Dr. David Nieman, director of Appalachian State University's Human Performance Lab, says 30 to 60 minutes of near daily brisk walking (at least 3.5 miles per hour, or a 17-minute mile) can improve your body’s defense against germs.

Creative writing professor Josepth Bathanti’s poem “Larimer Field,” about Little Leaguers, is this issue's pick for PQ Poem feature. Bathanti is Appalachian State University’s McFarlane Family Distinguished Professor in Interdisciplinary Education and a former North Carolina poet laureate.

Dr. Rebecca Jordan, assistant professor in the Department of Reading Education and Special Education, is among educators quoted in this opinion piece on how to achieve high-quality reading instruction. Jordan says the science of reading indicates there is more than one domain of reading instruction, and a combination of phonics, oral language, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension is needed.

In this interview, counseling professor Dr. Dominique Hammonds explains why people may feel a variety of emotions during the coronavirus pandemic and how to effectively address them.

Appalachian State University geologist Dr. Sarah Carmichael discusses the latest explanation put forth regarding the cause of a mass extinction 252 million years ago — a warming climate that depleted the earth's ozone layer.

Concerned about her former host family’s welfare during COVID-19, an international student at Appalachian State University from China seven years sent them face coverings after hearing of a U.S. shortage of personal protective equipment. The couple has since donated the masks to Watauga Medical Center.

Dr. David Nieman, a professor of exercise science and director of Appalachian State University's Human Performance Lab, says during moderate exercise such as walking — and for two or three hours after — important immune cells come out at higher rates than normal, making contact with pathogens to get rid of them. Inactive people miss out on this advantage, he adds.

Amid COVID-19 concerns, health professor Dr. David Nieman is quoted on his research that shows regular moderate-intensity physical activity can improve one's ability to fight viruses — making lifestyle practices consistent with good immune health a "primary" strategy to prevent the risk posed by COVID-19.

Appalachian’s Dr. Cynthia Liutkus-Pierce describes the site where she led a 10-year research project to examine footprints preserved within an ancient volcanic mudflow produced by the nearby Oldoinyo L’engai, a still-active volcano in the East African Rift. She is a sedimentologist and paleoenvironmental scientist in the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences. She also directs the university’s environmental science program.