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WCU Stories

martin tanaka

Engineering professor named as resident scholar for NSF funded research with FDA

Martin Tanaka, a professor in the College of Engineering and Technology, has been selected to be a scholar in residence with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, thanks to a grant from the National Science Foundation.   

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Forensic Anthropology Program expands, gains prominence

In 2019, a research team from WCU’s Forensic Anthropology Program began a concentrated search for the airman, drawing on local interviews, anecdotal information and lots of onsite field work, including excavations. They found Sgt. Francis W. Wiemerslage.  

potatopalooza

Inaugural 1889 Impact Grants Program provides support for 11 projects at WCU

Eleven projects ranging from student research into post-partum depression to improvements of a Cherokee plant garden at Highlands Biological Station are underway at WCU.  

right whales

History project is helping inform a documentary on endangered right whales

When Vicki Szabo, associate professor of history, finished her 2008 book on medieval whaling, she quipped in the acknowledgements she would remember all her WCU colleagues when it was made into a feature film.   

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School of Engineering and Technology receives nearly $1.5 million science grant

A program to foster the development of future technology entrepreneurs has gained monumental support through an almost $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation.   

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WCU lab helps Swedish researcher with mosquito project

Anders Lindström recently visited Cullowhee from the Swedish National Veterinary Institute. He was working in WCU’s Mosquito and Vector-Borne Infectious Disease Facility  

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Undergrads present research at conference forum

Students Melissa Rogers, Nathan Travis, Emily Ervin, Matthew Tuten, Kylie Conard and Faye Gant presented research projects at the Southern Conference Undergraduate Research Forum.   

Aerial shot of Apodaca science building

The Many Facets of Science

The newest jewel to adorn the campus of Western Carolina University is the cutting-edge, futuristic, uniquely organic Apodaca Science Building. Housing programs ranging from biology and chemistry to physics and forensic science, the building replaces the aging Natural Science Building which was built in the 1970s.  

Al Kopak and Alexa Singer

Professors hope data encourages empathetic approach to treating jail inmates with addiction issues

Two Western Carolina University professors with interests in jail populations and addiction issues collaborated with one regional county government to better understand the recovery needs of its jail inmates with substance use disorder.  

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