Grants & Research

Dr. Maggie Sugg is an associate professor and the honors director in the Appalachian State University Department of Geography and Planning. Photo by University Communications

Dr. Maggie Sugg studies flood-related health disparities in rural Appalachia following Hurricane Helene
Jan 28, 2026

BOONE, N.C. — Dr. Maggie Sugg, associate professor and honors director in the Appalachian State University Department of Geography and Planning, is ...

Hellbender researcher and Appalachian State University graduate student Hutch Whitman holds a hellbender. Photograph courtesy Hutch Whitman

From Hell and Bent on Returning [student featured]
Jan 23, 2026

Imagine a slimy, speckled tube with four legs that appear to have been attached with spare parts. The toes — four on the front legs, five on the rea...

Dr. Brett Taubman is a professor and the director of the Fermentation Sciences program in  Appalachian State University's A.R. Smith Department of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences.

Dr. Brett Taubman featured on WUNC's The Broadside
Jan 23, 2026

From bourbon to chow chow, fermentation is everywhere in Southern food and drink. But how did this "controlled form of rotting" become so prevalent in...

Dr. Jewel Parker ’16 ’18

Dr. Jewel Parker ’16 ’18 awarded Southern Historical Association's Dissertation Prize
Jan 22, 2026

When Dr. Jewel Parker, a 2024 graduate of UNC Greensboro’s History Department, learned that her dissertation had won the C. Vann...

Dr. Zachary Russell

Dr. Zach Russell discusses NC Innovation research on Spectrum News
Jan 13, 2026

Two NC Innovation grant recipients explain how their research is moving from the lab into the real world. Dr. Zachary Russell of Appalachian State Uni...

Dr. Nancy Asen is an assistant professor in the Appalachian State University A.R. Smith Department of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences.

Dr. Nancy Asen co-authors publications in Food Research International and Food Chemistry
Jan 6, 2026

BOONE, N.C. — Dr. Nancy Asen, assistant professor in Appalachian State University's A.R. Smith Department of Chemistry and Fermentation Sc...

The Appalachian State University College of Arts and Sciences is accepting applications for the Student and Faculty Excellence (SAFE) Fund with a deadline of Monday, February 9, 2026, at 5:00 p.m.

Apply for the Spring 2026 SAFE Fund through February 9
Jan 5, 2026

BOONE, N.C. — The Appalachian State University College of Arts and Sciences is accepting applications for the Student and Faculty Excellence (SAFE) ...

Dr. Gregg Marland is an affiliated research professor in the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences at Appalachian State University.

Turning point: Global greenhouse emissions will soon flatten or decline [faculty featured]
Nov 24, 2025

In July, a team of scientists assembled on a video call to study an anomalous wobble in a data curve. This blip didn’t signal a new particle decay i...

Dr. Shea Tuberty, professor in the Department of Biology at Appalachian State University

‘Toxic Soup’: PFAS and other contaminants surged in French Broad River after Helene, study finds [faculty featured]
Nov 24, 2025

Fifteen days after Tropical Storm Helene sent debris, runoff and a cocktail of toxins — including raw sewage and pharmaceuticals — pouri...

Dr. Seth Grooms, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Appalachian State University

Archaeologists uncover a new purpose behind one of North America’s greatest mysteries [faculty featured]
Nov 24, 2025

New evidence suggests Poverty Point’s monumental mounds were created not by a ruling elite, but by egalitarian groups drawn together by shared ritua...