Penn State Altoona professors edit new Northern Appalachia literary field guide

ALTOONA, Pa. — Todd Davis, professor of English and environmental studies, Carolyn G. Mahan, professor of biology and environmental studies, and Noah Davis, are the editors of “A Literary Field Guide to Northern Appalachia,” just published by University of Georgia Press.

The project grew out of collaborations between Davis and Mahan in Penn State Altoona’s environmental studies degree, demonstrating how interdisciplinary perspectives broaden our understanding of and relationship to the natural world.

Northern Appalachia is one of the most biodiverse regions on earth and home to a broad range of ecological and human cultures. With “A Literary Field Guide to Northern Appalachia,” the editors recognize and celebrate this diversity and the fact that humans are storytellers who develop relationships with their landscapes at the intersection of art and science.

The guide introduces readers to 70 indigenous species found in Northern Appalachia, a region comprising parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. As a hybrid literary and natural history anthology, the book consists of descriptions and notes on habitat, range, and ecology provided by six scientists with expertise in the region’s flora and fauna. In addition, 11 artists and 70 poets provided original works that illuminate the lives of this world.

Among the scientists contributing to the volume are Penn State Altoona’s Sarah E. Allen, associate professor of biology, and Carl Engstrom, a Penn State graduate with a degree in biology and a minor in wildlife and fisheries science. Other scientists who contributed with advanced degrees from Penn State include Jerry D. Hassinger, Andrew L. Shiels, and Hannah L. (Cave) Stout.

The project also includes visual art and poetry by four graduates of Penn State Altoona. Artists Emily Beam and Joe Beam grew up in Bellwood before matriculating at Penn State and earning degrees in biology, visual arts, and fine arts. The two contribute drawings on the New England aster, tessellated darter, northern dusky salamander, northern ring-necked snake, fallfish, landlocked salmon, and puffball. Christina Seymour and Jordan Temchack, who studied in Penn State Altoona’s English program, wrote poems about the tessellated darter and northern dusky salamander.

Other Penn State faculty, staff, and alumni who contributed poems to the literary field guide are Julia Kasdorf, Shara McCallum, Robin Becker, Sarah Blake, Dave Bonta, Geffrey Davis, Julie Swarstad Johnson, Abby Minor, and Leah Poole Osowski.