UNC Asheville’s New Master’s Program in Environmental Resilience Welcomes First Cohort

Students Help Western North Carolina Communities Build Back Better

By UNC Asheville

October 27^th, 2025

UNC Asheville master’s student Britain Hamrick loved working as a seasonal naturalist and trails supervisor at Chimney Rock State Park until her work was abruptly cut short in September 2024.

“Chimney Rock, in a lot of ways, was ground zero for Hurricane Helene,” she says, recalling that its gully, which once was a sanctuary, turned into a raging river. “The storm decimated everything.”

Soon after, Hamrick learned of UNC Asheville’s new Master of Science in Environmental Resilience (MSER) program. “It just seemed kismet to find something that was directly tied to resilience when we had just experienced a lack of it,” she reflects.

UNC Asheville Environmental Resilience Student Britain Hamrick holds Apollo, a Chimney Rock animal ambassador.

“What makes our program unique is affordability and accessibility.”

Launched in Fall 2025, UNC Asheville’s MSER program prepares graduates to address climate change through interdisciplinary learning and hands-on experience.

“What makes our program unique is affordability and accessibility,” says Associate Professor of Economics and Director of the MSER Kathleen Lawlor, PhD.

The MSER inaugural cohort and Director, Dr. Kathleen Lawlor (5th from left), visit the Black Balsams along the Blue Ridge Parkway for their orientation hike.

The one-year program, spanning two semesters and one summer, was designed for impact. Its brevity and affordability make a graduate education more attainable.

A defining feature of the program is its internship and applied research project with a community partner for real-world, hands-on research. “Students will be immersed in helping Western North Carolina communities build back better and bounce forward,” Lawlor explains. “That might mean conducting a vulnerability assessment to understand the risks to specific climate hazards, like wildfire or flooding, then recommending ways to build resilience—such as communicating homeowner best practices for risk reduction or modifying land use policy ordinances."

Students in the MSER program are taught by an interdisciplinary team of faculty, including experts at UNC Asheville’s National Environmental Mapping and Applications Center (NEMAC), which has led climate resilience planning work across the region and beyond for two decades. Students take courses taught by NEMAC experts in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) — a skill that makes them very marketable after graduation.

“In addition to GIS training, students gain strengths in data analysis, data visualization, and climate science communication, as well as knowledge of environmental economics and the foundations of climate resilience planning,” Lawlor says. The program’s small, in-person cohort ensures students build teamwork skills and, she explains, "learn how to collaborate with one another.”

Matt Hutchins, CEO of Fernleaf, speaks with MSER students about flood resilience at UNC Asheville's Post-Helene Symposium.

Phoebe Gittis, a 2024 UNC Asheville major in Environmental Science with a minor in Astronomy, first worked with Lawlor as an undergraduate student, conducting research on how the impacts of redlining elevated heat and air pollution in Asheville. She was inspired by the investigative work and community involvement she experienced during her time at UNC Asheville.

After graduation, Gittis was hired by Duke Energy to help reconfigure Asheville’s power grid, drawing on her GIS skills. Unfortunately, that project became a casualty of Hurricane Helene.

“I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to come back on campus,” Gittis says of joining the MSER program. “I have so many interests in the environmental field, and this program helps me narrow down my focus.”

Environmental Resilience student Phoebe Gittis shows off her Bulldog pride in front of beautiful Pisgah Mountains

Designed to prepare students for careers in government, insurance, research, advocacy, strategy, and nonprofits, UNC Asheville’s MSER program immerses students in high-demand skills like GIS spatial analysis and data science communication—tools with wide-reaching impact.

The program’s more timely than ever. “Global average temperatures are now nearly 1.5°C (2.7°F) higher than in the late 1800s, before the industrial revolution, and we’re feeling the effects,” Lawlor explains. MSER graduates will be equipped to help mitigate those impacts on communities and infrastructure in the US and around the globe.

Footnotes

UNC Asheville Communication & Marketing—October 27, 2025

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FootNotes

UNC Asheville Communication & Marketing—October 27, 2025

Q&A: HOW 3 UNCA STUDENTS’ FIELDWORK IS ADVANCING THE SCIENCES & SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES IN WESTERN NC

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