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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 awarded a $2.3 million NCInnovation grant to bring their AI microscope to market and someday save North Carolina farmers time and money.

Faculty & Staff, Grants & Research
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 Boone’s historic Junaluska neighborhood: “Junaluska: Oral Histories of a Black Appalachian Community” and “The Junaluska A

Faculty & Staff, Outreach & Community Engagement
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 above permafrost thaws in the summer.

Faculty & Staff, Grants & Research
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
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 Outstanding Advisor Award.

Awards & Honors, College News, Faculty & Staff
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.
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.

Faculty & Staff, Grants & Research
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
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 pattern.

Faculty & Staff
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 the University.

Awards & Honors, Faculty & Staff, University News