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 Laramie Boomerang reported that UW officials will make a supplemental budget request of nearly $55 million to the Wyoming Legislature for unforeseen financial needs. If approved, the additional money will account for gaps in the university budget created by inflation and help address low staff and faculty wages.

WyoFile reprinted a Writers on the Range piece in which UW College of Law Professor Jason Robison explained how the Bureau of Reclamation asked the seven states in the Colorado River Compact to find a way to cut their total water usage by up to 4 million acre feet. The article noted that no set plans have emerged.

In a related article, UW geology and geophysics Professor Tom Minckley was among experts who commented on growing water shortages affecting Western states in an E&E News article titled “Arid West starts dreaming about piping in water from afar.”

WyoToday Media published UW’s release noting that UW molecular biologist Thomas Boothby is part of a new national institute that will explore how organisms survive extremely dry conditions for long periods. The Carnegie-led Water and Life Interface Institute recently was awarded a $12.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

John Koprowski, an international squirrel expert and dean of UW’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, explained in a Cowboy State Daily article what a “splooting squirrel” is. Splooting is when a squirrel will splay itself out on the ground because it is hot.

Bankovia, a website devoted to helping people make smart financial choices, selected UW as a “Best Online College for Exercise Science.” The UW Master of Science in kinesiology and health program is designed to prepare graduates for either doctorate study or a career in education.

UW’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics worked with the Wyoming Secretary of State’s office in officially certifying results from the recent primary election. According to WyoFile, the Secretary of State’s office used a mathematical tool to determine a sample size significant enough to deliver a 99 percent confidence level in the election results.

The Casper Star-Tribune interviewed some college students, including one from UW, for an article that focused on President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan -- announced last week -- that could bring relief to some students attending Wyoming colleges.

The Wyoming Legislature is considering initiating a new form of elections in the state, such as open primaries and ranked choice voting, according to Cowboy State Daily. UW College of Law Professor Ken Chestek discussed the merits of ranked choice voting in the Cowboy State.

Cowboy State Daily quoted Gary Beauvais, director of the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database at UW, in an article on a public land “corner-crossing” civil case involving out-of-state hunters. Beauvais said that his team errs on the side of caution when taking to the field -- sometimes near private land -- to document Wyoming’s native wild animals and plants.

Beauvais also spoke with Cowboy State Daily for a separate piece focusing on the declining number of bee species not only in Wyoming, but worldwide as well. UW Extension entomologist Scott Schell also was interviewed for the article.

Wyoming Public Radio carried a segment on “A Sissy in Wyoming” that focuses on Larry Goodwin's life. A playwright’s reading about Goodwin, a cross-dressing Wyoming man who died in 2020, will travel around the state beginning next month, according to UW’s American Heritage Center, one of the production’s sponsors.

WalletHub interviewed Anne Alexander, UW vice provost for strategic planning and initiatives and an economist, for a question-and-answer column on the online website’s recent study about the “Hardest-Working States in America.” Wyoming came in 10th on the list overall and tied for second with North Dakota in one category for most working hours put in each week.

Chad Baldwin, UW’s associate vice president for communications and marketing, was interviewed by Sheridan Media to discuss UW engineering students’ participation in NASA’s Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams engineering design challenge.

The Buffalo Bulletin republished an article quoting Jeremiah Vardiman, an agriculture and horticulture educator for UW Extension, on this summer’s weather, which has been beneficial to Wyoming farmers and ranchers.

UW’s release touting the Friendship Families of Laramie program -- a volunteer non-live-in host family program that matches local Laramie families with UW international students for the purpose of friendship and understanding -- was published on the Laramie Live website.

Sheridan Media published UW’s release announcing that the College of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Natural Resources’ Wyoming Wool Initiative’s limited-edition wool throw is now available for sale online. The Wyoming Wool Initiative blankets are made with wool from UW’s sheep flock and manufactured at Buffalo’s Mountain Meadow Wool Mill.

UW’s School of Energy Resources, Atlas Carbon and Wood PLC will hold a groundbreaking ceremony Sept. 2 to launch a new coal refinery demonstration project north of Gillette, according to The Gillette News Record.

Hits106 published UW’s release announcing that updates this fall to UWYO Roundup, the university’s transit system, include extended hours and a new app that is now in effect. The Laramie radio station published another release noting that Tabatha Spencer, the executive business manager for UW’s Science Initiative, is the Staff Employee of the Second Quarter.

Registration is open for the 2022 Wyoming Blockchain Stampede, featuring the WyoHackathon and Wyoming Cybersecurity Conference next month. Using UW’s release, The Sheridan Press noted that the stampede is sponsored by UW’s Center for Blockchain and Digital Innovation.

The Laramie Boomerang noted that UW and others are collaborating with Wyoming Hunger Initiative to collect food donations this Saturday during the Cowboys’ football home opener against Tulsa.