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Research at Appalachian

Research at Appalachian

Appalachian’s location in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina provides unique opportunities for research and scholarship. Passionate and creative faculty come here to stay, and students learn in academically challenging settings under their close mentorship. Small communities, access to diverse natural resources and significant weather patterns combine with a university culture that supports innovative, interdisciplinary pedagogy, making our location one that is not only stunningly beautiful, but also intellectually stimulating.

Student and faculty research stories

What kind of research could you undertake as an Appalachian student? Read about what our students and faculty are doing in their fields, where and how they learn, and share their work.

stduent with professor handling chemicals

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Research news

Our faculty and students make headlines with their research and scholarship. Read their news stories here.

>> Latest research news

Office of Research

The Office of Research provides support for the research, creative and scholarly endeavors of Appalachian faculty, staff and students. The office offers assistance with finding funding, writing and submitting proposals, preparing budgets, beginning and managing projects and continued fiscal management of awarded projects.

chemistry student working with professor

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Research News

Nykesha Fyffe ’17 plans to help solve problems of the future
November 14, 2018
Appalachian First Year Seminar instructor Adrian Rice authors new poetry collection
November 8, 2018
Appalachian’s Dr. Jon Carter offers historical context for ‘migrant caravan,’ points to U.S. free-trade policies of 1990s
November 2, 2018
Finding the strike zone: data analytics in the classroom and on the field
November 2, 2018
Appalachian’s Dr. Ellen Cowan awarded 2018 GSA Fellowship
November 2, 2018
Appalachian professor Dominque Hammonds receives 2018 ACES Supervision Award
November 2, 2018
200 geologists take a field trip to the High Country
October 25, 2018
Responding to flood threats — prevention and planning at Appalachian
October 24, 2018
NSF grant funds Appalachian research on the effects of too few zzz’s
October 22, 2018
Appalachian’s Kin-Yan Szeto awarded NYPL Fellowship to research Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan
October 19, 2018

More research news: Appalachian Today | Office of Research

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Professional Development Opportunities from the Office of Research

View the Office of Research calendar of events

Appalachian faculty actively engage in research

Find out more about our Research Centers and Institutes here:

The value of undergraduate research

Working with professors on meaningful research or creative endeavors gives Appalachian students the skills they need for career or graduate school success.

Graduate Research Associate Mentoring Program

The Cratis D. Williams School of Graduate Studies has a competitive assistantship program, which pays a stipend to graduate students who collaborate with faculty members on their research projects.

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The North Carolina Research Campus - a public-private research center

Appalachian partners with the North Carolina Research Campus, providing our students with extraordinary opportunities to engage in collaborative and multidisciplinary research in human health, nutrition and agriculture.

North Carolina Research Campus

Energy research

International research & development

When individuals from countries and cultures across the globe can share knowledge and experience with one another, all nations benefit. Find out more about the research in which our faculty, staff and students are engaging in crosses boundaries and borders for the betterment of all.

Resources and support

Are you a faculty member, staff member or student looking for resources for your research endeavors? Start here to find some terrific resources available to help.

News

Appalachian’s Dr. Ellen Cowan awarded 2018 GSA Fellowship
November 2, 2018
The GSA Fellowship recognizes geoscientists who have made extraordinary contributions to the field through their research, teaching, leadership, public outreach and other activities.
Appalachian’s Kin-Yan Szeto awarded NYPL Fellowship to research Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan
October 19, 2018
During Szeto’s 2018–19 residency, she will perform on-site research at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, focusing on the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan.
‘After Coal’ documentary produced by Appalachian’s Thomas Hansell adapted as book
September 28, 2018
How do coal-mining communities and their cultures survive once the coal industry moves on? Hansell’s book “After Coal: Stories of Survival in Appalachia and Wales,” forthcoming from WVU Press, explores this issue.
UNC System funds Appalachian research on new drug storage and delivery method
August 28, 2018
Research by Appalachian’s Dr. Brooke Christian, professor in the Department of Chemistry, could “change the paradigm of drug delivery,” potentially reducing the cost of drug storage and transportation.
Appalachian Carbon Research Group awarded UNC System funding to develop accounting guidelines for forest carbon offset projects
August 28, 2018
ACRG will partner with UNC System sister institutions UNC Asheville and North Carolina State University to “evaluate the cost and accuracy of forest inventory methodologies that could make forest carbon offset projects viable.”
Disappearing footprints in Tanzania
August 27, 2018
Three faculty members in Appalachian’s Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences used point cloud comparison algorithms to find rates of erosion during the seven-year study.
Appalachian researchers contribute to study on protein that triggers antioxidant production
July 16, 2018
A study co-authored by Appalachian’s Dr. Brooke Christian and alumna Samantha Steyl examines the role of a protein called ATM that senses damaging reactive oxygen species and responds by triggering the production of antioxidants.
Appalachian’s Dr. Howard Neufeld contributes to global research on plant-damaging ozone pollution
July 13, 2018
A study co-authored by Appalachian’s Dr. Howard Neufeld examines global ozone pollution trends to provide better insight about spatial and temporal variation that relate to climate change, human health and crops/ecosystems around the world.

Events

Nov
26
Landon Williams: Duke Energy: Utility Initiatives for a Low Carbon Future
November 26, 2018
4:00 pm
During his six years’ employment at Duke Energy, Landon Williams has worked as a Senior Business Energy Advisor and as a Senior Outreach Specialist. In these roles he gained first-hand knowledge of the variety of initiatives that Duke Energy is engaged in that are beyond what some might consider the “normal” utility business.
Nov
27
Dr. Randall Reed: Is Alexa My Neighbor? The Future of Religion and Artificial Intelligence
November 27, 2018
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
The advent of home artificial intelligence devices represent a first incursion of artificial intelligence into the homes of Americans. The prediction is that A.I.s will continue to become more intelligent over time and even begin to develop unique personalities in response to their users. Might such A.I.s be perceived as religious persons? And if so, what strategies might the church use for their inclusion?
Nov
28
Sushmita Chatterjee: Becoming Animal, becoming Transnational
November 28, 2018
12:00 pm
Dr. Sushmita Chatterjee is Associate Professor of Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies in the Department of Cultural, Gender and Global Studies at Appalachian State University. Her research interests include feminist theory, queer theory, transnational studies, democratic theory, postcolonial theory, animal studies and visual politics.
Nov
29
Ellen Key: You Research Like a Girl: Gendered Research Agendas and Their Implications
November 29, 2018
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Ellen Key is associate professor of government and justice studies and faculty affiliate of Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies.
Dec
7
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Apr
27
Terraria Gigantica: The World Under Glass, Photographs by Dana Fritz
Dec 7, 2018 - Apr 27, 2019
The photographs in the series Terraria Gigantica: The World Under Glass, frame the world’s largest enclosed landscapes as possible impossibilities: Biosphere 2’s ocean in the Arizona desert, the Henry Doorly Zoo’s desert in the Great Plains of Nebraska, and Eden Project’s tropical rain forest in notoriously gray and cool Cornwall, England.