MFA Student Emerges as a Change-Maker in North Carolina

Lydia See is an artist in her own right, but she’s using her new platform as a recognized and emerging “change-maker” in North Carolina to showcase the works of others whose voices are rarely if ever, heard.  

Discover Her Story  

The Power of a Peanut

No? Well, Stephen Adom, a 32-year-old graduate student in the Master of Science in Chemistry program, is pushing the boundaries when it comes to filtering water. He is originally from Ghana and is studying chemistry with a focus on environmental chemistry.  

Biology professor Mack Powell discusses finding a COVID-19 vaccine

As a professor in Western Carolina University’s Department of Biology who specializes in immunology and infectious diseases, Mack Powell finds the COVID-19 pandemic particularly interesting.  

Biology Professor Mack Powell Discusses Finding a COVID-19 Vaccine

As a professor in Western Carolina University’s Department of Biology who specializes in immunology and infectious diseases, Mack Powell finds the COVID-19 pandemic particularly interesting. The virus has rapidly spread across the world, shutting down many countries along the way, while killing thousands in the process.  

Saving A Dying Language

Graduate History student working to translate Cherokee language from native newspapers. Constance Owl’s master’s degree thesis is more than a means to a graduate degree in American history. It’s a portal to understanding and perhaps saving, a disappearing language.  

The Nobel Mission - Forensic Anthropology Students Search for Lost WWII Airman

A mission to locate remains of a missing American airman from World War II in Germany was a homecoming, of a sort, for a Western Carolina University student. Anna Maier, a senior majoring in forensic anthropology, is a native of Germany and was part of a research team made up of WCU forensic anthropology faculty and students who, through a U.S. Department of Defense grant, spent three weeks this summer participating in a forensic archaeological search and excavation.  

Saving the Dusky Gopher Frog

Habitat destruction and degradation are mostly to blame for the dwindling numbers of amphibians worldwide, but there are other factors contributing to the overall decline—and some of these remain elusive. Joseph Pechmann's research on conservation and recovery of the endangered dusky gopher frog.  

Understanding Coyotes in Western North Carolina

Coyotes have called Western North Carolina home for about 30 years. They’re relatively new to the region compared to bobcats and foxes, who are established residents with hundreds of years of lineage. Western Carolina University’s Aimee Rockhill, an assistant professor in the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resources, is examining the role coyotes play on ecosystem function in western North Carolina.   

Transforming the Future: Community Roles in Adolescent Substance Use

“It’s just a phase.” “They are just being teenagers.” “I drank when I was their age and I was fine.” These are things I know that I heard as a kid and that I have heard said to kids today. The flip side of these beliefs is the misconception that adolescents cannot develop substance-use disorders.