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The App State-led Devonian Anoxia, Geochemistry, Geochronology and Extinction Research (DAGGER) group unfurls the National Geographic Explorers Club flag during geology research in Mongolia. Pictured, from left to right, are Dr. Sersmaa Gonchigdorj; Togtokh Javzankhuu; App State Professor Emeritus and adjunct research professor Dr. Johnny Waters; App State professor Dr. Sarah Carmichael; Will Waters (behind Carmichael); Dr. Diana Boyer; Randy Blood; App State senior geology majors Vanya Dill, of Morrisville

Off the map in Mongolia: App State geology students explore origins of ancient mass extinction
Apr 1, 2026

BOONE, N.C. — Humbling. Awe-inspiring. Life-altering. These are the words of students and alumni who have followed App State professor Dr.

faculty research
Dr. Scott Marshall
dr benfield

Dr. Adam Benfield Launches Past Climate and Ecosystems Research in Southern Appalachian Bogs
Jan 23, 2026

Since joining the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences at the start of the 2025–2026 academic year, Assistant Professor Dr.

faculty research
Dr. Gregg Marland is an affiliated research professor in the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences at Appalachian State University.

Turning point: Global greenhouse emissions will soon flatten or decline [faculty featured]
Nov 24, 2025

In July, a team of scientists assembled on a video call to study an anomalous wobble in a data curve.

faculty research
Dr. Bob Swarthout is an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences and Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences.
According to the National Weather Service, Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend area of the Florida Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm late in the evening of Sept. 26, 2024. The storm reached the Southern Appalachians on Sept. 27, 2024, causing widespread flooding, landslides, downed trees and power outages. Image courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere
Dr. Cynthia Liutkus is professor and chair of Appalachian State University's Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences.
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... faculty research, student 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
Top: App State senior Lex Foote, a Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) Scholar in math from Linville, demonstrates an equation on the whiteboard. Bottom: From left to right: Dr. Rahman Tashakkori, Dr. Andrew Heckert, Dr. Mohammad Ali Javidian, Dr. Carol Babyak and Dr. Roshani Silwal. Photos by Chase Reynolds