Spring flowers

UNLV Newsmakers 2025: March

The students and faculty of UNLV are springing into headlines around the country.

Spring flowers around campus (Becca Schwartz/UNLV).

With the mercury finally hitting a little higher, it’s really starting to feel like the finish line for the semester is in sight (along with plenty of additional bird chirps around campus).

A lengthy March is now behind us, and a colorful assortment of news stories featuring UNLV experts are ready to fill up the next basket of Newsmakers. What do all of the tariffs mean for Nevada? Did you know St. Patrick wasn’t actually Irish? Does it really matter what shoes you wear for a workout? And what’s the deal with paper straws?

So, grab some chocolate eggs and holster your handkerchief because March Newsmakers is all the allergy relief you’ll need this season.

Health & Science

  • Infectious disease expert Brian Labus was a hot commodity with the media in March. He spoke to multiple outlets about topics ranging from pockets of measles outbreaks and vaccination rates to egg preservation: Parade, Men’s Health, Food & Wine, Yahoo (twice), MedPage Today, Las Vegas Sun, Nevada Current
  • Pediatric infectious disease expert David DiJohn also discussed the measles virus in Parade.
  • KNPR and Vegas PBS reflected on the 5-year anniversary of COVID-19 lockdowns with Brian Labus, education professor Megan Rauch Griffard, and business researcher Andrew Woods. (PBS also checked in with geoscientist Libby Hausrath regarding her latest NASA study involving Mars.) Meanwhile, family medicine professor David Weismiller also commented on the millions of people still living with long COVID in a KSNV: News 3 interview. 
Student spring
(Becca Schwartz/UNLV.)
  • The Washington Post (also picked up by Yahoo) spoke with behavioral health professor Manoj Sharma about vaccine hesitancy research being impacted by federal cuts.
  • The Daily Mail and EWTN chatted with physicist Michael Pravica regarding a pair of astronauts recently rescued after spending months stranded in outer space.
  • Wise & Well interviewed registered dietitian nutritionist Samantha Coogan about some of the worst mistakes you can make regarding your caloric intake.
  • Are you into running or lifting? Kinesiologist John Mercer spoke of the importance of picking the right shoe for the job in SELF.
  • HuffPost asked physical therapist Kai-Yu Ho for advice on improving bone density, and the story was picked up by Buzzfeed.
  • Physical therapist Jennifer Nash offered advice on avoiding falls as we age in a story from The Guardian.

Culture

  • Tourism researcher Marta Soligo discussed the popularity of quiet travel destinations in Next Avenue, and the importance of encouraging respectful tourist behaviors in Las Vegas Weekly. Her insight was also featured in a Boston Globe piece about arid tourist destinations’ increasing popularity over beach vacations, and in the BBC regarding the importance of the hospitality sector in the U.S. economy as international tourists boycott travel to the country.
  • African American history expert Tyler D. Parry helped TODAY find the origin of a slang phrase seeing a rise in popularity.
  • CBS News explored why we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and included comments from historian Cian T. McMahon.
  • Economist Eric Chiang detailed the “bundling strategy” for fast food value meals in Quartz.
  • Communications professor Emma Frances Bloomfield talked about the psychology behind climate-friendly choices in Grist (also picked up by Yahoo).
  • Neuroscientist Dustin Hines explained the psychology behind perceived beauty with Newsweek.

Politics

Bee spring
(Josh Hawkins/UNLV.)

University News

Experts Roundup

  • The New York Times interviewed gaming expert Brett Abarbanel about the growth of women’s basketball, and why it hasn’t popularized with sports bettors. Her advocacy efforts to promote safe gambling were also featured in CDC Gaming.
  • The Washington Post’s chronicle of Hard Rock Cafe loyalists included comments from hospitality professor Amanda Belarmino. 
  • Law expert Benjamin Edwards discussed a market-regulating organization, and how its invalidation could disrupt financial markets in Investment News, Bond Buyer, and Wealth Management.
  • PGA program director Chris Cain explained how a new study hopes to revolutionize the golf practice round in CDC Gaming.

Topics:

newsmakers

Campus Units:

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics,  School of Public Health,  Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV,  Department of Geoscience,  College of Sciences,  Center for Business and Economic Research,  Lee Business School,  College of Education,  Department of Educational Psychology, Leadership, and Higher Education,  Department of Physics and Astronomy,  Department of Social and Behavioral Health,  Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences,  School of Integrated Health Sciences,  Department of Physical Therapy,  William F. Harrah College of Hospitality,  International Gaming Institute,  Department of Interdisciplinary, Gender, and Ethnic Studies,  College of Liberal Arts,  Department of Economics,  Department of Communication Studies,  Department of Psychology,  William S. Boyd School of Law,  School of Public Policy and Leadership,  Honors College,  Department of Finance,  Department of Political Science,  Cannabis Policy Institute at UNLV,  Intercollegiate Athletics,  PGA Golf Management Program

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