The department's newest arrival is Dr. Jerry Miller, who won the Whitmire Distinguished Professor award and has an endowed professorship in sciences. He specializes in Geomorphology and Hydrology.

Dr. Miller received his B.S. and Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, and he earned an M.S. from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. His field work included an extensive survey of the effects of sedimentation from mining on Pocamio River in Sierra Rico, Bolivia. The work was done through the University of Nevada's Desert Research Institute. Miller worked with geologists from all over the world in the Amazon Basin in South American for six years before coming to North Carolina.

When asked what he'd like to do first at WCU, he answered, "Get my lab and office together. I've been here for about a month now, and this--" he smiled, indicating his work space-- "is starting to get to me. In the community, I want to establish ties with professors from other departments and get a plan worked up for the future."