News/Events

WVU Department of Physics and Astronomy Postdoctoral Researcher, Dustin "Dusty" Madison, was named one of 13 Cottrell Fellows across the nation by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA). The award, which is also co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), of up to $75,000 for salary, benefits, and research-related expenses includes an expectation for continued pedagogical training for the postdocs in supportive environments.

Jacob Cardinal Tremblay, a senior Physics and Astronomy major at WVU, was chosen for a fellowship with the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) at the David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Toronto. During his internship, he worked closely with Dr. Cherry Ng and Dr. James McKee on dispersion measure variations in NANOGrav pulsars using data from CHIME (Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment).

“When I first heard about the Pulsar Search Collaboratory, (PSC) I knew that I had found something incredibly special. I was able to analyze raw data that no one had ever seen before. Searching for such fascinating stars confirmed that I want to be an astrophysicist. I found my passion.” -Katherine

Caitlin Witt, a graduate student in Physics and Astronomy at WVU, recently had her research published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Congratulations to Dr. Natalia Lewandowska who is now a Visiting Assistant Professor of Astronomy in the Physics and Astronomy Department at Haverford College, near Philadelphia, PA.

Dr. Dustin Madison is a postdoctoral researcher in the Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology working with Professor Maura McLaughlin. In his newest publication in the journal Physical Review Letters, he discusses Gravitational Wave memory and how it still shapes the way we see space.

Originally from Altoona, PA, Michael completed his bachelor’s degree in physics at West Virginia University. He just completed a gap year in training as a post-baccalaureate research assistant before moving into his PhD program this fall.

Congratulations to Maura McLaughlin, the Eberly Distinguished Professor of the WVU Department of Physics and Astronomy, for being named one of Nature's "Ones to watch" in 2019. McLaughlin and her colleagues monitor neutron stars, and could soon detect gravitational waves created by supermassive black holes for the first time.

Dr. Jason Best has been promoted to assistant provost for distance education and strategic research initiatives at Shepherd University.

West Virginia University’s Duncan Lorimer might be the godfather of the fast radio burst, but a pair of international students has taken exploring these mysterious cosmic flashes to a new level.