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 arrival of the “super” El Niño, marked by unusually warm surface water in the central and eastern reaches of the tropical Pacific Ocean, could wreak ecological havoc worldwide, according to scientists quoted in the journal Science. One of those mobilizing to save threatened species or track ecosystems’ responses to record heat is UW Professor Corey Tarwater, who is deploying insect traps and acoustic recorders that can capture the sounds of birds and bats in the Panamanian jungle in anticipation of extremely dry conditions there.

UW’s release about a nearly $1 million grant to UW’s Yu-Tsung “Rem” Tsai to create two-dimensional materials for quantum computing and sensing was picked up by the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

Jay Shogren, UW’s Stroock Chair of Natural Resource Conservation and Management, spoke at the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce’s economic forecast breakfast last week, according to Wyoming News Now. He said that, while energy and minerals are “clearly the biggest player in the state,” he believes creative arts are the best way to attract and keep people in the state.

WyoFile highlighted UW undergraduate researcher Will Anderson’s discovery of the rare insect Grylloblattodea, or ice crawlers, in rock glaciers of Yellowstone National Park.

UW Professor Ryan Williamson was quoted in an Adams Multimedia article about how political polling can be inaccurate. The problem, he says, is that “almost nobody answers polls anymore.”

UW’s Near-Surface Geophysics Instrument Center conducted a geophysical survey that identified more than 6 million pounds of uranium in the Duck Creek Uranium Project, which covers 4,160 acres in Converse County, according to the Casper Star-Tribune.

UW Professor Bart Geerts is quoted in a Ski Magazine article about a new company that says its cloud-seeding efforts will produce snow for ski areas. Geerts is skeptical of Rainmaker’s technology claims, but he wasn’t afraid to call the company a “game changer” in other regards.

The Sheridan Press published UW’s release about new research showing that mice that exercised lowered their risk for Alzheimer’s disease. The finding could prove promising in helping humans lower their risk of the disease that causes progressive cognitive decline.

The Sheridan Press and the Casper Star-Tribune also picked up UW’s release about the receipt of a federal grant by UW’s Department of Graduate Medical Education to establish a new Family Medicine Rural Training Program in Buffalo. The award will support planning, development and accreditation activities to launch Wyoming’s second rural residency training track, creating new opportunities for physicians to complete residency training in rural communities and helping address healthcare workforce shortages across the state.

The Sheridan Press also published an op-ed by Micah Most, a UW Extension agriculture and natural resources educator, marking the end of the growing season.

The UW Jazz Combo will perform a live set with the Natrona County High School Big Band Oct. 21, according to Oil City News.

O’Neil Jones, associate director of choral activities and choral music education at UW, directed the Gillette Chamber Singers at the group’s fallow show Oct. 17, reported the Gillette News Record.