Michael Reddish
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences
Education: B.S. Chemistry, Furman University; Ph.D. Chemistry, Emory University
Research Interests: I am interested in how the human body makes and metabolizes steroids. I specialize in a class of enzymes that are vital to these processes called Cytochrome P450 Enzymes. My research looks at how these enzymes function and what happens when these enzymes are disturbed by genetic variations or environmental contaminants.
Recent Publications:
- Reddish, M. J.; Guengerich, F. P., “Human cytochrome P450 11B2 produces aldosterone by a processive mechanism due to the lactol form of the intermediate 18-hydroxycorticosterone” J. Biol. Chem. 2019. (Currently published online and in press to be published otherwise; hence, no volume, or page numbers available.)
- Guengerich, F. P.; Wilkey, C. J.; Glass, S. M.; Reddish, M. J., “Conformational selection dominates binding of steroids to human cytochrome P450 17A1” J. Biol. Chem. 2019, 294 (26), 10028-10041.
- Williams, L. C.; Reddish, M. J., “Integrating Primary Research into the Teaching Lab: Benefits and Impacts of a One-Semester CURE for Physical Chemistry” J. Chem. Educ. 2018, 95 (6), 928-938.
- Reddish, M. J.; Callender, R.; Dyer, R. B., Resolution of submillisecond kinetics of multiple reaction pathways for lactate dehydrogenase. Biophys. J. 2017, 112 (9), 1852-1862.
- Reddish, M. J.; Vaughn, M. B.; Fu, R.; Dyer, R. B., “Ligand-dependent conformational dynamics of dihydrofolate reductase” Biochemistry 2016, 55 (10), 1485-93.
Why Appalachian: I chose to work at Appalachian because I wanted to work with promising undergraduate students and because I wanted to live in the mountains.
Interesting Facts: I enjoy long-distance running, hiking and science fiction novels.
William (Larry) Bridges
Lecturer, Department of Computer Science: Cybersecurity and Discrete Mathematics
Education: B.S., Appalachian State; M.S., Clemson University
Research Interests: Cybersecurity, Mobile Device Security
Interesting Facts: My wife and I, both of children, both of their spouses, my brother and his wife all hold Appalachian degrees.
Along with Jim Webb, Appalachian Chief Information Security Officer, I was awarded through the Chancellor's Innovation Scholars Program 2018-19 to establish a student cybersecurity operations center in 2019-20.
Song Shu
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography and Planning
Education: Ph.D. University of Cincinnati
Research Interests: GIS and Remote Sensing
Why Appalachian: This is a good place to live and a great department to work for!
Katie Howard
Adjunct Faculty, Department of Languages Literatures & Cultures: Spanish
Education: M.A., Romance Languages - Appalachian; M.L.S., Appalachian
Research Interests: Second Language Writing and Grant seeking
Why Appalachian: I work here full time already as a staff member in the Office of Research and because Appalachian is my home.
Mary-Caitlyn Valentinsson
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology
Education: Ph.D. Anthropology & Linguistics, University of Arizona; M.A. Linguistics, University of Arizona; B.A. Language, Culture and Society, City University of New York
Research Interests: Globalization, language ideology, language in the mass media and popular culture, discourse analysis, digital ethnography
Recent Publications:
- “Bivalent class indexing in the sociolinguistics of specialty coffee talk”. Journal of Sociolinguistics 22(5): 489-515 (2018) with William Cotter.
- “Stance and the construction of authentic celebrity persona”(2018), Language in Society 47(5): 715-740.
- “Proper is whatever people make it: discursive strategies and positionality in language ideologies” (2018) In Kate Beeching, Kate, Chiara Ghezzi and Piera Molinelli, eds. Positioning the Self and Others. Linguistic perspectives [P&bns 292]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 219-239.
Interesting Facts: I have a pet snake named Teddy.
What are you most excited about this year: I'm thrilled to be joining a department with such great camaraderie, and really excited to learn what Appalachian students are passionate about.
Rachel A. Horowitz
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology
Education: Ph.D., Tulane University
Research Interests: Archaeology, ancient Maya, past economic systems, lithic technology
Recent Publications:
- Horowitz, Rachel A. and Grant S. McCall (eds.). 2019. “Global Perspectives on Lithic Technologies in Complex Societies.” University of Colorado Press, Boulder.
- Horowitz, Rachel A. Bernadette Cap, Jason Yaeger, Meaghan Peuramaki-Brown, and Mark C. Eli. 2019. “Material Preferences for Stone Tools: The Use of Limestone Bifaces in the Mopan Valley, Belize.” Latin American Antiquity 30(1): 198-204.
- Horowitz, Rachel A. 2018. “Technological Choice and Raw Material Availability: Lithic Production Implements in Western Belize.” Lithic Technology 43(3): 172-185.
- Horowitz, Rachel A. 2018. “Uneven Lithic Landscapes: Raw Material Procurement and Economic Organization among the Late/Terminal Classic Maya in western Belize.” Journal of Archaeological Sciences: Reports 19: 949-947.
What are you most excited about this year: I am looking forward to working with engaged and curious students!
Adrienne Erazo
Assistant Professor, Languages, Literatures, and Cultures: Spanish
Education: Ph.D. in Romance Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Research Interests: Immigration from Latin America to the U.S., gender studies, border theory, identity
Recent Publications:
- "The Polemics of Transcultural Translation in Poniatowska’s Chronicle Las soldaderas," Diálogo, Oct. 2018
- “Nasty women: The Politics of Female Identity in Antonio Ortuño’s La fila india," iMex, Feb. 2018
- “Blurring Borders: Construction of Narrative and Gender in Ana Clavel’s Cuerpo náufrago," Chasqui, Nov. 2017
What are you most excited about this year: I am looking forward to getting to know the community and area, and beginning to work on growing the Spanish in the Professions program.
Clare Hilary Scott Chialvo
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology: Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology
Education: B.S. Genetics, University of Georgia, 2007; B.S.E.S., Entomology, University of Georgia, 2007; Ph.D. Entomology, University of Florida, 2012
Research Interests: Evolution of novel adaptations, currently toxin tolerance in mushroom-feeding fruit flies (Drosophila)
Recent Publications:
- Scott Chialvo, C.H., B.E. White, L.K. Reed, and K.A. Dyer. 2019. “A phylogenetic examination of host use evolution in the quinaria and testacea groups of Drosophila.” Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 130: 233-243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2018.10.027
- Scott Chialvo, C.H. and T. Werner. 2018. “Drosophila, destroying angels, and deathcaps! Oh my! A review of mycotoxin tolerance in the genus Drosophila.” Frontiers in Biology 13(2): 91-102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-018-1487-1
- Scott Chialvo, C.H., P. Chialvo, J.D. Holland, T.J. Anderson, J.W. Breinholt, A.Y. Kawahara, X. Zhou, S. Liu, and J.M. Zaspel. 201”A phylogenomic analysis of lichen-feeding tiger moths uncovers evolutionary origins of host chemical sequestration.” Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 121: 23-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2017.12.015
- Scott Chialvo, C.H., R. Che, D. Reif, A. Motsinger-Reif, and L.K. Reed. 2016. “Eigenvector metabolite analysis reveals dietary effects on the association among metabolite correlation patterns, gene expression and phenotypes.” Metabolomics 12: 167. doi: 10.1007/s11306-016-117-3
Interesting Facts:
My travels have taken me around the world and I have had the opportunity to: collect lichen feeding moths at the La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica; live in Scotland for 6 months; drink from a glacier in Iceland; look for amber fossils on the coast of Denmark and help remove invasive plants in Australia.
My research program is currently funded through an NSF Dimensions of Biodiversity award (DEB - 1737869).
I am interested in establishing an outreach program at local middle schools where I present hands-on activities using my research to address the core curriculum.
Kapila Wijayaratne
Lecturer, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Education: Ph.D. Experimental Condensed Matter Physics, University of Virginia; B.Sc. Physics, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Research Interests: Condensed Matter Physics - Two Dimensional Material, Band Structure Studies, Thermoelectrics, Physics and Science Education...
Recent Publications:
- “Spectroscopic signature of moment-dependent electron–phonon coupling in 2H-TaS2” -Journal of Materials Chemistry C 5, 11310 (2017)
- “Particle-hole asymmetry and orbital selectivity of the charge density wave energy gap in 2H-TaS2” - Physical Review B 96, 125103 (2017)
- “Spectroscopic study of the charge density wave order in 2H-TaS2” -Proc. of SPIE, Spintronics-X, 103570Q (2017)
- “Spectroscopic evidence for temperature dependent convergence of light and heavy hole valence bands of PbQ (Q=Te, Se, S) “ - Europhysics Letters, 117 Issue 2, 27006 (2017)
Interesting Facts:
I was born in a city called 'Kandy' in Sri Lanka. 'Kandy' means 'Mountain' in the Sinhalese language.
I Won an "All University Graduate Teaching Award" from the University of Virginia. (2018-19)
Heather L. Ondercin
Assistant Professor, Department of Government and Justice Studies: Political Science and American Political Behavior
Education: Ph.D. & M.A. Pennsylvania State University; B.A. Eastern Michigan University
Research Interests: Partisanship, Candidate Emergence, Political Psychology, Gender
Recent Publications:
- Ondercin, Heather L. and Sarah A. Fulton. Forthcoming “Bargain Shopping: How Candidate Sex Lowers the Cost of Voting” Politics & Gender. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X19000254
- Ondercin, Heather L. 2018. “Is it a Chasm? Is it a Canyon? No, it is the Gender Gap” The Forum. 16(4): 611-629. https://doi.org/10.1515/for-2018-0040
- Ondercin, Heather L. 2017. “Who’s Responsible for the Gender Gap: The Dynamics of Men’s and Women’s Macropartisanship, 1950-2012.” Political Research Quarterly 70(4): 749-761. doi.org/10.1177/1065912917716336
- Dickerson, Bradley and Heather L. Ondercin. 2017. "Conditional Motivated Reasoning: How Economic Performance Moderates Partisan Motivations in Economic Perceptions" Political Research Quarterly 70 (1): 194-208. doi.org/10.1177/1065912916684031
- Banaszak, Lee Ann and Heather L. Ondercin. 2016. “Explaining Movement and Countermovement Events in the Contemporary U.S. Women's Movement.” Social Forces 95 (1): 381-410. doi.org/10.1093/sf/sow051
Why Appalachian: Appalachian offered a great fit for my research and teaching interests.
Interesting Facts: I love to cook and try out new recipes.
Noah Williams
Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematical Sciences
Education: Ph.D. & M.A. Mathematics, University of Colorado Boulder; B.A. Mathematics, French minor, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Research Interests: Probability, Random Polynomials
Recent Publications:
- A. Brisbin, M. Riehl, N. Williams, “The Deletion-Insertion Model Applied to the Genome Rearrangement Problem.” To appear in Pure Mathematics and Applications.
- S. O’Rourke, N. Williams, “On the local pairing behavior of critical points and roots of random polynomials,” available at arXiv:1810.06781.
- S. O’Rourke, N. Williams, “Pairing between zeros and critical points of random polynomials with independent roots.” Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 371 (2019), no. 4, 2343–2381. Available at https://doi.org/10.1090/tran/7496.
Why Appalachian: I was impressed with the Appalachian State community and its focus on student learning, and I love the mountains and promise of hiking, biking and other outdoor activities!
What are you most excited about this year: I have some ideas for research collaborations with undergraduates, and I can't wait to meet some students who want to join me in my work!
Louis Johannes Conradie
Lecturer, A.R. Smith Department of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences: Viticulture and Oenology
Education: B.Sc. Agriculture, Viticulture and Oenology, Stellenbosch University
Research Interests: Winemaking and Viticulture
Why Appalachian: This is a very inclusive institution that cares about their faculty and students.
What are you most excited about this year: Learning how to teach and stretching myself to grow and develop new skills.
Andy Stephenson
Adjunct Instructor, Department of Government and Justice Studies
Education: Master's Criminal Justice, Boston University; Bachelor's Social Science, Indiana University
Research Interests: Police Use of Force, Offender Recidivism, Law Enforcement Technology
Why Appalachian: Appalachian is a growing university in a beautiful setting. The culture and people are fantastic. I feel fortunate to be able to work in such a great place!
Peaches Hash
Lecturer Department of English: Rhetoric and Composition
Education: Emory & Henry College, English B.A.; Appalachian State University, English and Community College Teaching M.A.; Lincoln Memorial University, Educational Leadership/Curriculum and Instruction Ed.S.; Appalachian State University, Educational Leadership A.B.D.
Research Interests: Arts-Based Educational Research, Practitioner Action Research, Curriculum Studies, Expressive Arts
Recent Publications:
- Hash, Peaches. “The Educator Inferno.” The Currere Exchange Journal, vol. 3, no. 1, 2019. pp. 74-81.
Interesting Facts:
My pugs are my favorite "people" and I attend celebratory pug fests each year.
I spent the month of July in Indonesia (Java, Bali and West Timor) for a curricular Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad led by Appalachian's Dr. Paul Wallace. I am currently a member of the Watauga Education Foundation and will also be a Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Peer Mentor at Appalachian this fall.
What are you most excited about this year: Implementing art-based curriculum into my courses.
Paul A. Lucas
Assistant Professor, Department of Government and Justice Studies: Criminal Justice
Education: Ph.D., Criminology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Research Interests: Courts, Problem-Solving Courts, Evaluation and Criminal Justice Policy
Recent Publications:
- Lucas, P. A. (2018). “An exploratory study of veterans treatment court peer mentors: Roles, experiences, and expectations.” Drug Court Review, (1), 59-85.
- Ward, K. C., Lucas, P. A., & Murphy, A. (2018). “The impact of marijuana legalization on law enforcement in states surrounding Colorado.” Police Quarterly, 1-26.
- Challacomb, D., & Lucas, P. A. (2018) “Post-dicting violence with Sovereign Citizen actors: An exploratory test of the TRAP-18.” Journal of Threat Assessment and Management, 6(1), 51-59.
- Lucas, P. A., & Hanrahan, K. J. (2016). “No soldier left behind: The veterans’ court solution.” International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 45, 52-59.
Why Appalachian: For me, Appalachian State University checks all the right boxes. First and foremost, I am impressed with the student population. During the past year as a Visiting Assistant Professor, I have had the pleasure to witness firsthand how dedicated students are to their studies and it has been refreshing to see how committed they are to both the university and community.
Second, I am humbled to work within a department that maintains a careful balance of teaching and scholarship. My colleagues consist of a group of talented academics who stand apart from others through their years of experience and expertise. My role at Appalachian has rewarded me with unlimited opportunities for personal and professional growth, both inside and outside of the classroom. These elements, coupled with a strong sense of community in the high country, are unmatched anywhere else.
Marc Kissel
Assistant professor, Department of Anthropology: Biological Anthropology
Education: Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison (2014)
Research Interests: The evolution of modern humans and the processes by which hominids became human; the evolutionary arc of human warfare, Neandertal behavior; semiotics
Recent Publications:
- 2019 Kissel, M. and Kim, N. “The Emergence of Human Warfare: Current Perspectives.” Yearbook of Physical Anthropology
- 2018 Kissel, M and Fuentes, A. “‘Behavioral modernity’ as a process, not an event, in the human niche.” Time and Mind 11:163-183
- 2018 Kim, N. and Kissel, M. “Warfare in our Evolutionary Past.” Routledge.
- 2017 Oka, R.; Kissel, M.; Golitko, M.; Kim, N; Fuentes, A; Sheridan, S. “Population as the main driver of armed group size and conflict casualties.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114: E11101-E11110.
Interesting Facts:
Before going to grad school I was a semi-professional magician.
I'm very interested in working within the community to help teach about the role anthropology can play in public discussions.
Hannah Holmes
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
Education: Ph.D., Wayne State University
Research Interests: Health psychology, women's health, human sexuality, and emotion-focused psychological interventions for chronic pain
Recent Publications:
- Holmes, H. J., Sala-Hamrick, K. J., Pegram, S. E., Evans, E. K., & Wilton-Martindale, J. (in press). “Rape Aggression Defense course: Physical, psychological, and interpersonal benefits among women with and without interpersonal victimization histories.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
- Carty, J. N., Ziadni, M. S., Holmes, H. J., Tomakowsky, J., Peters, K., Schubiner, H., & Lumley, M. A. (2019). “The effects of a life-stress emotional awareness and expression interview for women with chronic urogenital pain: A randomized controlled trial.” Pain Medicine, 20, 1321-1329.
- Holmes, H. J., Thakur, E. R., Lumley, M. A., Carty, J. N., Ziadni, M. S., Doherty, H. K., Lockhart, N. A., & Schubiner, H. (2018). “Ambivalence over emotional expression and perceived social constraints as moderators of relaxation training and emotional awareness and expression training for irritable bowel syndrome.” General Hospital Psychiatry, 53, 38-43.
Why Appalachian: I chose Appalachian because of the focus on excellent student instruction, the high quality of faculty research and the beautiful setting.
Andrew Polonsky
Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science: Foundations and Theory
Education: Ph.D. Computer Science, University of Bergen (Norway), 2011; M.S. Mathematics, University of Connecticut, 2006; B.S. Mathematics, University of Connecticut, 2005
Research Interests: Lambda Calculus, Type Theory, Term Rewriting
Recent Publications:
- “Degrees of extensionality in the theory of Böhm trees and Sallé's conjecture.” Logical Methods in Computer Science 15(1) (2019) Higher-Kinded Data Types: Syntax and Semantics. LICS 2019
- “Coinductive Foundations of Infinitary Rewriting and Infinitary Equational Logic.” Logical Methods in Computer Science 14(1) (2018)\
- “Clocked lambda calculus.” Mathematical Structures in Computer Science 27(5) (2017)
- “New Results on Morris's Observational Theory: The Benefits of Separating the Inseparable.” FSCD 2016
Why Appalachian: Boone is amazing!
Jeff Carter
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Government and Justice Studies: Political Science
Education: Ph.D. and M.A., Pennsylvania State University; B.A., Louisiana State University
Research Interests: Political leaders, interstate conflict, state making, government spending
Recent Publications:
- Carter, Jeff and Timothy Nordstrom. 2017. "Term Limits, Leader Preferences, and Interstate Conflict." International Studies Quarterly. 61(3): 721-735.
- Carter, Jeff. 2017. "The Political Cost of War Mobilization in Democracies and Dictatorships." Journal of Conflict Resolution. 61(8): 1768-1794.
- Lemke, Douglas and Jeff Carter. 2016. "Birth Legacies, State Making, and War." Journal of Politics. 78(2): 497-511.
Why Appalachian: Opportunity to work in a great department near family.
Interesting Facts: I love music.
Brady Lawrence Pearce
Lecturer, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Education: Ph.D. N.C. State University; M.S. Appalachian State; B.S. Appalachian State
Research Interests: Quantum computing, solar cells and materials characterization
Why Appalachian: I attended Appalachian as an undergraduate and master's student and wanted to come back and be a part of an amazing community.
Kathleen Jocoy
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
Education: Ph.D. University of South Carolina; M.A. Appalachian State University; B.A. Winthrop University
Research Interests: Methods effects and their impact on data quality; Pain perception; Video games
Why Appalachian: I'm thrilled to return to Appalachian as a Visiting Assistant Professor. The University is set in a wonderful community, and I am very fond of the department.
Dr. Jessica Martell
Assistant Professor, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies: Watauga Residential College and Global Studies
Education: Ph.D., UNC-Chapel Hill, (2014); M.A., UNC-Chapel Hill, English (2008); M.A.T., City College, CUNY (2004), B.A., Northwestern University (2001; Summa cum Laude & Phi Beta Kappa)
Research Interests: British and Irish Studies, Modernism, Empire, Food, Film, Literature and the Environment
Recent Publications:
- Martell, Jessica, Philip Keel Geheber, and Adam Fajardo, eds. “Modernism and Food Studies: Politics, Aesthetics, and the Avant-Garde” (University Press of Florida, 2019).
- “Potatoes and the Political Ecology of James Joyce’s Dubliners.” In Modernism and Food Studies. Eds. Jessica Martell, Philip Keel Geheber, and Adam Fajardo (University Press of Florida, 2019).
- “Cormac McCarthy’s ‘Bogfolk’: Apocalypse, Fertility Rites, and Irish History in The Road.” In Swamp Souths: Literary and Cultural Ecologies. Eds. Eric Gary Anderson, et.al. (Louisiana State University Press, 2019). Co-authored with Zackary Vernon.
- “Food Sovereignty, the Irish Homestead, and the First World War.” Modernist Cultures 13.3 (August 2018).
Interesting Facts:
Before earning her PhD, Dr. Martell lived in Rwanda and spent a year writing about the cultural and ecological impacts of the 1994 genocide. Her account of an elephant named Mutwale is being made into an animated short film, which she co-wrote. In 1994, Mutwale was shot by a genocidaire militia but survived; his erratic behavior has since led to his diagnosis with a non-human form of PTSD.
Martell has been nominated for four teaching awards at Appalachian State, in part because of her passion for connecting students to the Boone community.
She is on the Executive Board of Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture, a women-led, Boone-based non-profit that builds an equitable, sustainable High Country food system.
Her commitment to student learning also extends globally: in 2018, she and two Appalachian State M.A. students in English presented research on “The Ecosystems of James Joyce’s Ulysses” at the American Conference for Irish Studies at University College Cork in Ireland."
Bertrand M. Gutiérrez
Adjunct Instructor, Department of Languages Literatures and Cultures: Spanish
Education: M.A. Spanish College Teaching, Appalachian State University
Research Interests: The use of Spanish-language news sources, with an emphasis on economics, elections, trade, culture and immigration.
Why Appalachian: It’s my Alma mater.
Rebecca Yoon
Director of AppELS
App English Language Studies (AppELS) is a new academic program for English language learners at Appalachian in partnership with the Office of International Education and Development (OIED).
Education: B.A. Legal Studies & M.A. Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), University of Central Florida
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College of Arts and Sciences graphic