Faculty & Staff

Dr. Zachary Russell, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at App State, center, works with student researchers Ethan Humphries, a senior physics major from Kings Mountain, and Hunter Corman ’24, an engineering physics graduate student from Morehead City, pictured in the background, in the Ion Innovations Scientific Instrumentation Development Lab in Boone to assemble 3D-printed components for rapid prototyping of microscope designs. Russell has been awarded a $2.3 million grant fro

Tracking parasites in farm animals is tricky. AI microscope developed in NC may help. [faculty featured]
Jul 2, 2025

Artificial intelligence is being integrated into phones, search engines, and recently, microscopes. At Appalachian State University, researchers were ...

Susan Keefe, Pegge Laine, Carolyn Grimes, Roberta Jackson and Lynn Patterson discussed the recent projects of the Junaluska Heritage Association. Photo by Nick Fogleman

Library celebrates the Junaluska Heritage Association [faculty featured]
Jul 2, 2025

BOONE — The annual Friends of the Watauga County Library celebration featured a panel discussion centered on two recently published books about Boon...

Water tracks, shown by the darker curvilinear parallel bands of green vegetation, transmit water downslope into the Upper Kuparuk River on the North Slope of Alaska in July 2019. Credit: Qifan Yang

Water Tracks: The Veins of Thawing Landscapes [faculty co-authored]
Jun 27, 2025

In the Arctic, one of the primary paths for water to flow is along water tracks, stream-like features that fill with and route water when the soil abo...

Tucker Terrell ’25, who graduated from App State in May with a bachelor’s degree in geology-environmental geology, far left, shows community members where a single headstone was located by App State researchers trying to determine the position of grave sites in an area formerly covered with brush behind the Fort Defiance site in Caldwell County. Photo by Bret Yager

App State researchers uncover hidden history at Fort Defiance
Jun 23, 2025

BOONE, N.C. — In a newly discovered graveyard at Fort Defiance in Caldwell County, an interdisciplinary effort led by Appalachian State Un...

Appalachian State University’s College of Arts and Sciences

Nominations open for Richard N. Henson Outstanding Academic Advisor Award
Jun 18, 2025

BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) is accepting nominations for the 2024-25 Richard N. Henson Outstan...

Dr. Darci Gardner is an associate professor of French in the Appalachian State University Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures and the director of High Country Humanities, a collaboration between App State's College of Arts and Sciences and community partners in Watauga County.

Dr. Darci Gardner receives grant to develop course on career paths in the humanities
Jun 16, 2025

BOONE, N.C. — Dr. Darci Gardner, associate professor of French in the Appalachian State University Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures...

Zachary Russell, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Appalachian State University (center), works with student researchers Ethan Humphries and Hunter Corman in the Ion Innovations Scientific Instrumentation Development Lab in Boone. Image courtesy of Appalachian State

App State researcher develops AI-driven microscope to detect poultry parasites [faculty featured]
Jun 9, 2025

Researcher Zach Russell recently earned a grant from NCInnovation to develop his lab’s AI-driven robotic microscope....

A young girl looks through a telescope during an Evening at Dark Sky Observatory event held by App State on Aug. 11, 2024. Photo by Cory Dalton

App State awarded $367,088 National Science Foundation grant for telescope upgrades at Dark Sky Observatory
Jun 9, 2025

BOONE, N.C. — Thanks to a $367,088 grant funded by the National Science Foundation’s Major Research Instrumentation Program, Appalachian State Uni...

David Nieman

Why Do Some Runners Get Sick After a Marathon? [faculty featured]
Jun 5, 2025

In the 1980s, David Nieman, a young health science graduate researcher at Loma Linda University and an avid marathon runner, observed an intriguing pa...

Haley Herman (left) and Thomas Schwartz (right)

May 2025 College of Arts and Sciences Staff Shout Outs
Jun 5, 2025

BOONE, N.C. — Awarded by the Appalachian State University Staff Senate, Staff Shout Outs recognize staff members for their positive contributions to...