Grant Announcements

Thanks to continued federal funding, marriage and family therapy and mental health counseling interns at Appalachian are helping to increase the availability of culturally sensitive behavioral health services for residents of Northwestern North Carolina. The four-year project has received $1.75 million-plus in support.

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 assistant professor Dr. Sonja Ardoin has received grant funding from American College Personnel Association (ACPA)-College Student Educators International for her proposed study to explore how social class and classism in higher education influence the experiences of administrators and faculty.

Through the grant, the Child Development Center is partnering with Appalachian’s Department of Family and Child Studies to offer expanded services that include a new home visitation program and increased availability of infant and toddler care.

Powell, assistant professor in Appalachian’s Department of Anthropology, is using her ACLS funding to collaborate with Diné community experts in the Navajo Nation to explore human–water relationships and the impact of climate change on the region.

Smith, an associate professor of psychology at Appalachian, received more than $40,000 in NSF grant funding for the first year of a three-year study on optimism biases. Such biases can cause people to engage in risky behaviors, he said.

During the 2019–20 academic year, Appalachian astronomy professor Dr. Richard Gray will teach and perform research at the University of the Free State in South Africa as part of his Fulbright award.

Appalachian’s Sornito-Carter, an assistant professor of anthropology, will travel to the University of the Philippines Visayas in August 2020 to complete Fulbright research on heritage conservation and disaster management in relation to climate change in the Philippines.

This grant funding supports graduate student Chelsey Johnson’s work during the 2019–20 academic year to document living folk traditions in Appalachia. The project is part of the “In These Mountains” initiative, which aims to preserve Central Appalachia’s arts and culture.