Category: The Latest News

A University of Wyoming academic professional has been named a recipient of the prestigious UW Foundation Stewardship Award for 2026. Alison Doherty, an associate research scientist in the Department of Veterinary Sciences, was one of two UW employees recognized for exceptional leadership in fostering strong relationships with donors.

For more than a decade, Jennifer “Jenny” Ingwerson-Niemann, a senior lecturer in the University of Wyoming’s Department of Animal Science, has served as UW’s only equine science instructor. For her dedication to hands-on education and the UW community, Ingwerson-Niemann is among 10 recipients of the 2026 John P. Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award.

Housing development is expanding, pushing homes into wild landscapes at an unprecedented pace. Yet, as residential development moves into previously undeveloped areas, those same species face more than the direct loss of land under a building’s footprint—they also can lose access to the habitat surrounding those homes, multiplying the effective impact of each new structure.

When it comes to University of Wyoming faculty recognition, it’s hard to beat the past two years for Department of Ecosystem Science and Management Professor Scott Shaw. After receiving the 2025 John P. Ellbogen Lifetime Teaching Award that recognizes the long, distinguished, and exemplary career of one senior faculty member who has excelled as a teacher at UW, Shaw has been selected as the recipient of the 2026 George Duke Humphrey Distinguished Faculty Award, the university’s top faculty honor.

A new perspective article in the journal Biological Conservation argues that virtual livestock fencing could reshape how ranchers and conservationists manage working lands. The article was led by Drew Bennett, the Whitney MacMillan Professor of Practice in the University of Wyoming’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, and co-written by Haub School colleagues Temple Stoellinger and Jacob Hochard, and UW Department of Zoology and Physiology faculty members Jerod Merkle and Kurt Smith.

This year, the weather has been very challenging across most of Wyoming. Despite some recent welcome precipitation, many of our communities are still dealing with drought and/or water use restrictions. The tips below can help you make the most of the water you have.

Owen Funk, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wyoming in the Department of Molecular Biology, was recently awarded a highly competitive National Institutes of Health (NIH) Pathway to Independence Grant. The five-year grant from the NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) began March 2026.

April marked the Month of the Military Child, a month where military youth are recognized for their courage, sacrifices, and service to their communities, country, and their world. While navigating childhood and pre-adolescence can be challenging for all youth, military youth face additional challenges as their families serve. must they be recognized for their resilience and service. The University of Wyoming Extension recognizes and appreciates how much these youth do for their communities.

The University of Wyoming’s Institute for Managing Annual Grasses Invading Natural Ecosystems (IMAGINE) has released two short films highlighting cheatgrass management efforts in Carbon and Sublette counties. These films are the latest installments in an ongoing seven-part series highlighting collaborative efforts to “defend the core” from invasive annual grasses like cheatgrass, medusahead, and ventenata.

The University of Wyoming Extension has re-opened its Plant Diagnostic Clinic, which assesses plant samples that may harbor diseases. Based in Laramie but serving communities statewide, the Plant Diagnostic Clinic supports county extension educators and community members by diagnosing possible diseases in any type of plant, including houseplants, turf, row crops, forages, and even trees.

The Wyoming State 4-H Foundation awarded more than $74,000 in scholarships to Wyoming 4-H’ers attending the University of Wyoming or a Wyoming community college in the 2026 – 2027 academic year. The scholarship committee awarded approximately $41,500 to first-time winners, says Steve Mack, Wyoming State 4-H Foundation director.

For those interested in connecting with local artists and agriculturalists, the University of Wyoming Extension will lead a series of free self-guided Ag & Art tours from May through September. The first Ag & Art event takes place in Natrona County Saturday, May 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. “We had a great season last year and are excited to bring this event to five counties this summer, kicking things off [in] Natrona County,” says Hailey Sorg, Wyoming’s Jay Kemmerer Outdoor Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality (WORTH) Institute extension educator.

Wild bumble bees are in decline, and various parasites may be a major cause. But there hasn’t been any data on whether Wyoming bees have parasites and to what degree—until now. Amy Storey, a University of Wyoming third-year master’s student in zoology and physiology, shed light on her research when she took center stage at the recent Wyoming Chapter of the Wildlife Society meeting in Sheridan.

Four University of Wyoming graduate students have been awarded prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships. Alex Kurtt, Collin Porter, and Lena Wigger, all graduate students in the UW Department of Zoology and Physiology, and Josephine Walton, a UW master’s student in molecular biology, will each receive one of the nation’s most highly competitive awards for graduate studies. The fellowships are awarded to graduate students who are pursuing research-based degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

The Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station (WAES) commended faculty, staff, and students at an annual awards banquet in Laramie Thursday, April 9. WAES is the research arm of the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Natural Resources.