At a research-intensive university, an undergraduate is lucky to land a lab job washing glassware. At Alderson Broaddus, sophomores co-author papers, present at national conferences, and inherit ongoing field studies they will lead by senior year. Our 84 full-time faculty teach in their first semester and last, and most maintain active research programs that depend on student labor — paid through summer fellowships, federal grants, or the AB Hilltop Scholars program.
In the past five years, AB faculty and students have published in The Journal of Freshwater Ecology, The Journal of Physician Assistant Education, Appalachian Journal of Law, The Bryologist, Public Health Nursing, and dozens of others. We have received external research funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Appalachian Regional Commission.
Most importantly, our research is rooted in this place. The questions we ask are the questions Appalachia faces — about rural health workforce, about karst water quality, about the long history of a region too often spoken about and too rarely listened to. We believe the work is better when the place is taken seriously.
Six interdisciplinary centers and institutes anchor faculty and student scholarship across the University.
Breaking ground in 2026, the Pickett Center will bring together MPAS, BSN, MPH, and MSAT faculty around the question rural America has been asking for decades: how do you train, recruit, and retain healthcare providers in places that need them most?
Long-term ecological research on the Tygart Valley River and its tributaries. Continuous biodiversity sampling since 2008. NSF-funded karst ecology fieldwork. Active restoration work with the Tygart Valley River Trust.
Oral history collection, archival preservation, and place-based humanities research. Home of the Philippi Covered Bridge oral history project, the Alderson Family Papers, and the Battle of Philippi archive.
Adolescent and emerging-adult mental health research, with a special focus on rural communities. Pilot RCT studies on peer-mentor models, telehealth supplementation, and faith-integrated counseling.
Therapeutic riding outcomes, equine biomechanics, and rural equine economics. Partnership with the Auburn College of Veterinary Medicine.
Faith-and-public-life research and conversation. Hosts the annual Whittaker Lecture, the Pastors' Roundtable, and the Religion in Public Square symposium.
NSF Award $640,000 (2026–2029)
Dr. Daniel Reeves leads a team of three faculty and twelve student researchers cataloging cave-dwelling fauna across the Allegheny Front, with implications for climate-change adaptation and groundwater protection.
HRSA Award $480,000 (2025–2028)
Dr. Olivia Ramos studies what predicts rural retention among PA graduates, with a focus on community-based clerkship rotations and place-rooted financial incentives.
RWJF Award $220,000 (2025–2027)
Dr. Camille Howard is co-PI on a multi-state study of maternal mortality reduction in rural counties, partnering with the WV Office of Maternal Health.
WV DEP Award $95,000 (2024–2026)
Continuous monitoring of macroinvertebrate biodiversity as a proxy for AMD (acid mine drainage) recovery in tributaries of the Tygart.
NEH Planning Grant (2025)
Dr. Eleanor Whitfield-Boyer leads a sociolinguistic study of Appalachian English retention across three generations of Barbour County speakers.
WV Humanities Council (2025)
Dr. Samuel Reinhardt's book project re-examines the Battle of Philippi using primary-source archival materials uncovered during the Whitescarver renovation.
More than 180 students presented original research at the 2025 Hilltop Symposium across 12 departments. Many of those projects became conference presentations, peer-reviewed papers, or graduate-school applications.
Paid summer research fellowships ($4,500 stipend + housing) for 18 students per summer. Students work full-time on a faculty-led project and present at the fall Hilltop Symposium.
Every major includes a senior thesis, capstone project, or comparable scholarly work. Capstones are presented publicly and live in the Pickett Library archive.
Up to $1,500 per student per year to present at regional or national conferences. Recent venues: ACS, ASA, NCUR, AAUP, BCAS.
From freshman year, courses like BIO 101 and HIS 220 include a research module — meaning students don't wait until junior year to ask original questions.
Last academic year, 14 AB undergraduates appeared as named authors on peer-reviewed papers, posters, or conference proceedings.
Honors students complete a year-long thesis project mentored by two faculty and defended in spring of senior year.
| Title | Student(s) | Mentor | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Macroinvertebrate Diversity in Tygart Valley Headwaters | Mary Cobb '26, Kalen Wu '26, Jen Ramirez '26 | Dr. Daniel Reeves | Published, J. Freshwater Ecology |
| Telehealth Supplementation for Rural Mental Health | Anaya Patel '26 | Dr. Maya Adler-Soto | Senior thesis · APA poster |
| Appalachian Dialect Retention in Gen Z Speakers | Ben Tannenbaum '26 | Dr. Whitfield-Boyer | Presented, ADS National |
| Modeling Rural EMS Response Time Gaps | Lily Anderssen '27 | Dr. Akoto | WV Public Health Conference 2026 |
| The Political Theology of Frederick Douglass | Jordan Banks '26 | Rev. Dr. Theo Banks | Senior thesis · admitted Duke Divinity |
| Equine-Assisted Therapy for PTSD | Catherine Mahoney '26 | Dr. Logan Reyes | Vet School admit (Auburn) |
| NMR Characterization of WV Maple Syrup | Devon Jin '25, Faye Owusu '25 | Dr. Anthony Frye | ACS Regional poster |
| The First Skirmish: New Documents from the Battle of Philippi | Maya Reinhardt '26 | Dr. Samuel Reinhardt | WV Historical Society 2025 |
Every spring, on a single Friday at the end of April, AB suspends its normal class schedule. The Funkhouser Auditorium fills with poster boards and laptops; the Pickett Library lobby fills with research displays; and 180+ students stand for six hours straight talking to faculty, peers, and visiting alumni about the questions that have consumed them for an academic year.
Started in 2009 as the "Honors Research Day," the Hilltop Symposium has grown into one of the most beloved traditions at AB — and one of the most important. It is the moment that AB stops being a place where students take classes and becomes a place where they do something with what they've been taught.
In the past five fiscal years, AB faculty have received $4.8M in external research funding from federal agencies, foundations, and state programs.
| Year | Project | PI | Sponsor | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026–2029 | Karst Ecosystem Biodiversity in the Allegheny Front | Reeves | NSF | $640,000 |
| 2025–2028 | Rural PA Workforce Retention Study | Ramos | HRSA | $480,000 |
| 2025–2027 | Maternal Health in Appalachia (multi-PI) | Howard (co-PI) | RWJF | $220,000 |
| 2024–2026 | Tygart Stream Quality Long-Term Monitoring | Reeves | WV DEP | $95,000 |
| 2025 | Appalachian Dialect Sociolinguistic Study (planning) | Whitfield-Boyer | NEH | $25,000 |
| 2025 | Battle of Philippi Reexamination | Reinhardt | WV Humanities Council | $18,000 |
| 2024–2026 | Equine-Assisted Therapy Outcomes | Reyes | ARC | $140,000 |
| 2023–2026 | Battler Wellness Telehealth Pilot RCT | Adler-Soto | WV HEPC | $280,000 |
| 2022–2025 | Rural Mental Health Faith-Integration Study | Adler-Soto / Banks | Lilly Endowment | $310,000 |
The AB IRB reviews all human-subjects research protocols. The board meets monthly; expedited reviews are returned within 14 days. IRB submission portal →
The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee reviews all vertebrate-animal research, including AB Equestrian Center studies. AAALAC-accredited.
All NSF and NIH-funded researchers (including students) complete CITI RCR training. Annual ethics seminars are open to all faculty and graduate students.
The Office of Research supports researchers with data management plans, secure storage, FERPA-compliant student data handling, and HIPAA-compliant clinical data.
All researchers disclose external financial and intellectual conflicts annually. The COI committee reviews and recommends mitigation strategies.
The University adheres to federal Research Misconduct Policy (42 CFR Part 93) for any allegations of fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism.
