Geological
Mapping in Alaska
Bears, freeze-dried food, and cold, wet weather. Oh my!
These are just a few obstacles WVU Assistant Professor of Geology
Jaime Toro and two graduate students, Laura Burnette of Houghton,
Michigan, and Francis Rengers of Westover, faced this past summer
on a geological mapping trip of the York Mountains in Alaska.
"I've done extensive work in northern Alaska," Toro
said. "I wrote my doctorate dissertation on the structure
of the Brooks Range. In the 1950s it was hypothesized that the
mountains were formed due to compression or thrust faulting,
but after preliminary research, I hypothesized that the York
Mountains were formed due to extension or normal faulting. This
trip was designed to prove that."
The trip was funded by a grant from the U.S. Geological Survey.
"I learned how to use technology resources such as remotely
sensed high altitude satellite photos and the Global Positioning
System unit for the acquisition of field data," Rengers
said. "I learned several techniques assessing structural
geology through observation and measurements of different types
of folds and faults."
"In the future, I would like to be a geology professor,
and I think this experience revealed the essence of field research
to me as I embark on more research in the coming years,"
Rengers said.
Chemistry
Research Receives National Recognition
Work done by a research team in the WVU Eberly College of Arts
and Sciences' Department of Chemistry, in collaboration with
researchers at GE Plastics of Parkersburg, made the August 15
cover of Analytical Chemistry, the premier journal of
research advances in the field of analytical chemistry.
The cover article, "Determination of Bromine in Flame-Retardant
Plastics Using Pulsed Glow Discharge Mass Spectrometry,"
centered on developing the technique of glow discharge mass spectrometry
(GDMS) for use in maintaining the high quality of plastics manufactured
by GE.
The research was conducted by WVU graduate students Lei Li and
John T. Millay, and Davidson College undergraduate student Annette
V. Welty, under the direction of Eberly College Associate Dean
Fred L. King in collaboration with Dr. Christopher M. Barshick
of GE.
The project centered on bromine because it is widely used in
flame retardant additives in plastics. In order to determine
trace elements in polymers and polymer additives, the group used
pulsed glow discharge time of flight mass spectrometry, a technique
developed at WVU. This technique affords advantages including:
simple sample production and rapid sample analysis, important
factors for use in industry.
The technique is being applied to the determination of other
trace elements in plastics and plastic additives. Monitoring
the composition of the plastics ensures their physical and mechanical
properties. The determination of a range of trace elements is
important in the plastic recycling industry as well.
Forensics
Receives Federal Funding
Funds added to federal appropriations legislation by U.S. Senator
Robert C. Byrd will benefit WVU's Forensic Identification Program.
Byrd added $4 million for the program in the Fiscal Year 2002
Commerce- Justice-State Appropriations Bill.
"With my support, the University's forensic program is developing
the personnel resources and research capacity to support the
soaring student interest and industry demand," Byrd said.
Employment opportunities for WVU's forensic graduates are expanding
rapidly. Currently, all students with a biometrics specialty
are employed in West Virginia by biometric companies and subcontractors
for the Biometric Fusion Center. Students with a forensics specialty
support law enforcement and homeland defense efforts throughout
the mid-Atlantic region in federal agencies, including the Secret
Service and the State Department.
"These WVU graduates possess real-world knowledge and training
which helps to kick-start successful careers and to protect the
nation from crime and terrorist attack. West Virginia is proud
of the WVU Forensics Program which is a shining star of academic
excellence," Byrd said.
Homeland Security
Efforts Receive Federal Funding
Nearly $2 million that U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd included in
federal legislation and a nearly $900,000 grant from the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services will benefit a WVU initiative
aimed at preparing doctors and emergency personnel to respond
to terrorist attacks on American soil.
"West Virginia University is developing what promises to
be a key tool in America's homeland security efforts," Byrd
said.
The WVU Virtual Medical Campus and its Integrated Knowledge Base
(VMC/IKB) are designed to provide education, training, and certification
services for emergency responders. The program's goal is to develop
a nationwide information delivery and access system for education,
training, and certification of police officers, firefighters,
and paramedics to man-made and natural disasters.
Specifically, WVU will use the funding secured by Byrd to continue
to develop the VMC/IKB; to conduct a weapons of mass destruction
exercise to assess the response of emergency teams; and to create
online training programs that can assist first responders across
the country.
The funding is part of $26.6 million awarded nationwide to provide
bio- terrorism continuing education training and curriculum enhancement
programs.
Water
Resources Institute to Receive Funds
The West Virginia Water Research Institute (WVWRI) at WVU is
slated to receive five awards totaling $1.67 million to conduct
water research in the state.
The Institute, located at the National Research Center for Coal
and Energy at WVU, seeks to improve West Virginia's water quality
and increase understanding of ways to manage and protect water
resources in the state.
"We don't want to be caught by surprise when we don't have
enough water 30 years from now," said Paul Ziemkiewicz,
WVWRI director. "We need to look ahead. The funds we will
receive will allow us to do research on water quality, quantity,
and use. We look to the state's citizens through forums like
this one to help guide our work."
The Institute has already received two of the awards, while the
remaining three are in various stages of negotiation. The two
funded projects include the acid drainage technology initiative
with a $198,700 award from the U.S. Office of Surface Mining,
and urbanization and climate change impacts on the Great Valley
karst aquifer in West Virginia with $230,000 from the U.S. Department
of Agriculture. The three pending projects include developing
strategies for cooling electric generating facilities using mine
water, classifying Appalachian headwater stream impairment for
remediation and management, and improving the safety of coal
slurry impoundments.
Examining
Weight Gain in Children
A WVU researcher is searching for the origins of obesity in West
Virginia children. Cindy Fitch, an assistant professor of human
nutrition and foods in WVU's Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry,
and Consumer Sciences, will work with WVU Extension to examine
the relationship between the dietary patterns of preschool children
and their body mass index.
Body mass index (BMI) is a way to assess weight for height that
helps determine whether an individual is at an average weight,
at risk for being overweight, or is overweight by comparing an
individual BMI to national standards. Fitch will be working with
Extension personnel in Mercer and McDowell counties.
Researchers will interview parents and children, take BMI information,
and conduct interviews on dietary habits.
"In addition to examining the relationship between diet
and BMI, we will be looking at family characteristics that influence
the diets of preschool children," Fitch said. Some of those
characteristics may be how much the mother knows about nutrition,
how strictly parents try to control their child's intake, the
parents' BMIs, and whether or not the household always has enough
food for everyone, an issue known as "food security."
"We hope to use this information to help the Extension Service
Family Nutrition Program design and implement an effective education
program for limited-resource families in the area," Fitch
said. Once that end is accomplished, the research team plans
to examine some of the over-arching issues involved.
"We expect to use the information as preliminary data to
serve as the basis for a larger study to find ways to prevent
excessive weight gain in West Virginia's children," Fitch
said. "So far, we have not been very effective at treating
obesity. It is imperative that we find ways to prevent it."
The project is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture.
WVU Welcomes
Spanish Nonprofit Foundation
Believing membership will help launch its efforts in the emerging
field of biometrics and information assurance, Gaiker Technological
Center of Spain signed papers last July becoming the first international
member of the Center for Identification Technology Research (CITeR),
based at WVU.
Gaiker offers companies in Spain innovative technologies related
to plastic materials and composites, the environment, recycling,
and industrial biotechnology, but plans to expand into biometrics.
"We gather know-how, [and] adapt and develop technologies
in order to transfer these to companies with the aim of improving
their level of competitiveness," said Edorta Larrauri, international
relations manager for Gaiker. "We believe our membership
in CITeR will help with research as we specialize in this (biometrics)
area."
WVU developed CITeR in 2000 with three other universities after
receiving a National Science Foundation grant. Since then, it
has expanded to include more than a dozen industry and government
members including the Department of Defense and the FBI, as well
as seven academic partners. The goal of CITeR is to further the
development of biometrics through new technologies research,
interdisciplinary training of scientists and engineers, and facilitation
of the transfer of this technology to the private and government
sectors.
Studying Couples
in their Golden Years
A WVU psychologist is studying the everyday lives of older adults.
The Daily Life Study by Jennifer Margrett will assess how couples
65 and older perform daily tasks and explore strategies for maintaining
that level of performance. The study will also examine factors
related to everyday life, including personality, health, and
social support.
"The focus of the research is on the 'give and take' developed
between long-term married couples over the years," said
Margrett, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology.
"Results of the study will add to the understanding of everyday
functioning in older adulthood and contribute to the well-being
of future generations of senior citizens," Margrett added.
Journalism
Professor Receives Diversity Grant
A West Virginia University Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism
professor has received a $994 grant from the West Virginia Higher
Education Policy Commission to begin development of a diversity
partnership with Jackson State University in (JSU) Jackson, Mississippi.
Assistant Professor Phylissa Mitchell applied for the grant so
that a faculty member from each institution could plan collaborative
research, student and faculty exchanges, and online course offerings
co-taught by faculty of both institutions.
By combining resources, Mitchell said, "we believe we can
immediately improve the diversity interests of both institutions."
To achieve its goal of a more diverse curriculum, the P.I. Reed
School of Journalism proposed partnering with the JSU Department
of Mass Communications because of its high minority enrollment.
Like WVU, JSU is a doctoral-research intensive Carnegie institution.
But unlike WVU, the school has a 98 percent African American
enrollment and is an urban campus.
Differences between the two programs are complementary. P.I.
Reed's largest enrollment is in public relations and the smallest
in broadcast journalism.
JSU's most popular major is broadcast journalism, and the fewest
students are enrolled in public relations.
P.I. Reed has a healthy graduate education program across all
disciplines and an integrated marketing certification program.
JSU has a very small graduate program centering on urban communications.
Mitchell said she hopes that a first step will be to develop
online courses and an exchange program. Jackson State could offer
an online course in how black media has shaped America, something
the WVU School of Journalism doesn't offer now.
"Student exchanges would introduce the urban Jackson State
students to the rural wonders of West Virginia. A WVU student
would be introduced to an urban campus environment. Students
from each institution would be introduced to an utterly new academic
environment," Mitchell said.