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:

Yahoo! News interviewed UW economist Chuck Mason for an article on the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline and the continued environmental backlash. Mason said he doesn’t think any amount of political or financial investment can make the project more successful in the long term.

All UW employees and students are required to wear face coverings on campus or while conducting school business, effective immediately, The Casper Star-Tribune (CS-T) reported. There is still no requirement for visitors to campus to wear face coverings, and the UW Board of Trustees may discuss masks later this month. Wyoming News Now and Wyo4News published UW’s release on the announcement.

Energy News Network interviewed Dr. Tracey Haas for an article focusing on coal communities, including those in Wyoming, that increasingly rely on federal health programs. Haas said states must improve health care in rural settings to reach those vulnerable populations. She is one of the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) Medical Education Program’s physician mentors at UW.

Spencer Pelton, a UW anthropology adjunct professor, commented in Science for an article about underwater caves in Mexico and the preservation of one of the world’s oldest ochre mines. The Science Times published a similar article.

The Laramie Boomerang reported that, for the second time, Albany County District Judge Tori Kricken ruled that UW has the power to regulate and prohibit firearms on its campus, and its gun policy does not violate the Second Amendment. The case has been ongoing for two years.

Former UW Black 14 football players John Griffin and Tony McGee shared their past and how it relates to today’s racial injustice movement sweeping the nation in a WyoFile article.

Cosmos, the science of everything website, cited the research of Jason McConnell, an assistant professor in the UW School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies, and a colleague for an article, titled “COVID-19 affects some more than others.”

A UW study was cited in Image, a Dublin, Ireland-based publication, for an article on when best to send children to school. The UW research noted that age diversity in early school years is beneficial, and young students actually had better outcomes when they were learning alongside relatively older peers.

The CS-T noted that U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch’s visit to the UW campus this fall has been pushed back a year because of COVID-19 concerns. He was scheduled to be part of the College of Law’s 100th anniversary celebration. Wind River News Network published UW’s release on the announcement.

UW economist Rob Godby was part of a statewide webinar, titled “Reclaiming and Growing Wyoming’s Future,” that examined Wyoming’s energy future, reported The Rocket Miner.

The federal government has moved to block the venture planned by Peabody Energy Corp. and Arch Resources Inc. over concerns the move could stifle competition and hurt consumers by hiking up prices for the commodity. The article, first published by The CS-T that quoted Godby, was republished on Pocatello, Idaho television station KPVI.

True Median published an article on a UW study that revealed the impacts of climate change on migrating mule deer. The lead author of the study was Ellen Aikens, a 2019 graduate of the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at UW.

Lusha Tronstad, a UW invertebrate zoologist, and Christy Bell, a UW doctoral student, have spent the last three years studying the decline of the Western bumblebee. Seed Today, Environmental News Network, Oil City News, SweetwaterNOW and Phys.org were among outlets publishing UW’s release on the study.

Oil City News and Sheridan Media published UW’s release noting that the UW Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology will offer a summer short course covering timely topics on policing, racial discrimination and criminal justice reform.

UW’s release announcing the winners of the inaugural Wind River Startup Challenge was published by Oil City News. The entrepreneurial competition will help the five new businesses contribute to the economy of the Wind River Indian Reservation, Fremont County and Wyoming.

The Boomerang reported that the UW Board of Trustees approved new degree and certificate programs in geospatial information science and technology. The Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center on campus will manage the programs.

UW Assistant Professor Karen Vaughan and her team are studying unique wetland soil samples along the central coast of California, noted an American Society of Agronomy article printed by Phys.org.