Recent Selected Department Publications
Bolded text denotes a faculty member in the Department of Geography & Planning. * denotes a student.
2026
Ahn, Y. and Sugg, M.M. (2026). Infrastructure failures and aging populations: Quantifying the spatial overlap of power outages and older adult vulnerability. Energy Research & Social Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2026.104646
Blackburn, C.*, Sugg, M.M., Ryan, S.*, and Runkle, J.D. (2026). Spatial clustering of adolescent substance use during heatwaves and coldwaves in North Carolina: a Bernoulli SaTScan analysis (2008–2022). Discover Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-026-01678-8
Foote, K.E., Eaves, L., Harbor, J., Schroeder, K., van de Gevel, S.L., and Ziegler, S.S. (2026). Fostering Harassment‑Free Geography Departments: Proactive Strategies for Departments and Their Leaders. The Professional Geographer. https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2026.2615444 (PDF)
Lysne, K.*, Sugg, M.M., Reed, C., Runkle, J., Guignet, D., and Perry, L.B. (2026). A Spatial Analytic Approach to Maternal Health Following Hurricane Florence (2018). Maternal and Child Health Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-026-04257-0
Roy, M., Sugg, M., and Runkle, J. (2026). Exploring Maternal Mental Health Conditions and Urban‑Rural Disparities in Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy in South Carolina: A Fairlie Decomposition Approach. Maternal and Child Health Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-026-04239-2
Runkle, J.D., Herbst, K., Ryan, S.C.*, Thompson, M.P., and Sugg, M.M. (2026). Multiple marginalized identities: Multilevel analysis of COVID‑19 impacts on youth mental and behavioral health. Personalized Medicine in Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmip.2026.100178
Ryan, S.C.*, Sugg, M.M., Schwandt, V., Crespo, S., Lindzey, S., and Runkle, J.D. (2026). Temperature extremes contribute to suicide‑related help‑seeking through multiple pathways: Evidence from crisis hotline data (2019–2023). PLOS Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000501
Ryan, S.C.*, Runkle, J.D., Thompson, M., and Sugg, M.M. (2026). A quasi‑experimental evaluation of mental health distress among transgender and gender nonconforming youth after Hurricane Ian (2022). Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/19359705.2025.2601174
Ryan, S.C.*, Runkle, J.D., Sugg, M.M., and Thompson, M.P. (2026). Disparities in suicide risk trajectories among youth during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Journal of Research on Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.70132
Sugg, M.M., Ryan, S.C.*, Preaux, A., Quattro, C., Alexander‑Eitzman, B., Thompson, M.P., Hege, A., and Runkle, J.D. (2026). Emergency Department Burden of Mental Health and Substance Misuse After Hurricane Helene: Insights From Rural Appalachia. American Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2026.308456
Sugg, M.M., Ryan, S.C.*, Erb, M., Bigelow, J., Holbein, A., and Runkle, J.D. (2026). Help‑Seeking Patterns during Weather Events: 2‑1‑1 Service Calls among Service‑Connected Unhoused Populations in Louisiana from 2014 to 2023. Journal of Urban Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-025-01045-z
Ulrich, S.*, Sugg, M.M., Hatcher, S., and Runkle, J.D. (2026). Spatial analysis of flood risk, neighborhood characteristics, and chronic health conditions in North Carolina. GeoHealth. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GH001295
Ulrich, S.E.*, Sugg, M.M., Roy, M., and Runkle, J.D. (2026). Temperature extremes and maternal health: differential risks of severe maternal morbidity during heatwaves and coldwaves in North Carolina. International Journal of Biometeorology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-025-03079-z
2025
Biddle, K.S., Rose, L.T., DeShields, S., Gelsthorpe, A., Duckett, M., Lodge, L., Adams, C., and Platt, J.R. (2025). Art relief map: An emergent topography of expressive arts offerings after a natural disaster. Journal of Applied Arts & Health. https://doi.org/10.1386/jaah_00202_1 (PDF)
Brown, H.* and Dempsey, K.E. (2025). Spatial distribution of social media topics regarding Covid‑19 and related public health policies. Geographical Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/00167428.2025.2498341
Dempsey, K.E. (2025). Empowering change: Refugee agency in grassroots advocacy organizations. Geographical Review (Special Issue: Geopolitics of Displacement). https://doi.org/10.1080/00167428.2025.2469798 (PDF)
Dempsey, K.E. and Bose, P. (2025). Political geography of governance and agency in camps. Political Geography (Special Issue: Bodily Autonomy, Gender, and Geopolitics). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2025.103316 (PDF)
Fehlman, C.A.*, Ryan, S.C.*, Lysne, K.G.*, Rundgren, Q.M.*, Spurlock, T.J., Orbison, R.O.*, Runkle, J.D., and Sugg, M.M. (2025). The societal impacts of compounding climate events: A scoping review of methods, gaps, and recommendations. Discover Environmental. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44274-025-00185-y
Reed, C., Tiger, K., Cawley, M., Sugg, M., and Runkle, J.D. (2025). Emergency department use for environmentally sensitive conditions among American Indian children exposed to air pollution and heat. Environmental Research: Health. https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5309/ae1ce1
Runkle, J.D., Reed, C., Weidner, K., Rothschild, J., Chandrasekhar, T., and Sugg, M.M. (2025). Assessing the impact of heatwaves on emergency visits for major depression and suicidal ideation in youth with attention‑deficit/hyperactivity disorder. PLOS Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000444
Runkle, J.D., Herbst, K., Ryan, S.*, Sewell, K., Mallare, A., Berry, I., … and Sugg, M.M. (2025). Eco‑anxiety, climate concern, and fatalistic outlooks: Insights from US Crisis Text conversations on climate distress. The Journal of Climate Change and Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joclim.2025.100419
Runkle, J.D. and Sugg, M.M. (2025). Rebuilding maternal health access in Western North Carolina: Addressing critical gaps amplified by Hurricane Helene. North Carolina Medical Journal. https://doi.org/10.18043/001c.137497
Ryan, S.*, Wertis, L.*, Sugg, M.M., and Runkle, J.D. (2025). A distributed lag non‑linear model of acute exposure to extreme cold and hot temperatures and risk of mood behavioral disorders in North Carolina. International Journal of Biometeorology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-025-02858-y
Spurlock, T.*, Guinget, D., Runkle, J., and Sugg, M.M. (2025). Examining hurricane exposure on neonatal outcomes in North Carolina: A case study of Hurricane Isabel in 2003. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2024.105075
Sugg, M.M., Keefer, Q.*, Ryan, S.*, Desjardins, M., and Runkle, J. (2025). Community firearm violence during extreme temperatures in the continental United States: A spatiotemporal epidemiological analysis (2014–2024). Environmental Challenges. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2025.101377
Sugg, M.M., Blackburn, C.*, Ryan, S.*, Cardwell, J., Gohlke, J., and Runkle, J. (2025). Rural‑urban disparities in Helene's disaster assistance in Western North Carolina. Journal of the Appalachian Institute for Health and Wellness. https://jihhs.pubpub.org/pub/t94hm77m
Sugg, M.M., Ryan, S.C.*, Rankins, H.*, Ulrich, S.E.*, and Runkle, J.D. (2025). Spatial inequities in greenspace: A spatial durbin model analyzing socio‑demographic factors, heat risk, and neighborhood effects. GeoJournal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-025-11328-2
Sugg, M.M., Shakya, S., Ulrich, S.*, Tyson, J., and Runkle, J.D. (2025). Mapping Maternity Care Deserts: Driving Distance and Health Outcomes in North Carolina. Journal of Rural Health. https://doi.org/10.1111/jrh.70020
Ulrich, S.*, Sugg, M.M., Guignet, D., and Runkle, J.D. (2025). Mental health disparities among maternal populations following heatwave exposure in North Carolina (2011–2019). Lancet Americas. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2025.100998
Ulrich, S.*, Sugg, M.M., Runkle, J.D., Fehlman, C.*, and Guignet, D. (2025). Spatial analysis of environmental and socioeconomic factors impacting maternal and infant health outcomes in North Carolina. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-025-01060-1
Witter, R., Woods, C.G., Legerton, M., Emanuel, R.E., White‑Williamson, S., Chavis, D., … and Sugg, M.M. (2025). Advancing an environmental justice‑centered approach to understanding cumulative impacts: Community‑engaged analysis of industrialized biogas development from rural Eastern North Carolina. Environmental Justice. https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2025.0009
2024
Herbst, K., Malmin, N., Paul, S., Williamson, T., Sugg, M.M., Schreck, C., and Runkle, J.D. (2024). Examining recurrent hurricane exposure and psychiatric morbidity in Medicaid‑insured pregnant populations. PLOS One Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000040
Knapp, P.A., Soulé, P.T., Mitchell, T.J., Catherwood, A.A., and Lewis, H.S. (2024). Increasing radial growth in old‑growth high‑elevation conifers in Southern California, USA, during the exceptional “hot drought” of 2000–2020. International Journal of Biometeorology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-024-02619-3 (PDF)
Lucero, C.*, Sugg, M.M., Ryan, S.*, Runkle, J., and Thompson, M. (2024). Spatiotemporal patterns of youth isolation and loneliness in the US: A geospatial analysis of Crisis Text Line data (2016–2022). GeoJournal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-024-11253-w
Miller, E.*, Schroeder, K., Thapa, B., and Shay, E. (2024). Barriers to local foods in early childhood education: Insights from an Appalachian county. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2024.141.004 (PDF)
Owen, M.R., Pavlowsky, R.T., and Martin, D.J. (2024). Spatial and temporal characteristics of channel disturbance zones in Big River, Southeast Missouri (1937–2018). Southeastern Geographer. https://doi-org./10.1353/sgo.2024.a920706
Platt, J.R., Martin, D.J., Mayfield, M., and Armstrong, W. (2024). Geomorphic response to the removal of the Ward’s Mill Dam on the Watauga River, North Carolina. Southeastern Geographer. https://doi.org/10.1353/sgo.0.a918863
Praskievicz, S., Martin, D.J., Platt, J.R., and Stephens, S. (2024). Spatial analysis of large wood storage in Coastal Plain rivers of the Southeast US. River Research and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4415 (PDF)
Runkle, J.D., Wertis, L.*, Reed, C., Ryan, S.*, Berry, A., and Sugg, M.M. (2024). Prenatal psychiatric emergency visits attributable to warm ambient temperature: A time‑stratified case‑crossover study. Environmental Health Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP13293
Ryan, S.*, Wertis, L.*, Runkle, J.D., and Sugg, M.M. (2024). Place‑based differences in the association between greenspace and suicide‑related outcomes among young people. Journal of Adolescent Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2024.03.014
Ryan, S.*, Sugg, M.M., Runkle, J.D., and Thapa, B. (2024). Advancing understanding of greenspace and mental health in young people. GeoHealth. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GH000959
Ryan, S.*, Sugg, M.M., Runkle, J.D., Wertis, L*, Singh, D., and Greene, S. (2024). Short‑term changes in mental health help‑seeking behaviors following exposure to multiple social stressors and a natural disaster. Social Science and Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116843
Sewell, K., Paul, S., De Polt, K., Sugg, M.M., Leeper, R.D., Rao, D., and Runkle, J.D. (2024). Impacts of compounding drought and heatwave events on child mental health: insights from a spatial clustering analysis. Discover Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44192-023-00055-0
Soulé, P.T., and Knapp, P.A. (2024). The evolution of “Hot” droughts in Southern California, USA from the 20th to the 21st century. Journal of Arid Environments. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2023.105118 (PDF)
Sugg, M.M., Ulrich, S.*, Ryan, S.*, Runkle, J.D., and Thompson, M. (2024). Structural influences on psychiatric emergency department visits among racial and ethnic minority youth in North Carolina: A Neighborhood‑Level Analysis. Health & Place. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2024.103379
Tyson, J.S., Scalise, D., Hege, A., Sugg, M.M., and Roy, M. (2024). Public health policy that leads with equity in rural Appalachia: Recommendations to confirm vaccination status in an equitable manner. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2024.277
Ulrich, S.E.*, Sugg, M.M., Desjardins, M.R., and Runkle, J.D. (2024). Disparities in spatial clustering of perinatal mental health conditions before and during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Health & Place. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2024.103307
Williamson, T., Sugg, M.M., Singh, D., Green, S., and Runkle, J.D. (2024). Crisis response in Texas youth impacted by Hurricane Harvey: A difference‑in‑differences analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.05.080