FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A Natural History of the Central Appalachians, written by University of Arkansas research professor Steven L. Stephenson, was awarded a gold medal in the Foreword Reviews’ IndieFab 2013 book awards.

Gold, silver, bronze, and honorable mention awards as well as editor’s choice prizes for fiction and nonfiction were determined by a panel of librarians and booksellers and announced at a special program during the American Library Association Annual Conference in Las Vegas on June 27.

Representing hundreds of independent and university presses of all sizes, the winners were selected after months of editorial deliberation over more than 1,500 entries in 60 categories. The winners exemplify the best work coming from today’s independent authors and publishers.

Stephenson’s book, which examines the biology and ecology of the plants, animals and other organisms of the Appalachian region and also touches on the history of humans in the region, was the top book in the adult non-fiction ecology and environment category.

Stephenson describes the Central Appalachians as a system of linear ridges, intervening valleys and deeply dissected plateaus that make up the rugged terrain found in western and southwestern Virginia, eastern and central West Virginia, western Maryland, and a portion of south central and southwestern Pennsylvania.

In the 27 years that he spent on the faculty of Fairmont State College (now university) in West Virginia, Stephenson carried out numerous research projects in the woods of the Appalachian Plateau. Stephenson, one of the world’s leading experts in the field of slime mold research, has been at the U of A since 2003 but he still returns regularly to the Central Appalachians to conduct field research.

A Natural History of the Central Appalachians is published by West Virginia University Press.