Points of Pride

Accolades

The Department of Government and Justice Studies Master of Public Administration (MPA) program is ranked #25 in local government management for Graduate school rankings by U.S. News and Word Report. Local government management programs educate students in fields such as government finance, community economic development and urban policy analysis. (21)
The Department of Mathematical Sciences Actuarial Sciences program was ranked fourth out of 30 for Best Value Actuarial Science programs in 2021 by College Values Online.
The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology found that Appalachian's Industrial-Organizational Psychology and Human Resource Management (IOHRM) program (Department of Psychology) ranked highly across a variety of different factors: first for overall student satisfaction, first for resources provided to students, second for program culture and third highest-ranked program overall based on student ratings. (19)
According to the American Anthropological Association, the Department of Anthropology is the largest — in terms of tenure-track faculty — undergraduate-only anthropology department in the United States. With nearly 200 declared and intended majors and 13 tenure-track faculty, the department has a student-faculty ratio of 15-to-1. (19)
The Department of Mathematical Sciences actuarial science program is highly ranked among similar programs in the country across a variety of groups. A B.S. in actuarial science from Appalachian ranks 26th on College Choice’s 35 Best Actuarial Science Degrees list for 2017. College Choice gave the university a score of 96.23 out of a possible 100. And Appalachian was ranked 19th on Value Colleges’ 50 Best Value Bachelors of Actuarial Science Programs list for 2018. (18)
In the fall of 2019, six students out of 55 applicants were admitted into the first college approved professional doctoral degree, Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) program. (19)
The American Institute of Physics report released in August 2020 ranked the Department of Physics and Astronomy as the second largest in the country for Masters granting institutions for the number of bachelor's degrees granted each year (16-18).

Alumni

Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants were awarded to Alexandria ‘Lexie’ All ’20 who earned a B.S. in Languages, Literatures and Cultures with a concentration in Spanish, education (K–12); Caroline Sager ’18, who completed a B.A. in Languages, Literatures and Cultures with a concentration in Spanish and Hispanic studies and a Bachelor of Science in political science with a concentration in international and comparative politics (Government and Justice Studies) and Katelyn Wilder ’20, who earned dual B.A. degrees in English-creative writing and English-literary studies (English). (20)
Former ACCESS Scholar Alyssa Rodriguez ’20 was the 2020 recipient of Appalachian State University’s Kenneth E. Peacock Spirit of ACCESS Award. Rodriguez, a first-generation college student, graduated from Appalachian with a B.S. in political science–public administration (Government and Justice Studies). (20)
Jordan Meyer ’03 (Computer Science) and two of his peers received a $1,000,000 prize from Zillow for developing a machine learning algorithm that improved house price estimation. (19)
Dalton Lewis ’18, B.S., History Education (History) won the Ashe County Schools Beginning Teacher of the Year Award for 2020.
Carlton Paylor ’96 graduated with a B.S. in Criminal Justice (Government and Justice Studies) and a minor in Sociology. Paylor has led a distinguished career that has focused on helping people in emotional and economic distress in his home community of Person County. He was awarded the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Alumni Award in 2020.
Dawn Morris Forward ’92 B.S., History Education, (History) was named the Polk County Schools Teacher of the Year for 2020.
Tommy Wrenn ’14 (Government and Justice Studies) has worked as a development professional in Washington, D.C., fundraising for organizations connected to the environment and addressing climate change. Most recently he was appointed associate director of individual giving at Resources for the Future (RFF), an organization that works to improve environmental, energy and natural resource decisions.
Olivia Martin ’20 (English) has been involved with 100 Days in Appalachia, an organization that strives to create an accurate representation of the Appalachia region in the media. Martin is serving as an Appalachian advisor and providing resources for journalists to accurately portray Appalachian communities.
Jane McIntyre Barghothi ’96 (Government and Justice Studies) was named App State’s vice chancellor for university advancement in June 2020.
Alyssa Rodriguez ’20 (Government and Justice Studies) was awarded the 2020 Kenneth E. Peacock Spirit of ACCESS Award, which recognizes an ACCESS Scholar for embodying the impact the ACCESS Scholarship program was created to make in someone’s life. The program provides low-income college students from North Carolina with a debt-free, four-year Appalachian education.
Jared Voris ’16 (Geological and Environmental Studies) identified a new species of tyrannosaurid dinosaur while studying some skull fragments for his master’s thesis at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada and his findings have received worldwide attention from news media.

Awards and Recognition

Dr. Felicia Arriaga (Sociology) has been appointed to serve on the N.C. House Select Committee on Community Relations, Law Enforcement and Justice.
Dr. Kevin Kennedy's documentary "Germans in Jamaica: War, Spies and Camps" won the Gold Award for Best International Documentary Film at the Carolina International Film Festival in Florence, South Carolina, November 2020. (Languages, Literatures and Cultures)
Dr. Suzanna Bräuer (Biology) has been awarded a Fulbright grant to study how a microbial "molecular switch" may drive decomposition in response to climate change in melting Finnoscandian permafrost at the University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio in 2021.
Dr. Eric Karchmer (Anthropology) has been awarded a Fulbright grant to pursue his research in China for 2020-21. (20)
Dr. Howard Neufeld (Biology) and Dr. Megen Culpepper (Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences) received the 2020 Undergraduate Research Mentorship Excellence Award, conferred by Appalachian State University's Office of Student Research. (20)
Dr. Andy Heckert (Geological and Environmental Sciences), was awarded a 2021–22 Fulbright through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar program to study and compare two fossil collections from the Triassic period — one in South Africa and one in Poland.
Dr. Megen Culpepper (Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences) and Dr. Vicky Klima (Mathematical Sciences) were selected for the 2020 BRIDGES Academic Leadership for Women program sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The theme of this year’s program is “Leading in a Time of Transformation.”
The College Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award went to Dr. Cindy Norris (Computer Science). (20)
Dr. Lindsay Masland (Psychology) was recognized by the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (Division 2 of the American Psychological Association) with the 2020 Jane S. Halonen Teaching Excellence Award.
Dr. Ellen Cowan (Geological and Environmental Sciences) received the Chancellor’s Award and Dr. Baker Perry ’98 (Geography and Planning), received the Provost’s Award at the inaugural Awards for Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity at App State.
Dr. Lindsay Masland (Psychology), was the recipient of the 2020 Board of Governors Appalachian State University Excellence in Teaching Award.
2020 Board of Governors Appalachian State University School/College Awards included Dr. Sarah Carmichael (Geological and Environmental Sciences), Dr. Mary Ballard (Psychology) and Dr. Cameron Lippard (Sociology).
Dr. Claudia Cartaya-Marin, professor and chair of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences, received the Chancellor’s Award for Inclusive Excellence for Faculty and serves on the Chief Diversity Officer’s Advisory Board. She created SOAR - a summer bridge program designed for incoming students transitioning into STEM programs and helped found APP Unidos, the university’s Hispanic/Latino faculty and staff association.
“Religion in Life,” a television show hosted by Dr. Ozzie Ostwalt (Philosophy and Religion) was awarded the 2019 Religion Communicators Council Wilbur Award in the category of Television and Cable Interview for his episode interviewing the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr.
Dr. Judkin Browning (History) was one of 10 faculty selected in the recent GRAM Award Competition of 2019-21 for "Reverberations of Battle: How the Battle of Gettysburg Affected Soldiers, Families, and Communities." (19)
Department of Biology students and faculty attended the annual Association of Southeastern Biologists where awards were given to Regina Javier (senior, Honors) received the Botanical Society of America Southeastern Section Student Poster Award in Plant Science; Morgan Gaglianese-Woody (graduate student) received a Southern Appalachian Botanical Society John E. Fairey Scholarship and Katie Krogmeier (graduate student) received a Southern Appalachian Botanical Society Poster Student Presentation Award. Faculty members Dr. Zack Murrell received the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society Elizabeth Ann Bartholomew Award and Dr. Ray Williams received the ASB Meritorious Teaching Award (20).
Dr. Katherine Ledford, (Interdisciplinary Studies), and faculty in the Appalachian studies program received the 2020 Clark Medallion Book Award for her book titled “Writing Appalachia: An Anthology.” Ledford along with Dr. Theresa Lloyd of East Tennessee State University who co-edited the book and Rebecca Stephens who served as associate editor.
Tom Hansell (Interdisciplinary Studies) professor of Appalachian studies and co-director of university documentary film services, was awarded the 2021 McClure-Scanlin Visual Artist Residency award. This competitive award is designed for visual artists and provides them with a complimentary two-week retreat to the Lillian Smith Center at Piedmont College. During his residency, Hansell will be working on the Ancient New project, a series of short films, art installations and public events that showcase the relationships between the mountain headwaters communities and urban communities downstream.
Dr. Clarice Moran (English) was recognized as a recipient of the Divergent Publication Award for Excellence in Literacy in a Digital Age Research recognizing the most outstanding publications during the past two years that bring to the forefront the importance and impact of this work, given by the Initiative for Literacy in a Digital Age (21).

COVID-19

Daniel Parker, operations manager for the fermentation facility and lecturer (Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences) produced 115 gallons of hand sanitizer to supplement university needs using 2500 lbs of beet sugar and a 300 Liter steam-jacketed-pot-still to distill fermented sugar water into ethanol during the process.
J.P. Jameson (Psychology), has been working on a system of contact tracing to assist in helping trace COIVD cases in schools. He offered a course to prepare students to be hired by local health agencies ready for the field, with working knowledge and students are seeing successful outcomes upon graduation.
Dr. Maggie Sugg (Geography and Planning) along with the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies (NCICS) collaborated on a study titled “Short-term effects of specific humidity and temperature on COVID-19 morbidity in select US cities,” that was published in the journal Science of the Total Environment. The authors wrote that, compared to solar radiation and temperature, the humidity was the most predominant predictor of COVID-19 transmission in U.S. cities considered among early hot spots in the pandemic.
Students in Appalachian’s Psychology Club and chapter of Psi Chi, the national honor society in psychology sponsored by the American Psychological Association, developed a strategy to motivate students to adhere to infection control behaviors. In the App State vs. COVID campaign, students observe and anonymously report behaviors using a model of “no name, no blame, no shame.” The campaign encourages students to download a mobile app called Habitood and use it to report positive and negative observations of these behaviors. More than 200 people are using the app, and the group’s goal is to gain 5,000 participants. The co-owner of Habitood, alumnus Tim Miller ’13, is allowing App State to use the software free of charge.
Dr. Brooke Christian ’05, assistant professor; alumnus Harrison Esterly ’19 and senior Dane Shovlin (Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences) co-authored research on more cost-effective storage and delivery methods for life-saving drugs and vaccines — including a future COVID-19 vaccine.
Ann Kaplan (Interdisciplinary Studies) was named a consultant on a COVID-19 Artists Documentary Project at the Philippines Women's University, in partnership with the Department of Cultural Affairs, Philippines.
The IOHRM master’s program (Psychology) hosted the annual Appalachian Human Resources Summit in October 2020 with around 100 participants in the virtual format which focused on racism in corporate America; mental health challenges due to COVID; misinformation; the post-COVID workplace.

Diversity and Inclusion

Dr. Jennifer Burris, professor and chair, Department of Physics and Astronomy recieved the 2020 Diversity and Inclusion Advocacy Recognition by the Optical Society (OSA) for “facilitating systemic changes that have improved diversity and inclusion for her department, university and community.” Burris is one of three recipients internationally to be honored with OSA’s 2020 Diversity and Inclusion Advocacy Recognition, and one of nine individuals and organizations to receive the award since its inception in 2018.
App State is one of 19 universities joining a three-year effort known as Aspire: The National Alliance for Inclusive & Diverse STEM Faculty to increase the diversity of its STEM faculty through inclusive recruitment, hiring and retention practices, and ensure all STEM faculty engage in inclusive teaching, advising and research mentoring. Co-leaders for the project are Dr. Tracie Salinas (Mathematical Sciences) and director of the Reich College of Education’s Math and Science Education Center; and Dr. Susan Colby, Curriculum and Instruction, and director of faculty professional development in the Center for Academic Excellence.
Kelly Renwick (Interdisciplinary Studies) was accepted for a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Fellowship through the American Higher Education Alliance. She will be partnering with Stefania Vitulli in the School of Economics at Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy and integrating international, online co-teaching into her Global Studies class in spring 2021.
Dr. Jennifer Burris (Physics and Astronomy), Dr. Claudia Cartaya-Marin (Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences), Dr. Willie C. Fleming (App State Chief diversity officer), Dr. Brooke Hester (Physics and Astronomy) and Dr. Andrew Bellemer (Biology) were awarded nearly $1 million in grant funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to implement ADVANCE APPALACHIAN — a program designed to promote gender equity in STEM fields at App State, with an emphasis on women from underrepresented populations.
Dr. Kim Q. Hall (Philosophy and Religion) will serve as Co-Chair of the Philosophy in an Inclusive Key Summer Institute (PIKSI), a national initiative to promote diversity in philosophy, for the next four years. Hall will represent the organization and assist with managing and administrative functions.
Dr. Jesse Lutabingwa, associate vice chancellor of international education and development, director of international research and development and a professor (Government and Justice Studies), has been selected as a founding member of the American Academy of International Education. He joins a team of approximately 20 other founding members.
Lathisms, an organization created to highlight contributions from Latinx and Hispanic mathematicians during Hispanic Heritage Month featured Dr. René Salinas (Mathematical Sciences) this year as one of 30 mathematicians.
Dr. René Horst (History) received one of the Global Leadership Awards from the University’s Office of International Education. (20)
Dr. Brent James (Languages, Literatures and Cultures) and Dr. Felicia Arriaga (Sociology) were awarded a grant by the Chancellor’s Innovation Scholars Program 2019-20 for their collaborative Immigration Awareness and Advocacy Project. (20)
“Supporting the STEM Pathway at Appalachian” project funded by a grant from the University of North Carolina System Office of $70,736 was awarded to Dr. Eric Marland, Dr. Katherine Mawhinney and Dr. Trina Palmer (Mathematical Sciences). Appalachian is providing a matching funds commitment of $17,458 for the project which involves offering new courses to help boost the success of calculus students. (20)
Dr. Claudia Cartaya-Marin (Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences) was honored as one of three recipients of the inaugural Chancellor’s Awards for Inclusive Excellence in January 2020.
Dr. Brent James (Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures) was awarded the Faculty Global Leadership Award at the 2019 Global Leadership and Engagement Awards as part of the annual Appalachian Global Symposium held by App State’s Office of International Education and Development. (19)
The Department of English collaborated with the Hayes School of Music in a series of Black History Month concerts with poetry readings. Several students and faculty in the department participated in these three events. (21)

Faculty and Staff

Dr. Baker Perry and Dr. Anton Seimon (Geography and Planning) were part of a multidisciplinary climate research expedition with National Geographic that installed the world’s two highest weather stations (at 8,430 meters and 7,945 meters), examined soil samples and glacial lakes to better understand the range of life surviving on Earth’s highest peaks, and more from Mt. Everest. (19)
Roy Carroll Distinguished Professor of British History, Dr. Michael J. Turner (History) spent the academic year 2019-20 at the University of Oxford as a Visiting Research Fellow. (20)
Allison Fredette (History) was elected as the Executive Secretary of the Southern Association for Women Historians. (20)
Caleb Johnson (English) was a featured presenter during The Southern Foodways Alliance 2020 Fall Symposium. The event's theme was "Future of the South." His presentation was written as a letter to his unborn child. It will be published in the SFA's print quarterly, Gravy and an accompanying short documentary film will be on their website. (20)
Sammye Sigmann (Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences) co-authored a chapter for the American Chemical Society (ACS) Guide to Scholarly Communication which will be noted in all publication author guidelines as the go-to reference for safety considerations in ACS publications. (20)
Dr. Brooke Christian (Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences) was invited to present a talk at the prestigious Gordon Conference on Thiol-based redox regulation and signaling, in Barcelona, Spain (July 2020).
Tom Hansell (Appalachian Studies) was interviewed on Public Radio International’s “Living On Earth” program about his book titled “After Coal: Stories of Survival from Appalachia and Wales.” (20)
Benito del Pliego (Languages, Literatures and Cultures) was one of four international poets invited to the International Festival of Poetry and Poetics in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. (20)
Alice Fisher (College of Arts and Sciences) awarded one of four Appalachian State University’s 2020 Staff Excellence Awards. Fisher is the business officer in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Office of the Dean.
Dr. Sandie Gravett (Philosophy and Religion) was named winner of 2020 Academic Freedom and Faculty Governance Award from the university’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).
Dr. Cynthia M. Liutkus-Pierce and Brian W. Zimmer (Geological and Environmental Sciences) published culminating research paper on ancient human footprints found in Tanzania titled “Snapshots of human anatomy, locomotion and behavior from Late Pleistocene footprints at Engare Sero, Tanzania” in the journal Scientific Reports, published by Nature Research. (20)
The Global Carbon Project (GCP) has released its annual 2020 Global Carbon Budget, which estimates CO2 emissions for the year have decreased by 2.4 billion tons — the largest drop ever recorded. More than 80 scientists from 68 institutions in 16 countries worldwide co-authored this year’s report, scientists Dr. Dennis Gilfillan ’08 and Dr. Gregg Marland (Geological and Environmental Sciences).
The North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC) has now formalized the agreement with the U.S. Performance Center to work with approximately 15 Olympic teams. These athletes should be working with the Human Performance Lab and the Biochemistry Lab affiliated with the Department of Biology. Hopefully, this will help the University to forge relationships and work with more Olympic athletes. (21)
Leonardo Flores, professor and chair (English), co-edited, "Antología Lit(e)Lat, Volumen 1," an anthology published in late 2020. It is the first anthology of its kind, collecting over 81 works of electronic literature from 1965-2019 written by 52 authors representing 10 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. This anthology, written in Spanish, but with some English language and multilingual works, is available as an online open-access publication. (20)

Grants

Dr. Kathryn Webb Farley and Dr. Patricia Mitchell (Government and Justice Studies) received a $50,000 State Employees Credit Union (SECU) grant to assist non-profits to help meet the needs of the surrounding communities. (21)
A three-year grant awarded to App State by the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) will help increase the number of graduates from the university’s B.S. in physics-secondary education program and other graduates with teacher licensure in physics secondary education. The $97,265 grant, awarded to Dr. Jennifer Burris (Physics and Astronomy), funds the PhysTEC program at Appalachian for the 2019–20 academic year. An additional $197,375 in grant funding is anticipated for the second and third years of the program. (20)
The Department of Computer Science received $176,000 in funding to establish a four-year High Achievers in Computer Science Scholarship program. (19)
Dr. Sandie Gravett (Philosophy and Religion) has received a grant of $50,000 from the Henry Luce Foundation in support of her project on “public-focused” undergraduate religious studies programs. (21)
The U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council selected Dr. David Nieman’s lab (Biology) for a contract totaling $188,000 to study “Blueberry Supplementation and Inflammation Resolution after Exercise” at the App State N.C. Research Campus Human Performance Lab. (20)
Dr. Kathleen Schroder (Geography and Planning), Dr. Jesse Lutabingwa (OIED and Government and Justice Studies) and Julie Shepherd Powell (Appalachian Studies) received $500,000 to continue work with the American University of Free State of South Africa to strengthen their existing partnership through a federally funded mountain-to-mountain grant project that will engage faculty, staff and graduate students at both institutions in teaching, research, mentorship, scholarship and more. (20)
Dr. Amy Page (Sociology) has taken over The Senior Companion program and the Foster Grandparent program grants. She was able to obtain federally funded grants totally over $500,000. Through this ongoing effort, area senior citizens assist some of the region’s youngest and oldest residents in the surrounding five counties. (20)
A cross-disciplinary team of faculty in the college was awarded a $1,000,000 NSF S-STEM grant to assist with the nation’s shortage of STEM graduates and workers. This includes faculty from Computer Science, Physics and Astronomy, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Mathematical Sciences and Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences. (18)
Dr. Xiaofei Tu and Dr. Wendy Xie (Languages, Literatures and Cultures) received $89,815 from STARTALK — a project funded by the National Security Agency and administered by the National Foreign Language Center — to host a Chinese immersion program on Appalachian’s campus for high school students the second year in a row. (19)
The Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies provided their first international travel grants to five Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies minor students for a study abroad opportunity to Israel. The students studied at Yad Vashem, the Central Zionist Archives, the Ghetto Fighters' House Museum and Archives and Hebrew University. (18)
Dr. William Armstrong (Geological and Environmental Sciences) received more than $250,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to complete a three-year research project titled “A Half-Century of Changing Glacier Dynamics at Athabasca Glacier.” (18)
Dr. Brooke Christian (Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences) and Dr. Gary Pielak (UNC Chapel Hill), received $70,865 in grant funding from the University of North Carolina System Office for their study on new drug storage and delivery methods, titled “Exploiting Tardigrade Stress Resistance to Develop Novel Therapeutic Delivery Strategies." (18)
The Department of Physics and Astronomy received a $300,000 grant for increasing their number of graduate students in Appalachian's Physics Education program. (19)
Dr. Cameron Gokee (Anthropology) has received a two-year $106,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for archaeological work in Senegal. (19)
Dr. Kurt Michael (Psychology) is part of a team awarded $2.5 million in funding through the U.S. Department of Education (ED) for the “Rural School Mental Health Training and Service Provision in North Carolina” grant proposal. (19)
Dr. Patricia Johann (Computer Science) received a $510,823 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a project titled "SHF: Small: RUI: Semantic Complexity of Advanced Data Types." (19)
Dr. Abdelbaset Hamza (Computer Science) received a $175,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for his pre-CAREER (pre-tenure) proposal. He plans to study wireless communication in data centers using optical signals (light). This will be more efficient and saves space as there won't be a need for wires to connect servers in a data center. Several undergraduate and graduate students are also involved in the project. (20)
Dr. Kristan Cockerill (Interdisciplinary Studies) and Dr. Beth Davison, (Sociology and Interdisciplinary Studies) received a $2,500 RIEEE grant to produce a documentary entitled, “Documenting Environmental Change in Appalachia.” (20)
Mike Gangloff (Biology) was awarded $24,000 from the Department of Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct surveys for a freshwater mussel, Round Ebonyshell (Reginaia rotulata) in the Conecuh River, Alabama. (20)
Dr. Brent James (Languages, Literatures and Cultures) and Dr. Felicia Arriaga (Sociology) were awarded a grant by the Chancellor’s Innovation Scholars Program 2019-20 for their collaborative Immigration Awareness and Advocacy Project. (20)
“Supporting the STEM Pathway at Appalachian” project funded by a grant from the University of North Carolina System Office of $70,736 was awarded to Dr. Eric Marland, Dr. Katherine Mawhinney and Dr. Trina Palmer (Mathematical Sciences). Appalachian is providing a matching funds commitment of $17,458 for the project which involves offering new courses to help boost the success of calculus students. (20)
Dr. Jennifer Burris (Physics and Astronomy), Dr. Claudia Cartaya-Marin (Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences), Dr. Willie C. Fleming (App State Chief diversity officer), Dr. Brooke Hester (Physics and Astronomy) and Dr. Andrew Bellemer (Biology) were awarded nearly $1 million in grant funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to implement ADVANCE APPALACHIAN — a program designed to promote gender equity in STEM fields at App State, with an emphasis on women from underrepresented populations.
Dr. Tonya Coffey, PI and Dr. François Amet, co-PI (Physics and Astronomy) have been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF): Major Research Instrumentation(MRI) grant for over $40,000 for Acquisition of PeakForce KPFM package and upgrade for Dimension Icon SPM System. This grant will fund an upgrade to an existing microscopy system. The upgrade will allow users to visualize the electrical and mechanical properties of samples on the nanoscale.

Outreach

The Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences has hosted Zoom visits with groups since all in person events during COVID have been cancelled. Students and faculty have reached over 200 kids from elementary to high school from classrooms to special groups such as scout troops.
Dr. Rachel Smith and Dr. Dan Caton (Physics and Astronomy) participated in Astronomy Days at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences with an attendance of 14,128. They gave talks, helped at a recruitment table and volunteered at the event along with several App State students.
Students in the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences have created 1,600 rock kits for elementary school students in eight North Carolina counties so they can learn about geology at home during the pandemic. (21)

Student Placement (Graduate school and employment)

Mackenzie Morgan ’19 (Anthropology) has been hired as the Youth Engagement and Garden Coordinator for the City Schoolyard Garden in Charlottesville, V.A. (20)
Andrea Deras ’19 (Biology) was awarded an NIH post-baccalaureate position at the University of Chicago. (20)
Jordan Venditelli ’20 (Philosophy and Religion) was accepted to Harvard for graduate school with a full-tuition scholarship and a $10,000 stipend. (20)
Shannon Wells ’18 (Interdisciplinary Studies-Global Studies) was accepted at Duke University in the Political Science M.A. program. (20)
Maggie Watts ’20 (Interdisciplinary Studies- Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies) was accepted into Loyola University’s Master of Social Work/M.A. in Women’s Studies dual degree program. (20)
After completing his degree, Aric Thoresen (Anthropology) travelled throughout Latin America and became TEFL certified. Inspired by his interests in both anthropology and teaching, he is now pursuing a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction (Early Childhood Education plus certification) at Arizona State University.
Ryan Ingerick ’17 (M.A., History), is headed to the Ph.D. program at the University of Helsinki, beginning his work there in January 2021. (20)
Alesia Brown ’19 (Biology) was accepted into the ECU Dental School. (20)
Melanie Lambert ’20 (Computer Science) joined the Ph.D. program at Clemson. (20)
Liv Winnicki '20 (Anthropology) was accepted with a full funding package into the Ph.D. in Anthropology Program at Binghamton University. (20)
Katherine Hoffman ’16 (Biology) was accepted in the Ph.D. program in Biomedical Services at UVA. (20)
Brittany Stewart ’20 (Computer Science) joined the Ph.D. program at Carnegie Mellon. (20)
Evangeline Giaconia '18 (Anthropology) was accepted into the M.A. Program in Museum Studies at the University of Florida with a full funding package. (19)
The Department of Psychology has had students accepted with full funding to Ph.D. programs at the following institutions: Ohio State University, East Carolina University, Radford University, University of Maryland, University of Alaska and Virginia Consortium. (19)
Five students in the Department of Anthropology received full scholarships to doctoral programs in Anthropology, PhotoJournalism, Ecology, Environmental Science and Library Information Science. (19)
Department of Computer Science major Jakson Sippe was accepted to the Ph.D. program in Computer Science at Colorado University and Jacob Justice was accepted to the Ph.D. program in Computer Science at Clemson. (20)

Student Research and Success

Caroline Donaghy '20 Certified Chemist major, Department of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship for ~$280,000 which provides support for her research and a stipend for three years. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Connecticut.
The Department of English Marian Coe, John Foster West and Marjorie Idol fall 2021 creative writing competitions in poetry and prose scholarship recipients are Zoe Benfield, senior, English major; Kaitlin Rous, junior, English-creative writing and Communications-public relations major; Teagan Compton, senior, English major and Lyndsi Pointer, senior, Communications-public relations.
Caroline Fehlman, sophomore, (Department of Mathematical Sciences) began her Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) with Appalachian scientists Dr. Gregg Marland and Dr. Dennis Gilfillan, both in Appalachian’s Research Institute for Environment, Energy and Economics (RIEEE) in spring 2020. She is currently assisting them in analyzing climate change and sustainable development goals .(20)
Lauren Moody (Interdisciplinary studies) was awarded the Community Impact Student Award by North Carolina Campus Compact, a statewide network of colleges and universities committed to community engagement. (20)
Zöe Benfield (English) focusing on creative writing received the Rogers and Janice Whitener Scholarship for the spring 2021 semester. The scholarship is awarded based on financial need, performance in creative writing for a majoring student and active, positive citizenship in all courses, including the creative writing program. (20)
Graduate student, Stella Harden (Department of Geography and Planning) along with faculty member Dr. Maggie Sugg, published an article “Mapping community-level determinants of COVID-19 transmission in nursing homes: A multi-scale approach,” which analyzes unique variables impacting nursing homes during the pandemic. (20)
Jaden Miller, junior (Physics and Astronomy) was awarded an Undergraduate Research Scholarship by N.C. Space Grant for his research on optical tweezing, a technique used to monitor how human cells are affected by radiation. (20)
Lia Phillips, M.S. Engineering Physics graduate student, (Physics and Astronomy) received a North Carolina Space Grant Graduate Research Fellowship. The Fellowship, funded in part by a NASA training grant, awards annual research scholarships to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) students from universities across the state. (20)
U.S. Department of State Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship recipients included Victoria Anderson, senior (Government and Justice Studies); Ciara Sailar, senior (Geological and Environmental Sciences); Jemiah Williams, sophomore (Sociology). (20)
Jay Phillips, junior and Victoria Goff, junior (English) were recognized for their achievements in poetry as the 2020-21 Truman Capote Literary Trust Creative Writing Scholarship winner and runner-up. (20)
Ten students from the Departments of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences, Computer Science, Mathematics, and Physics and Astronomy have been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) supported S-STEM scholarship which provides $6,000 per year for up to four years for each student. The Appalachian High Achievers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) program is funded by an NSF S-STEM grant awarded in 2018 and the program is currently funded through spring of 2023. (20)
Adrianna Nelson (Biology) was honored as the 2020 Young Birder of the Year by the American Birding Association (ABA). (20)
Inaugural David Hodgin English Award (English), which this year called for works that addressed the impact the Covid-19 has had in our lives, was awarded Abigail Miles, senior, English with a concentration in creative writing and Barclay Ann Blankenship ’20, B.A. in English with a concentration in Literary Studies. (20)
Department of Mathematical Sciences student team - Zachary Dove, Brennan Stride and Lindsey Wise, participated in the annual undergraduate Kryptos Challenge cryptanalysis competition at Central Washington University and achieved ranking by being one of the eight teams recognized for solving the entire challenge correctly. (20)
Brandon Moore was named the Appalachian State University Student Teacher of the Year for the 2019-20 academic year in the Reich College of Education (RCOE). Moore graduated in May 2020 with a B.S. in English education (English). (20)
Rachel Anderson, junior (Anthropology) was selected to participate in a summer American Indian Language Development Institute at the University of Arizona. (20)
Connor Elliott (Anthropology) had the opportunity to conduct research in Ethiopia over the 2019-20 winter break through a National Science Foundation-sponsored Research Experience for Undergraduates program (REU) with the University of Texas at Austin. (20)
Quinlin Riggs, an Engineering Physics M.S. student (Physics and Astronomy), interned at the Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis Space Center, M.S. funded by a Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program (NREIP) fellowship. (19)
Emily Fedders ’19 (Geological and Environmental Sciences) won a Student Presentation Award at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Washington, D.C. This meeting of over 26,000 geoscientists is the most prestigious conference in the geoscience field, and Fedders won the award despite competing primarily against graduate students. (19)