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:

Science Magazine, Discover magazine and The Guardian published parts or all of UW’s release noting new research from a team, led by UW’s Randy Haas, an archaeology assistant professor, that challenges the “hunter-gatherers” narrative. The team’s research in the Andes of South America indicates that early humans had a diet that consisted of 80 percent plant-based food and 20 percent meat. Argentina Star, Yahoo News, The Independent, Business Insider, Vice, Earth.com and Inverse were among national and international media outlets reporting on Haas’ research that was published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE.

Also receiving worldwide attention is new UW research led by UW Ph.D. student Douglas Kamaru, who is part of Professor Jacob Goheen’s research group in the UW Department of Zoology and Physiology. The work shows that invasive ants in a Kenyan savanna have caused lions to change their predatory behavior. Publishing the work, which appeared in the journal Science, were worldwide media outlets, including National Public Radio, USA Today, Discover magazine, The Economist, Scientific American, Modern Ghana, Kenyans.co.ke, Axios and Barron’s.

UW botany Assistant Professor Lauren Shoemaker was prominently featured in The Atlantic about her battle with effects of long COVID. The article noted that, after contracting COVID in May 2022, Shoemaker could not do her UW alpine fieldwork or take long hikes, one of her personal passions. ReportWire republished the entire Atlantic article.

Wyoming Public Radio interviewed UW economist Rob Godby about the implications for Wyoming after a national report indicated that, for the first time, the U.S. will generate more electricity from wind and solar than from coal.

As Utah legislators grapple with the future of coal, economic experts say that, in the end, the market will ultimately decide the fate of the Beehive State’s coal production. Godby also was interviewed by Utah’s KUER Public Radio for his insights on the news.

Buckrail noted that, during a Jackson meeting to discuss revision of the Bridger-Teton National Forest’s Forest Plan, Melanie Armstrong, director of UW’s Ruckelshaus Institute -- who moderated the symposium -- said that plenty has changed in the past 30 years that warrants a revision of the forest’s guiding principles.

Ashley Hlebinsky, executive director of the Firearms Research Center (FRC), housed at the UW College of Law, was interviewed on a SHOT Show TV segment on YouTube. She discussed some of the center’s new programs, such as working with the public and media on the perception of firearms in culture and collaborating with Wyoming partners on a suicide prevention initiative.

The Washington Examiner reported that Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis, eight of her Senate colleagues and a group of professors recently filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of gun owners challenging the federal government’s ban on bump stocks. UW College of Law Professor George Mocsary, a nationally known Second Amendment rights expert and director of UW’s FRC, and FRC Senior Fellow David Kopel, research director at the Independence Institute, helped write the brief.

A year after a harsh winter that killed more than 70 percent of the female deer that researchers were monitoring in the Wyoming Range, Kevin Monteith, a UW professor and Wyoming Excellence Chair, told WyoFile that latest monitoring of the range’s herd indicates some of the fattest deer his team has ever seen heading into the cold months ahead. He said data is positive among all ages and sexes of the herd.

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle published UW’s release noting that the Wyoming Integrated Test Center will host a new $2.5 million project with Colorado State University, UW and Living Ink Technologies to convert an industrial source of carbon dioxide into high-value materials through an algae-based carbon transfer process. The project, also supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, began its initial phase in 2023.

Ryan Williamson, a UW political science assistant professor, is among three authors of “Nationalized Politics,” a new book that focuses on how national politics overshadow local affairs and candidates’ unique agendas. He spoke with Wyoming Public Radio about the book.

The Cody Enterprise reported that Park County Library recently unveiled its new PATHS Telehealth Booth in the health resources center. The booth is the result of the Public Access Telehealth Spaces Initiative, in collaboration with UW.

UW’s College of Education is launching the third cohort of the Wyoming Teacher-Mentor Corps, a program that fosters mentorship excellence for Wyoming educators, according to a UW media release published by WyoToday Media. The program creates a supportive environment for mentorship, building a community of educator fellows committed to their own professional growth and dedicated to supporting their peers, especially those new to the field.

Sheridan Media interviewed Chad Baldwin, UW’s associate vice president for marketing and communications, about UW’s commitment to serve the people of Wyoming, which has been recognized nationally by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Baldwin also discussed the Mellon Foundation’s $850,000 grant to UW’s Department of English for the project, “Re-Storying the West for a Transformative Future: We Are Wyoming.”