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:

Wyoming News Now and News Pub published UW’s release noting that a collaborative initiative involving the university, Wyoming community colleges and Colorado institutions has been selected by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to drive innovation, technology and economic growth in the region. Also publishing similar articles on the potential 10-year, $160 million NSF grant were CU Boulder Today and The Coloradoan.

WyoFile interviewed several experts, including Tayler LaSharr, a UW postdoctoral research associate, on the long-term implications of this year’s mild weather, which is a major departure from last winter’s heavy snowfall and brutal temperatures that affected wildlife herds, especially in western Wyoming.

A measure that would provide a $10 million “stimulus” to encourage more carbon capture for use in the oil industry will advance to the coming legislative session. UW’s Lon Whitman, Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute director, told WyoFile that, for the oil industry, CO₂ has always been seen as a valuable commodity.

The Laramie Boomerang reported that the UW Board of Trustees discussed updates on campus construction projects during its recent meeting. The board voted to name the soon-to-be-constructed natatorium the UW Aquatics Center. The board also voted to approve and proceed with the schematic design of a roundabout at North 15th Street and East Willett Drive and update crosswalks along 15th Street.

In honor of Black History Month, the Sweetwater County Historical Museum is highlighting Bonnie Fermon, who is believed to be the first Black graduate of UW. SweetwaterNOW reported that Fermon, the daughter of a Rock Springs coal miner, graduated from UW in 1947.

The Laramie Boomerang published UW’s release noting that a variety of free public events are scheduled this month to celebrate Black History Month on campus.

Three members of UW’s Black 14 -- John Griffin, Mel Hamilton and Tony McGee -- will be present for a Black History Month celebration this week in Atlanta. The College Football Hall of Fame will honor the football players for their courage and their ongoing charitable work, according to a Georgia Tech media release.

Two teams of UW students have been selected to advance to Phase 2 in NASA’s 2024 Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams engineering design challenge. The Wyoming Tribune Eagle published UW’s release on the teams from the UW College of Engineering and Physical Sciences -- the UW Crater Cowboys and the UW Space Cowboys.

Oil City News reported that UW student Monica Mendoza’s “Flight of the Golden Bird” composition premiered at the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra’s concert last weekend in Casper. Mendoza is a second-year master’s student in music performance, with a concentration in flute.

Wyoming U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, seven of their Senate colleagues and a group of professors recently filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that bump stocks do not make guns automatic. Cowboy State Daily reported that UW College of Law Professor George Mocsary, a nationally known Second Amendment expert and director of UW’s Firearms Research Center (FRC), and FRC Senior Fellow David Kopel, research director at the Independence Institute, helped write the brief. 1011 NOW, in Lincoln, Neb., published a similar story.

Wyoming Public Radio noted that Ghanaian-Canadian Ekow Nimako -- an artist who uses LEGO to sculpt Afrofuturist visions and historical reimaginings -- has his artwork “Asamando” displayed in the UW Visual Arts Building this month.

Wyoming’s Future of Learning collaborative is accepting applications from school districts for the second round of a pilot project to reimagine K-12 education through competency-based learning. UW is among state partners collaborating on the project, reported County 17.

Scott Veatch, outreach coordinator for Wyoming Dementia Together (WDT), sponsored by UW’s Wyoming Center on Aging, was interviewed by Wyoming Public Radio about WDT’s statewide dementia-related programs offered online twice each month.

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle published UW’s release noting that UW’s Wyoming Institute for Disabilities has collaborated with Amanda DeDiego, an associate professor of counseling in the UW College of Education, to open state-of-the art telehealth booths in Goshen, Natrona and Park counties. The booths are part of the Public Access Telehealth Spaces project, which creates connections between providers and communities to integrate and coordinate telehealth, addressing issues of equity and access to services and supports.

The Wyoming Livestock Roundup published UW’s release announcing that UW’s Research and Economic Development Division recently recognized the achievements of UW’s outstanding faculty and departments with its inaugural Celebration of Research and Innovation Excellence.

Oil City News and County 10 published UW’s release announcing that the university’s third annual Ranch Management and Agricultural Leadership seminar series will begin Monday, Feb. 12, at Casper College.