Around this time of year when the color starts to change in the trees, we pay attention. Most of us watch the leaves turn in real time. Others work to skip ahead, to predict when exactly we’ll see our fall colors, how vividly, and how long. One such person is Dr. Howard Neufeld, a professor of biology at Appalachian State University. Better known by the public as the Fall Color Guy, he monitors the weather, temperature, and color activity here in the mountains, and makes predictions accordingly.

Leaf lovers, rejoice: Fall will be colorful. This year, the South is on track to have a much more vibrant display of colors, says Howard S. Neufeld, professor of biology at Appalachian State University.

You agreed to stick it out through sickness and health and for richer or poorer, but marital vows don't address the other big things that can untie your knot. In one Appalachian State University study, for example, experts asked 52 couples to reminisce about fun times they had experienced both alone and together; those who liked to recall shared laughs were most satisfied with their relationships.

Smithsonian’s curator of parasitic worms and researchers from Canada and Mexico discovered the first new medicinal leech species in North America in decades — in southern Maryland. Research zoologist Anna Phillips first became interested in working with parasites as an undergraduate student at Appalachian State University, where she applied for a selective research internship with programs on many species.

A substantial body of research shows that students systematically give lower teaching evaluations to women and people of color than to white men, even when there are no differences in the teaching’s quality and effectiveness. Nevertheless, most universities and colleges continue to use student evaluations to inform decisions about who gets promoted.