higher education in Wyoming, low student debt and a relatively high community college graduation rate has placed the Cowboy State at No. 5 on U.S. News & World Report’s “Best States for Higher Education” list. Sheridan Media published UW’s release.

WyoToday Media published UW’s release announcing the creation of the H.A. “Dave” True Jr. Family College of Business Deanship. The purpose of the deanship is to enrich the state’s business climate by supporting the dean of the UW College of Business and the college’s education, research and outreach.

The UW Biodiversity Institute’s annual Western tiger salamander crossing project along Laramie’s LaBonte Park neighborhood was the focus of a WyoFile feature. Laramie residents protect the migrating state amphibians from vehicles in this nighttime project.

More than 70 students presented their research and creative works at the first-ever inclusive excellence student showcase at Northwest College. Big Horn Basin Media published UW’s release noting that eight UW graduate and undergraduate researchers, two faculty members and a representative of the Innovation Wyrkshop and mobile makerspaces were on hand to engage with each student presenter.

The Wyoming State Library published UW’s release noting that UW Libraries is migrating its digital collections to a new platform. WyoDigital is an open access repository and home to digitized materials from Emmett D. Chisum Special Collections, UW Libraries’ general collections and collections from other partners.

Lander’s Sydney Polson, in UW’s Division of Kinesiology and Health, was among winners of graduate student and mentor awards for outstanding teaching and research. WyoToday Media published UW’s release. The Riverton-based radio station also published UW’s release on education students who are completing their 16-week student-teaching experiences around the state.

Oil City News reported that representatives from the Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium at UW helped with a balloon launch at a Casper school last week. UW’s program visits sites and schools around the state to help facilitate high-altitude balloon launches, allowing students and educators to devise their own experiments and take part in the process.

Arundeep Pradhan, a Registered Technology Transfer Professional, is the interim director of the Wyoming Technology Transfer and Research Products Center at UW. The Cheyenne Post published UW’s announcement.

Sheridan Media published UW’s release on an upcoming university-sponsored webinar that is offered through the Wyoming Community Navigator Program. The webinar will focus on how small-business owners can learn techniques to find more customer leads and increase their sales.

Brian Mealor, UW’s Sheridan Research and Extension Center director, updated Sheridan County commissioners on how the Institute for Managing Annual Grasses Invading Natural Ecosystems is helping to combat invasive grasses in Wyoming. The Sheridan Press reported on Mealor’s discussion.

WyoToday Media published UW’s release and highlighted Fremont County students who placed in the recent Wyoming History Day competition at UW’s American Heritage Center. More than 100 students statewide competed for honors.

UW is among 55 U.S. colleges and universities that have been selected to research how total solar eclipses impact the atmosphere as part of the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project, according to a CS-T article. A team of eight UW students will have the opportunity to launch half-pound weather balloons this October and next April.

KNEB published UW’s release announcing that “The Art of the Railroad: Seeing Romance in Reality,” a new exhibition, is on display at UW’s American Heritage Center.