With grant support from the U.S. Geological Survey, Appalachian biology professor Dr. Jon Davenport is undertaking a four-year project that will provide a clear understanding of how potential climate changes — including increased temperatures and changing precipitation — could affect salamander populations of Missouri’s Ozark Mountains.

A climate-health study conducted by Appalachian State University researchers shows a significant association between COVID-19 transmission and low humidity.

In a forthcoming review paper, Appalachian’s Dr. David Nieman, professor of biology and director of Appalachian’s Human Performance Laboratory at the North Carolina Research Campus, examines in depth how regular, moderate-intensity physical activity reduces morbidity and mortality from respiratory illness.

Appalachian’s Dr. Jaewon Oh has collaborated with members of Arizona State University’s Photovoltaic Reliability Laboratory to analyze the soiling loss — or power loss due to dirt, dust and other particles — of six PV power plants across the U.S., including one in North Carolina.

Appalachian’s Center for Analytics Research and Education (CARE) launches a global initiative to count the world’s pollinator population.

Two faculty members in Appalachian’s Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences have published a culminating article about ancient human footprints in the journal Scientific Reports after a decade of research. The footprints give clues to human social behavior tens of thousands of years ago.

Research results from a paper co-authored by Appalachian professor Dr. Ellen Cowan and published in the journal Nature Communications show that “increased glacial melting and sediment delivery may delay catastrophic retreat of large marine glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica in a warming world.”

Dr. Baker Perry and Dr. Anton Seimon were part of a multidisciplinary expedition that installed the world’s two highest weather stations (at 8,430 meters and 7,945 meters), examined soil samples and glacial lakes to better understand the range of life surviving on Earth’s highest peaks, and more.