PROGRAM FACULTY
Harvard G. Ayers (Professor, Anthropology; Ph.D., Catholic University of America)
His interests and areas of study include archaeology, physical anthropology, forensic anthropology, human ecology of the southern Appalachians, North American Indians, and the Southwestern US. Dr. Ayers will begin half-time retirement after this spring semester. He plans to continue teaching several courses including the Southwest Trip, as long as he can hike out of Canyon del Muerto. He will devote his "extra" time to his family including his two gorgeous grandchildren and his environmental work with Appalachian Voices.
Sarah Banks (Ph.D., Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, North Carolina State University)
Research Interests: Impacts of tourism development on host communities; Community involvement and empowerment derived through dispersed benefit resulting from such development; Specific conditions and limitations inherent to coastal/island tourism development and management; Interactions of human recreation and tourism on natural ecosystems and host society makeup.
Patricia D. Beaver  (Director, Center for Appalachian Studies and Professor, Anthropology; Ph.D., Duke)
Her interests and areas of study include cultural anthropology, social organization, gender; Appalachia, and China. She teaches a summer study abroad course in Wales, focused on what happens to traditionally coal dominated communities in south Wales in the aftermath of the closing of the coal mines. For the past three years she has also taught an Anthropology course which participated in a collaborative teaching project funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission. Students from 13 colleges and universities in the region focused a course on a particular community and addressed questions of sustainability. Students in ANT 5120 met with other students from the region for organizing and exchange of information, then presented their findings in an ARC sponsored conference in Washington. For the third year, the course was focused on the North Fork of the New River, in Watauga and Ashe Counties, involving interviews and visits with local residents, Hispanic farm workers, small business owners, churches, and community groups. It is likely that this course will again be supported by the ARC in this collaborative project in the fall, with visions of a book manuscript emerging from three to four years of student projects.
Jefferson C. Boyer (Professor, Anthropology; Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
His interests and areas of study include social anthropology, peasant and regional studies, rural development; Honduras and Central America, and Appalachia. Recently, Boyer gave two papers in Washington; the first at the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) meeting entitled "Is Agrarianism Possible Without Agrarian Reform? The Case From Honduras," and the second at the American Anthropology Association (AAA) meeting entitled "Toward Sustainability and Liberation: Forty Years of Struggle in Southern Honduras." After 11 years of directing and nurturing the Sustainable Development Program, Boyer is stepping down to finish writing a book on peasant movements and agrarian struggles in Honduras.
Jana Carp (Adjunct Assistant Professor, Geography and Planning; Ph.D., Public Policy Analysis, University of Illinois at Chicago)
Dr. Jana Carp's research interests are urban planning, socio-ecological planning and restoration, spatial dimensions of collaboration and public planning processes, lived experience of speed and slowness in everyday life.
Dr. Jana Carp has taught planning, community development and sustainable development courses in the department since receiving her Ph.D. in Public Policy Analysis in 1999. Her 2004 Project Management class on the ecological restoration and enhancement of a degraded downtown stream corridor sparked a local citizens committee that is actively working with the town, the university, and landowners to restore the creek; a demonstration project is planned for 2008. She is also working with the Maryland/Washington D.C.-based Community Woodlands Alliance to initiate and expand local projects that divert felled urban trees from the waste stream for local processing and utilization, with proceeds supporting local economies as well as reforestation of urban woodlands.
Terry Carroll (Associate Professor, Biology; Ed.D., University of North Carolina at Greensboro)
Dr. Carroll is interested in science pedagogy and science content (environmental studies/sustainable development). In the area of science pedagogy his research interests focus on the effective use of learning cycles in teaching science content, process skills, and correcting students' science misconceptions. His work also explores the feasibility of using uninsulated, south facing brick walls as passive solar heat sources. His second passive solar research interest is in the design of a functional, low-cost energy efficient, year round, food-producing greenhouse for use in most cool/cold climatic regions of the world.
Todd Cherry (Harlan E. Boyles Professor, Department of Economics; Ph.D., University of Wyoming)
Dr. Cherry joined the economics faculty at Appalachian in January 2001. He earned his doctorate at the University of Wyoming with specializations in environmental and natural resource economics and regional economics. He has served as a research associate on projects funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. His research focuses on public policy issues related to environmental management, regional development, and individual behavior. Dr. Cherry's research has been published in leading professional journals and volumes including American Economic Review, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization and Public Choice. His work has also appeared in national press outlets such as The Washington Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Federal Reserve's Economic Focus. Dr. Cherry is a co-author of the Western North Carolina Economic Index which is published monthly.
 Kristan Cockerill (Assistant Director of Sustainable Development Research, Ph.D., American Studies [Environment, Science and Technology], University of New Mexico).
Kristan has an interdisciplinary background and has taught a broad suite of university courses related to the environment, science and society.
Her primary research areas include: 1) facilitating improved connections among social, scientific, and technical issues related to water policy; and 2) environmental education with an emphasis on industrial ecology and sustainability.
She has more than 15 years professional experience as an environmental policy analyst working in the public sector on diverse projects ranging in topic from transportation to heavy metals to water management.
Christoff den Biggelaar  (Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies; Ph.D., Michigan State University).
Dr. den Biggelaar came to the US in the Fall of 1987 to start a Master's program in extension education at Michigan State University after having spent 6 years in Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), the (then) People's Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic as an agricultural teacher and extension agronomist. He joined the Sustainable Development
Program and Faculty full time at Appalachian State University in August 2000; he will be teaching courses in agroecology (lecture and lab) and sustainable development. His areas of expertise include endogenous knowledge systems, farmer experimental practices and knowledge generation processes in agroforestry systems, participatory (RRA/PRA) and survey research methods, and qualitative and quantitative data analysis.
Kim Hall
Kim Hall is an Associate Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Appalachian State University. She is a faculty member of Women's Studies and Sustainable Development, and a co-organizer of the Queer Film Series.
Fields of interest : Feminist Theory, Continental Philosophy, Ethics, Critical Race Theory, Postcolonial Theory, Queer Theory, Disability Studies, and Environmental Philosophy.
Gabrielle Katz (Ph.D., Geography, University of Colorado at Boulder , 2001
M.A., Geography, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1996
B.A., Geological Sciences, Brown University, 1991)
Statement of Interests and Research:
My research focuses on (1) the interplay of physical and biological processes in riparian ecosystems, and (2) how human activities influence these bio-physical interactions and may alter ecosystem structure and function. As a geographer, my interdisciplinary research incorporates ideas and techniques from ecology, hydrology, and geomorphology in seeking to understand human impacts in riparian systems. I have studied the effects of flood control on downstream riparian forests in eastern Colorado , with an emphasis on the differential effects to native and non-native trees. I am currently participating in a study of the effects of groundwater pumping and hydrologic restoration on channel geomorphology and riparian vegetation on the San Pedro River in southeastern Arizona.
Susan E. Keefe (Professor, Anthropology; Ph.D., University of California at Santa Barbara)
Her interests and areas of study include Applied Anthropology and Appalachian Studies. She presented a paper entitled "Measuring Modernity Among Mountaineers" at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association in December, 2001. This paper analyzes the survey data from her joint research project with Dr. Elvin Hatch (UCSB) studying political, economic, and social change
in a rural county in western North Carolina. As President of the Association of North Carolina Anthropologists, Keefe organized one of their meetings in Boone on the topic "What Can You Do With Anthropology?" Students and alumni gave panel presentations regarding their internship and work experiences.
Kathryn Kirkpatrick (Professor, English; Ph.D. Emory University)
Raised in the nomadic subculture of the U.S. military, Dr. Kirkpatrick grew up in the Phillipines, Germany, Texas and the Carolinas. Her publications include the poetry collections and chapbooks, The Body's Horizon, Beyond Reason, Looking for Ceilidh, and The Master's Wife. A feminist scholar with a particular interest in Irish studies, she has produced editions of the Irish and Scots novels Belinda, Castle Rackrent, Marriage, and The Wild Irish Girl for Oxford University Press' World's Classics Series. She is also the editor of Border Crossings: Irish Women Writers and National Identities (University of Alabama Press, 2000). Her current research interests include eco-feminist poetics and the aesthetics of sustainability. She is at work on a new collection of poems, Out of the Garden, as well as eco-critical readings of contemporary Irish women poets.
Gregory Reck (Professor and Chair, Anthropology; Ph.D., Catholic University of America)
Dr. Reck teaches ethnological theory, social change, magic and religion, narrative ethnography focusing on Mexico, Mesoamerica, Latin America, and Appalachia. His research and field school in India have been put on hold temporarily due to the aftermath of September 11. Last October he also initiated the formation of a community-based organization, High Country Citizens for Peace and Justice. The organization is working to elevate community awareness about alternative foreign policy strategies to the current U.S. "war on terrorism" which will not only provide more viable short-term solutions but also address long-term issues of peace and justice in the world.
Dennis Scanlin  (Professor, Technology & Coordinator of Appropriate Technology Program)
Dr. Scanlin was a co-founder of ASU's Sustainable Development Program, and has a long history of involvement with sustainable development and energy technology issues and activities. He has published numerous energy-related articles; developed and taught courses and workshops focusing on a wide variety of renewable energy and green building technologies; and has designed and constructed residential-scale hydro, wind, photovoltaic, and solar thermal systems. He currently directs several wind-related activities in the region, including an anemometer loan program in western North Carolina; a DOE-funded project to assess the feasibility of utility-scale, wind-produced electricity in North Carolina; and the Western North Carolina Small Wind Initiative. Dr. Scanlin is a member of North Carolina's Wind Working Group, and has helped to organize several wind-related workshops and conferences in the last year. He is also working with the TVA to identify and assess potential wind sites in the TVA region.
 Kathy Schroeder (Associate Professor, Geography; Ph.D., University of Minnesota)
Kathleen's research interests include global economic restructuring and issues of gender and development. She has spent a good deal of time in Latin America and particularly in Bolivia where she has conducted research since 1992. Dr. Schroeder spent the Spring Semester of 2005 back in Bolivia examining its current political geography. In May of 2005 she led a field trip to the Indian Himalaya with a former ASU student Keith Bosak. They explored issues of sustainable mountain development. The trip was such a success they have decided to repeat the trip during May of 2006.
Kathleen's favorite courses to teach include regional geography (World, Latin America and a graduate seminar) and economic geography. She recently developed a course on political geography which she is offering for the first time during the Fall Semester of 2005.
Charles L. Smith  (Director of Sustainable Development; ABD, Virginia Tech, Science and Technology Studies).
Chuck Smith received both his Masters and Bachelor of Science degrees from Appalachian State University. His MA is in Industrial Technology with concentrations in Appropriate Technology. His BS is in History, focusing in intellectual and environmental History. His interests are varied and interdisciplinary including the interrelationships of science, technology and society, the history and sociology of modern environmentalism, and land conservation/preservation. He has taught courses in Society and Technology, Western and American Intellectual and Social History and Theory, Sustainable Development, and Politics, Technology and Nature.
He enjoys many outdoor activities including canoeing, hiking and backpacking, and is a very amateur birder. Chuck serves on the boards of two land trusts, the local High Country Conservancy and the statewide Conservation Trust for North Carolina. He is also a member of the Park Advisory Committee, Elk Knob State Park. He has directed the SD Program for five years.
Timothy H. Silver (Professor, History; Ph.D., College of William and Mary) 
Dr. Silver's current research interests include the environmental history of North America with an emphasis on the South and Southern Appalachia, the history of America's National and State Parks, and the ethnohistory of Early America. His recent publications include: Mount Mitchell and the Black Mountains: An Environmental History of the Highest Peaks in Eastern America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003); A New Face on the Countryside: Indians, Colonists and Slaves in South Atlantic Forests, 1500-1800 (Cambridge University Press, 1990); "A Useful Arcadia: European Colonists as a Biotic Factor in Chesapeake Forests," in Philip D. Curtin, Grace Brush, and George Fischer, eds., The Chesapeake: The History of a Watershed (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001); "Big Tom Wilson," Wildlife in North Carolina, November, 1997; "New Faces in an Old World," in Peter Nabakov, ed., Through Indian Eyes: The Untold Story of Native American People (New York: Reader's Digest General Books, 1996).
Gary Walker (Professor and Graduate Program Director, Biology; Ph.D., University of Tennessee at Knoxville)
Dr Walker's research interests are in two areas of plant ecology. Most of his laboratory-based research has been in the area of plant population genetics. The population genetics of rare, restricted and disjunct plant species in the southern Appalachians has been a field of investigation that has interested Dr. Walker for many years.His field-based research has been in the area of plant ecology including a series of four grants from the National Park Service for the Blue Ridge Parkway. Most of these grants have had management implications including vegetational surveys of backcountry areas susceptible to Gypsy Moth invasion, the construction of a high elevations wetlands atlas using GIS techniques, a genetic survey of endemic brook trout, and comparisons of various treatments for achieving arrested succession in viewshed clearcuts. Most recently, Dr. Walker's original studies with cliff-face plant populations have led to graduate projects concerning the cliff-face ecology of plant communities. Dr. Walker's current work involves a collaboration with a cliff-face ecology research group at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. They recently published papers in Nature and Journal of Biogeography on the ancient trees, including northern white cedars, on cliff-faces.
Tommy Walsh (Assistant Director of Sustainable Development Outreach)
Cynthia A. Wood  (Associate Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies; Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin)
Dr. Wood is an economist whose area of research is Latin America, development, and women's studies. Her recent writings focus on the World Bank and its lack of attention to research on the effects of economic policy on women in the third-world -- research which challenges standard development models implicit in the Bank's approach to policy.
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