Master of Science in Environmental Resilience

Associate Professor Lawlor (Director)

In the liberal arts tradition, the Master of Science in Environmental Resilience (MSER) is an applied, interdisciplinary program that prepares students to work in the field of climate resilience. The MSER focuses on building students’ skills to work with governmental and non-governmental organizations to strengthen communities’ resilience to climate change. In cooperation with UNC Asheville’s National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC), the MSER program facilitates student learning in both the foundational knowledge that informs climate resilience work and the technical skills for applying this knowledge to action. The MSER program curriculum includes core courses in climate science, climate resilience planning, and geographic information systems (GIS); as well as elective courses in data visualization, predictive modeling, economics, monitoring and evaluation, and ethics. Degree requirements include an internship with a community partner engaged in climate resilience work and as well an applied research project, targeted to meet the needs of a community partner. Community partners come from Western North Carolina and beyond.

The program consists of 30 credit hours over two semesters and one summer, during which students complete their applied research project. Students must achieve a minimum gpa of 3.0 to graduate from the program.