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:

UW researchers’ efforts to better understand the habitat needs of nongame species with declining populations in Wyoming’s sagebrush steppe were highlighted by the Jackson Hole News & Guide. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department considers pygmy rabbits, loggerhead shrikes, Brewer’s sparrows, sage thrashers and sagebrush sparrows to be “species of greatest conservation need,” meaning that they face declining populations, habitat loss or that there is not sufficient information to assess their status.

A large majority of Wyomingites believe climate change is happening, although they’re split on the reasons for it, according to a survey conducted by UW’s Center for Rural Resilience and Innovation. WyoFile reported on the survey, which also found that 82 percent of respondents agreed that Wyoming is at risk of changing water resources.

Jonathan Naughton, director of UW’s Wind Energy Research Center, was quoted in a WyoFile article about the impact of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Act on Wyoming’s energy economy. While declining to speculate on the measure’s potential implications for Wyoming’s electricity ratepayers, Naughton said wind and solar projects can be installed the fastest at present.

UW Associate Professor Jerry Fowler commented in a Wyoming Public Media story about how a U.S. Supreme Court ruling could mean that birthright citizenship could depend upon in which states babies are born to noncitizen parents. While saying he’s sympathetic to the Supreme Court’s ruling on universal injunctions, Fowler disagreed with a state-by-state approach to birthright citizenship.

Researchers in UW’s College of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Natural Resources have been awarded a $75,000 grant to study the feasibility of growing intermediate wheatgrass in eastern Wyoming, according to a report in Farming Portal. This novel grain was developed by the Land Institute, a Kansas-based organization, as a way for farmers to boost the health of their soils while providing a more profitable crop.

UW Professor George Mocsary, director of the Firearms Research Center in the College of Law, was cited twice in a new ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court. First was an article he wrote in the Cato Institute’s Supreme Court Review, “Upending the Rhetoric of the Modern Second Amendment.” Second was an amicus brief he co-wrote urging the U.S. Supreme Court to ensure that federal law adheres to adequate due process protections.

UW’s media release about the recent Wyoming Learning Communities for Pedagogies of Innovative Excellence gathering in Rock Springs was picked up by Oil City News, County 17 and other outlets. The event, led by the UW Science Initiative’s Learning Actively Mentoring Program, featured educators from across Wyoming sharing innovative teaching strategies developed throughout the 2024–25 academic year.

UW’s Early Childhood Outreach Network is a partner in the launch of child care provider grants by the Wyoming Interagency Working Group on Childcare, according to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. In total, 25 in-home and center-based providers across the state received $183,450 in funding.

UW’s Wyoming Migration Initiative reported that Mule Deer 665 arrived on her Teton Pass summer range after migrating 173 miles this spring, according to an article in Buckrail.

The Powell Tribune published an article on UW art student Augusta Larsen, who is part of a group from UW going to the Galway Arts Festival in Ireland.

Kathryn Stevens, assistant director of UW’s Neltje Center for Excellence in Creativity and the Arts, wrote an op-ed, “Why rural Wyoming needs the arts now more than ever,” that was published by The Sheridan Press.