Press Releases

Western New Mexico University Student Research and Professional Development (SRPD), funded through a student fee, has sponsored student research assistants and scholars this summer. The WNMU Scholars program, started in the summer of 2017, allows student to pursue their own research projects. The WNMU Research Assistant program, started in summer of 2019, allows faculty to recruit students to collaborate on their ongoing research projects. Throughout their summer experiences with individual faculty mentors, the students are invited to come together by Zoom to share in their experiences. The first of three virtual gatherings took place on Thursday, June 9, when participants offered these reflections about the program and their experiences so far. “What a great steppingstone to the future of research and to the field of social work!” reflected Brandon Broussard, a Master of Social Work student and summer scholar in Louisiana, who is preparing to contribute to his future...

Forestry-wildlife juniors Xavier Kirker and Kade Evans studied the effectiveness of different baits on different fish species as part of their WNMU Natural Sciences coursework. Over three days, the anglers tested spinners, crank baits and worms (both live and rubber). They discovered that worms increased their chances of catching a fish — a finding that they discovered relevant across all species. “It’s important to know what fish enjoy,” Evans said, “and now we do.”   Zoology junior Tori Pulliam and science/business marketing senior Danielle Barba Zoology junior Tori Pulliam and science/business marketing senior Danielle Barba both like to fish. They were experienced wish a rod and reel and guessed at some best angling practices. But they wanted to formally determine whether they’d have more success with live bait or fake bait. A #WNMU natural sciences project was just the ticket. Hypothesizing that the fish would prefer actual worms to fake...

“Nazaré,” a novel by WNMU writer-in-residence JJ Amaworo Wilson has won the 24th annual Foreword INDIES Book of the Year. “Nazaré” is a magical realist story inspired by the Arab Spring of 2010-11. The novel was called “rare and ground-shaking” by U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, who said, “I celebrate Nazaré for its power, tenderness, and transcendence.” Amaworo Wilson is the author or co-author of over 20 books. His 2016 novel “Damnificados” was named a Top 10 book in “O” magazine and also won the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, the Independent Publisher Book Award, the New Mexico-Arizona Book Award, and the Prix Révélation de Traduction for the French translation. Two of Amaworo Wilson’s non-fiction books saw him honored at Buckingham Palace in 2008 and 2011. The Foreword INDIES awards recognize the best books published in 2021 from small, independent, and university presses. For this year’s competition, over 2,700 entries were submitted...

Western New Mexico University hosted young people from the Mescalero Apache Tribe in May as part of a school field trip to harvest agave, or mescal, plants on site within the local Freeport McMoRan mines. Traditionally a staple food of Mescalero Apache people, agave hearts also have spiritual meaning and are used in a rite of passage known as the sunrise ceremony, which marks Mescalero girls’ transformation into women. Preparation for the coming of age ceremony begins as much as a year in advance and includes harvesting mescal plants in peak season, the reason behind their visit to campus and the surrounding area. Ahead of the harvest, the more than three dozen Mescalero Apache youth learned more about the scientific properties of the plant from WNMU botany professor Dr. Bill Norris. They were introduced to university student life with a stay in the residence halls and evening activities, heard from representatives of the Native American Student Association, and got the lay...

Partway through Andrea Robinson’s undergraduate program, she suffered a stroke. She moved closer to family, and her degree was put on hold. At some point, a doctor told her she would not finish her bachelor’s at WNMU. She didn’t. But she did finish her degree remotely, and this spring, she also graduated from #WNMU with a master’s, customizing her degree plan to suit her interest in educational psychology. The Clarksville, Mississippi, native recognized some similarities between her home town and Silver City but also noticed that there isn’t much research available on small rural towns, which essentially “make up the USA,” Robinson said. She wondered, “Is there an association between social determinants of health and academic performance in marginalized communities within higher education?” and then methodically searched for the answer. She looked at self-regulation and related metacognitive strategies to explore how where people come from impacts their...

Fall 2021 graduate Natalie Wood, along with her faculty mentor Dr. Corrie Neighbors and WNMU colleagues Drs. Sam Schramski and Francisca Reyes, co-authored a paper published in the Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition in October. Funded in large part by the Western New Mexico University Student Research and Professional Development program, “Sociospatial Analysis of Food Pantry Access and Location in a Southwestern Frontier Community” explores the relationship between food insecurity and geographic position in Silver City. Using a survey of more than 100 respondents and desktop GIS analysis, they investigated whether distance, neighborhood and socioeconomic status have a bearing on access and use of food pantries. “A surprising result was that people who get government assistance do not frequent food pantries as often as people who don’t. You’d figure it’d be the opposite,” she said. Wood endured the “super time consuming” data configuration and...

A Call for Writers Mimbres Press of Western New Mexico University, the newest university press in the nation is open for submissions from writers. It is of little surprise that along with esteemed artists, many writers call Silver City and the Gila Wilderness their home. It is a place and space of inspiration and creativity. Mimbres Press is seeking to publish local writers alongside established authors from other parts of the world. According to Publishing Director, Dr. Marvel Harrison, "We are open to the genres of literary fiction, creative non-fiction, memoirs, historical fiction, poetry, children's books and academic works. Of particular interest are writings with a strong social message focused on the U.S. Southwest, including but not limited to works of history, reportage, biography, anthropology, culture, human rights, and the natural world. Selective works of national and global significance will also be considered. We are keen on publishing local writers who can bring depth...

Jennifer Douglass’ painting and drawing students at Western New Mexico University are learning about the process of public art while creating a mural design that ties in the university’s values of education, conservation and recreation. They began installation of the mural at the end of May. After an invitation from Diana Ingalls Leyba, who is Director of Silver City’s Youth Mural Program, WNMU students began the process of designing a mural for a wall at The Church of the Southwest. Considering the site borders the Silver City MainStreet Plaza and sits just above downtown’s Big Ditch Park, a riparian design concept was presented to the Historic Design and Review Committee, and the mural permit was granted. “We wanted to handle it just like a public art piece, where the students must take the idea from start to finish — doing initial research and developing the mural from the design concept through completion,” said Douglass, who is Assistant Professor...

Anneliese Kvamme’s “Marriage as Heroic Struggle in Milton’s Paradise Lost” was published in Confluence: The Journal of the Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs. The editor called it “very compelling, insightful, and beautifully written essay.” Kvamme said it was a 3,200-word condensed version of her roughly 8,000-word thesis, which she researched and composed with Dr. Debbie Heller’s “invaluable guidance and direction.” The Lordsburg resident loves exploring literature, and is fascinated by John Milton’s depiction of the characters and relationships in “Paradise Lost,” particularly in the character of Eve and the marital relationship of Adam and Eve. “Milton’s marriages had greatly influenced him in his lifetime, so it stood to reason that the attitudes toward marriage he had developed through these experiences would have influenced his depiction of Adam and Eve,” she said. “Delving into this and into the literary influences of the...

WNMU School of Nursing Clinical Instructor Mary McBrayer, RN, BSN, MAIS, won the 2022 New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium (NMNEC) Nurse Educator Endowment Award to honor the late Nancy Morton. Having worked as a nurse in acute care since 2011, she has experience as a bedside nurse, charge nurse, float nurse, clinic manager and clinical educator. McBrayer began teaching at WNMU in 2020 when she planned and implemented strategic approaches that kept students on campus for hands-on lab experiences. This award recognizes McBrayer’s resourcefulness and ingenuity that ensured the continuation of clinical lab skills courses for nursing students throughout the pandemic to this point. Dr. Kimberly Petrovic, who is Associate Dean for the WNMU School of Nursing, nominated McBrayer for the honor. “She created a blueprint of sorts in which students attended lab in groups of three to six, for instance, while remaining within taped-off areas of the lab,” she wrote. “As a...