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 National Space Grant Foundation published the latest UW release promoting the Science Initiative’s STEM-ology program -- a monthly series of themed science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) events for all ages. The NASA Wyoming Space Grant-funded program concludes with such events as Toddler Tuesdays, Senior Science Fridays and fun-filled family Science Saturdays.

As the data center boom continues in Wyoming, the state’s natural gas industry may play an increasing role in powering the computing systems with electricity. One such project noted in a WyoFile article is a collaborative “large-scale” commercial carbon storage hub near Granger -- involving UW and others -- that will capture and permanently store the natural gas generator carbon emissions.

The Powell Tribune featured UW’s Anna Chalfoun, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit assistant unit leader, and her students’ local project focusing on the first recapture of a songbird fitted with a backpack geolocator they deployed a year earlier.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department and UW scientists are continuing their research project on bighorn sheep in the Jackson region, according to Pinedale Online. Researchers from the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources and Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, both at UW, performed tests on each animal, including 12 collared females that were evaluated.

WyoFile reported on how cow elk hunting could soon cease in six greater Yellowstone ecosystem herds, while nearly half of hunter-killed bulls could be decimated if chronic wasting disease rates reach projected levels over the next decade. A U.S. Geological Survey report that featured eight disease experts -- including those from UW -- was cited in the article on what the future holds for most of those herds.

UW’s Matt Fry, Center for Energy Regulation and Policy Analysis director, and Lon Whitman, Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute director, both were quoted in a Cowboy State Daily piece titled “Pumping CO₂ Into Wells Helps With Recovery But Wyoming Energy Leaders Say Cost Is High.”

Cowboy State Daily also published an article focusing on the discovery of massive oil and gas reserves in southwest Wyoming. The article cited UW’s research on the discovery, partially from data obtained on the Mowry Shale.

Carol Frost, UW emerita professor of geology, was quoted in an Earth.com article that focused on scientists who confirmed that a piece of Gneiss -- a coarse to medium-grained banded metamorphic rock -- recently discovered in Michigan stands as the oldest rock in the U.S. It contains zircon crystals that formed around 3.82 billion years ago.

Astrobiology published a “white paper” titled “The Astrobiology Data Ecosystem, Open Science, And The AI Era” that included Jian Gong, a UW School of Computing assistant research scientist, among several authors. Astrobiology is cross-disciplinary and studies the origin, history, status and fate of habitable planets, life, ecosystems and civilizations. 

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle noted that the Wyoming Historic Preservation Office and the Wyoming State Museum have collaborated with UW’s Archaeological Repository to create a temporary exhibition featuring bone needles that were discovered in eastern Wyoming.

Lars Roeder, a UW visual arts printmaking visiting assistant professor, was among six professionals selected for the Jentel Presents program in Sheridan. The program provides the opportunity for artists to share their visual artworks and writing with the local community, according to Sheridan Media.

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported that Cheyenne Frontier Days’ Old West Museum -- in collaboration with UW’s Department of English -- presented a program last week titled “Re-Storying the West,” a unique community storytelling program.

Karagh Brummond, director of UW’s Top-Tier Science Initiative Engagement and Outreach Program, led a STEM hands-on program recently for Cody elementary-age students, according to The Cody Enterprise.

A “UW in Your Community” event was recently held in Evanston as part of a statewide event that takes university officials and students to every county in Wyoming. UW representatives discussed the university’s economic and entrepreneurial programs to local citizens, according to a Bridger Valley Pioneer article that first appeared in the Uinta County Herald.

The Rawlins Times published UW’s release announcing the opening of a new exhibition titled “An Artist’s Journey West: Alfred Jacob Miller, 1837” at the American Heritage Center.

UW Extension’s new educational series -- Rancher’$ E.D.G.E. (Excellence in Development, Grazing and Economics) -- is designed to support ranchers in navigating the complexities of modern livestock and land management. The program is for ranchers, family members and employees actively involved in the management and care of a ranching operation, according to a UW media release published by Sheridan Media.

Registration is now open for an online six-week course -- titled “Preserve@Home” -- designed to teach how to safely preserve food at home. It will be taught by a UW Extension educator in collaboration with University of Idaho Extension, according to a UW Extension media release published by Western Ag Reporter and Cap City News.