College students tour WNC ‘Safe Passage’ projects

Earlier this year, members of Safe Passage, including the N.C. Department of Transportation, led a tour of wildlife crossing project sites along Interstate 40. 

Big Atlas weekend is coming

Birders around the state are encouraged to grab their binoculars, guidebooks, hiking boots and best birding friends for a weekend of non-stop “atlasting” from June 28-30. 

WCU gets grant to study mosquitoes

Brian Byrd, Western Carolina University’s mosquito expert and professor in the environmental health sciences program, along with Scott Huffman, professor in WCU’s Department of Chemistry and Physics, have been approved for grant funding from NCInnovation to continue their work in developing tools that utilizes spectroscopy to analyze vibrational signals from mosquitoes. 

More chronic wasting disease cases recorded

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) is confirming 13 new cases of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) from deer samples submitted since July 1, 2023.

WCU Faculty, students collaborate on Health Equity Data Consortium

Although it has been four years since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the effects are still being felt around the world, especially in rural communities that do not have adequate access to health resources. 

Research measures disease impact on elusive mountain rabbit

Researchers are concerned that the Appalachian cottontail’s population may be impacted by a fast-spreading virus, RHDV2. 

Feeling the forest: Forest therapy offers opportunity for restoration

With my eyes closed, I can’t see the patchwork of brown leaves and fallen twigs covering the forest floor before me, the pale green lattice of lichen peppering the trunks of upward-reaching trees, or the waters of Fisher Creek rushing over a bed of weathered rocks.

An artist's legacy: New database contributes to study of George Masa's photography

Angelyn Whitmeyer might be the last person you would expect to contribute to ongoing research surrounding a Japanese photographer who found inspiration in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Engineering and athletics team up with Penn State on head impact research at WCU

Clayton Bardall, a graduate student in Western Carolina University’s Engineering Technology program and tight end for WCU’s football team, recently combined his two passions — football and engineering — on a project that will have a major impact on athletes for generations to come. 

Research to test for contamination near Canton mill property

A research project aiming to understand contamination levels outside the fence line of the now-shuttered Canton paper mill is likely to draw more than a quarter-million dollars in state funding to test soil, water and air samples nearby. 

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