The Environmental Protection Agency defines resilience as the “capability to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover [from disasters] with minimum damage to social well‐being, the economy, and the environment.” This Science and Technology Note discusses existing efforts and policy options for enhancing flood resilience in West Virginia.

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are new lower-power, smaller-footprint reactor designs that seek to avoid the high costs and delays associated with nuclear power. This Science and Technology Policy Note considers opportunities and challenges associated with advanced nuclear power deployment in West Virginia, with a particular focus on SMRs at former coal sites.

This Science and Technology Note covers the availability of satellite broadband in West Virginia and offers policy options for expanding West Virginians’ access to satellite-based internet service.

Food handler training and permitting are employed by many states to ensure that individuals preparing food commercially are educated in food safety. Foodborne illnesses, commonly known as “food poisoning,” come from a number of sources and can result in severe dehydration, making them especially dangerous for pregnant individuals, children, and the elderly.

HIV, the virus that can lead to AIDS, is spread via contact with infected bodily fluids. As such, people who inject drugs (PWID) can contract HIV through contaminated syringes. Syringe service programs (SSPs) dispose of used needles and distribute sterile syringes with the goal of reducing disease spread amongst PWID. This Science and Technology Note discusses HIV and SSPs in West Virginia and offers policy options to limit HIV outbreaks by expanding West Virginians’ access to SSPs.

This Science and Technology Policy Note provides an overview of West Virginia’s current regulatory sandboxes. A regulatory sandbox is a framework that allows companies to be exempted from specific regulations to test a new product that otherwise wouldn’t be allowed by law.

Tick-borne diseases, particularly Lyme disease, have been a problem of increasing magnitude in West Virginia over the past decade. This Science and Technology Note discusses the presence of the disease in West Virginia and potential actions that could be taken to lessen its impact.

Forest carbon programs allow landowners to receive payment for taking certain management actions to increase the carbon stored on their land. This Science and Technology Note provides an overview of forest carbon markets and discusses some options available to West Virginia families that choose to take part in them.

Geothermal energy is a type of renewable energy that is generated from the natural heat of the Earth’s interior. This heat can be harnessed to produce electricity and heat buildings. The process is both environmentally friendly and sustainable, as it relies on the Earth’s constant internal heat. This Science and Technology Note highlights the opportunities and challenges associated with harnessing geothermal energy from former coal mine lands in West Virginia.