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Dr. Sarah Carmichael, professor in the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences at Appalachian State University, is a geochemist and a National Geographic Explorer. She specializes in Devonian period research, studying the causes and effects of mass extinction events that occurred 350–417 million years ago. She is pictured during a field expedition in Mongolia in 2018, where she and her team evaluated specimens preserved in volcanic rocks. Photo by Felix Kunze

App State research team examines ancient evidence in mass extinctions
Jan 12, 2022

Appalachian State University’s Dr. Sarah Carmichael describes her job as similar to that of a crime scene investigator — and the evidence she examines is more than 350 million years old.

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Dr. Baker Perry, professor in Appalachian State University’s Department of Geography and Planning, right, and his expedition team member Dr. Tom Matthews, work on the automated weather station at the Mount Everest Base Camp. Perry and Matthews were members of the 2019 National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition. Learn more at www.natgeo.com/everest. Photo by Freddie Wilkinson, National Geographic.

App State leads climate research at the top of the world
Dec 16, 2021

Appalachian State University has stepped onto the world stage as the lead institution to coordinate the operation and maintenance of weather stations at the highest elevation on the planet — Mount Everest.

College News, Faculty & Staff, Sustainability, Global Learning, Grants & Research, Students
Dr. Andy Heckert, professor in the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences at Appalachian State University, is pictured in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in September during his 2021–22 Fulbright experience. Photo by Iekraam Adams

Fossils offer App State Fulbright Scholar clues on ancient animal evolution
Dec 14, 2021

Millions of years and thousands of miles stand between Appalachian State University paleontologist Dr. Andy Heckert and new insights into the evolutionary path of Earth’s animals.

College News, Global Learning, Faculty & Staff, Grants & Research, Awards & Honors, STEM
Dr. Donna Lillian has been named interim associate dean of Appalachian State University’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) beginning January 3, 2022. Photo submitted.

App State College of Arts and Sciences welcomes interim associate dean for 2022-23
Dec 13, 2021

Dr. Donna Lillian has been named interim associate dean of Appalachian State University’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). Beginning January 3, 2022, she will serve alongside Dr.

College News, University News, Faculty & Staff
Assistant professor Dr. Michael Reddish, left, and Ethan Harris test samples in the lab in Appalachian State University’s A.R. Smith Department of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences, where they investigate treatments for triple-negative breast cancer — work funded by a grant from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. Harris is a senior from Clemmons who is double majoring in chemistry-biochemistry and biology-cellular/molecular biology. Photo by Chase Reynolds

App State team researches treatments for aggressive breast cancer
Dec 10, 2021

 A research team at Appalachian State University is investigating effective treatments for one of the most aggressive types of breast cancer — with the goal of reducing adverse side effects.

College News, Grants & Research, Faculty & Staff, Students
Image of AmeriCorps members & AmeriCorps Senior Volunteers. Photo by Americorps.

Sociology faculty lead charity initiatives for the holidays
Dec 2, 2021

Appalachian State University’s Department of Sociology oversees two programs this time of year that benefits populations in need in the surrounding counties of the High Country.

College News, Outreach & Community Engagement, Faculty & Staff, Support
A research team at App State has received nearly $1.1 million in grant funding through the University of North Carolina System’s Research Opportunities Initiative to conduct a three-year honeybee research program aimed at addressing honeybee decline in the U.S. Photo by Todd Bush, courtesy of Hive Tracks

App State researchers working to save honeybees with informatics
Nov 30, 2021

Hardworking honeybee populations — responsible for a third of the food on Americans’ plates — are on the decline in the U.S., meaning food shortages and higher prices at grocery stores could become the future norm.

College News, Outreach & Community Engagement, Faculty & Staff, Grants & Research
Dr. Jon Davenport Safe fund recipient, photo provided

SAFE Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Jon Davenport
Nov 19, 2021

Dr. Jon Davenport, assistant professor, Department of Biology

Student and Faculty Excellence (SAFE) fund recipient
Project: Size Matters: The Influence of trap and mesh size on Turtle Captures

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Oblique 3D view of CFM 5.3 visualized with Gocad. Faults are colored by orientation (strike) and relocated seismicity from Hauksson et al. (2012) colored by time.
An aerial image of the Toolik Field Station on Alaska’s North Slope, where Dr. Sarah Evans and Appalachian State University undergraduate students will collect samples of thawing permafrost during the summers of 2022, 2023 and 2024. Their research, funded by a National Science Foundation grant, aims to provide insight on how the release of carbon from thawing permafrost is advancing climate change. Evans is an assistant professor in App State’s Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences. Photo by Q

Dr. Sarah Evans, App State students to explore how water patterns in melting permafrost affect climate change
Nov 4, 2021

Small trickles of water traveling through Alaska’s permafrost — subsurface soil that remains frozen throughout the year — carry clues that could unlock a greater understanding of climate change and its advancement.

College News, Faculty & Staff, Grants & Research, Students, Sustainability