Discovery Archives

A bald man in a white coat
Jun 27, 2025
  • Lacey Gray

Professor studies genetic markers associated with sudden infant death syndrome

Keith Keene, Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences associate dean for research and professor in the Department of Biology, has been looking for answers about sudden infant death syndrome...

A researcher sits in front of a sign for McMurdo Station in Anatarctica
Jun 27, 2025
  • Lacey Gray

Researchers record glacial melt in Antarctica

ECU researchers are studying glacial melt in Antarctica to better understand the effects of climate change in the polar region. Tristan Bench, an ECU postdoctoral researcher, spent 40 days at...

A man and woman stand in a room filled with an assortment of clothes, showcasing a vibrant and diverse wardrobe.
Jan 13, 2025
  • Benjamin Abel

Grants to address substance use disorder crisis in eastern N.C.

An ECU team has received a grant of nearly $900,000 from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to tackle health disparities and improve substance use disorder outcomes...

A rail gracefully swims across the calm water, creating gentle ripples around it.
Jan 13, 2025
  • Lacey Gray

Biologist puts focus on elusive, endangered black rail

Eastern black rails are rare. Susan McRae, a teaching professor in the ECU Department of Biology, estimates their numbers are in the hundreds. So the times she’s seen one in...

Jul 31, 2024
  • Ken Buday

ECU supports Army airborne through database development

Students and faculty in the College of Engineering and Technology are working on a $1.2 million research and development project to support the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. “The objective is...

Jul 31, 2024
  • Lacey Gray

Researchers study the effectiveness of reducing stormwater contaminants

Stormwater management is a critical part of any city’s infrastructure. Greenville, true to its name, has taken a green approach in this area. In 2020, in addition to pipes and...

Doctoral candidates Everett Minchew, foreground, and Nick Williamson work in the Spangenburg Lab at ECU.
Jan 10, 2024
  • Benjamin Abel

Research team identifies new type of muscle

ECU physiologists and graduate students – as well as a high school student – have worked together over the past couple of years to discover and describe a muscle in...

Graduate student Sarah Pettyjohn flies a drone to take photos of Sugarloaf Island.
Jan 10, 2024
  • Lacey Gray

Experts seek ways to save Sugarloaf Island

It might be winter now, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a great time to be at the beach. That goes for tourists as well as ECU scientists, such as...

Student wearing a cap that measures electrical activity in the brain.
Jul 10, 2023
  • Ken Buday

Engineering professor looks for traffic jams on the brain’s highways

The human brain is like a complex group of highways, and despite a good road map, traffic jams may develop.  Sunghan Kim, an associate professor in the ECU Department of...

Josh Peery, an instructional technology specialist with the College of Nursing
Jul 10, 2023
  • Benjamin Abel

Game uses tech to teach nursing, medical students

Sometimes gaming doesn’t mean playing a game. For example, serious games, said Josh Peery, a game designer and instructional technology consultant for the ECU College of Nursing, are those that...