Department of Geography and Planning

Education

Ph.D., Geography, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2015

M.A., Geography, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2011

B.S., Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2008

Research

My current research focuses on spatiotemporal patterns of health and how these patterns relate to environmental, socioeconomic, and climatic determinants. Using this perspective, my research provides insights into the etiology of environmental health diseases, highlighting both overburdened populations and the environmental conditions that lead to adverse health outcomes.

• Recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, the highest honor given to early-career faculty from the National Science Foundation
• Recipient of the Emerging Scholar Award from the Health and Medical Specialty Group, American Association of Geographers
• Recipient of the Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award, Cratis D. Williams School of Graduate Studies, Appalachian State University  
• Recipient of the Provost's Award for Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity, Appalachian State University 
• Recipient of the Environmental Protection Agency's STAR Fellowship in Public Health
• Dr. Sugg is the lead author on a publication recognized by the National Rural Health Association as the Article of the Year.
• Recipient of external funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Institute of Nursing Research, the Gulf Research Program, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Public Health AmeriCorps, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
• Dr. Sugg has authored or co-authored over 115 publications in various disciplines, including public health, spatial epidemiology, geography, and climate science.

Click here to view my CV.

Click here to view publications on my Google Scholar profile.

Public Media Outreach

Dr. Maggie Sugg Discusses Adaptability to Extreme Heat (The Atlantic)

Dr. Maggie Sugg Interviewed About Local Perceptions of Heat (FiveThirtyEight)

Dr. Maggie Sugg Interviewed About COVID-19 Seasonality (The Scientist)

Dr. Maggie Sugg Studies Health Effects of Helene (North Carolina Health News)

Dr. Maggie Sugg Funded to Launch Flood-Health Research Coordination Network (The Watauga Democrat)

Recent Master Theses Supervised

Caroline Fehlman - Maternal Healthcare Access Disparities in North Carolina, 2016-2019: A Fine-Scale Geospatial Analysis (2025)

Sarah Ulrich - A Matched Analysis of Maternal Outcomes and Heatwaves (2024) 

Kristen Lynse - A Spatial Analytic Approach to Maternal Health and Birth Outcomes Following Hurricane Florence, 2018 (2024)

Sophie Ryan - Greenspace and Adolescent Mental Health: Understanding Greenspace Metrics and Socio-Demographic Effect Modifiers (2023)

Taylin Spurlock - Examining Hurricane Exposure on Neonatal Outcomes in North Carolina: A Prospective Birth Cohort Study (2023)

Luke Wertis - Socio-Environmental Determinants of Mental and Behavioral Disorders in Youth: A Machine Learning Approach (2023)

Tyler Minor - Examining the Mental health and temperature connection in North Carolina (2022)

Leah Hart Handwerger - An Assessment of Social and Physical Vulnerability to Hydroclimate Extremes in Appalachia (2021)

Camila Moreno - Examining Spatiotemporal Trends of Drought in the United States Using Self-Organizing Maps (2021)

Stella Harden - The Impact Of Environmental And Social Characteristics On Severe Maternal Morbidity: A Spatiotemporal Analysis In South Carolina (2020)

Elizabeth Bailey - Wearable Sensors For Personal Temperature Exposure Assessments: A Comparative Study (2019)

Matthew Wilson - External Validation Of Vulnerability Indices: A Case Study Of The Multivariate Nursing Home Vulnerability Index (2019)

Lauren Andersen - An Assessment Of Wildfire Vulnerability In Western North Carolina, USA Following The 2016 Wildfires (2018)

Laura Thompson - Adolescents In Crisis: A Geographic Exploration Of Help-Seeking Behavior Using Data From Crisis Text Line (2018)

Garry Raynor - Geographic Variations Of Clandestine Methamphetamine Laboratories In North Carolina (2017)

Anna Ross - Recreational Heat-Related Illness: Heat Exposure Outside The Work Week (2016)