About the McCullough Fellowship
The Office of Sustainability
Grow with Us
The Office of Sustainability at UNC Asheville provides strategic leadership and support for programs and initiatives that advance sustainability literacy, foster campus-wide engagement, and strengthen the health of our natural environment. Working in collaboration with students, faculty, staff, and community partners across the Asheville region, the office creates meaningful opportunities for learning, action, and innovation while modeling sustainable practices on campus.
The Office of Sustainability aims to:
- Recognize impactful sustainability projects and ongoing efforts across campus
- Engage the UNC Asheville community in collective sustainability action
- Celebrate sustainability champions and shared successes
- Support new and emerging sustainability initiatives that advance environmental and social responsibility
Sustainability Research and Courses
Sustainability Research and Courses
UNC Asheville offers students across all majors the chance to explore how environmental, social, and economic systems shape our world. Sustainability courses weave these perspectives into subjects as varied as economics, art history, engineering, and nutrition, giving students the tools to think critically about their relationship with the planet.
The McCullough Institute builds on this foundation by engaging undergraduates in hands-on research and applied projects in partnership with faculty and community organizations. Through the McCullough Fellowship, students gain real-world experience addressing challenges in land use, conservation, sustainable agriculture, and community resilience—preparing them to become innovative leaders in sustainability.
The McCullough Institute for Conservation, Land Use, and Environmental Resiliency aims to be a national model for applied research addressing challenges in land use and conservation, urban planning, sustainable agriculture, and resilience and environmental sustainability. The McCullough Fellows program at UNC Asheville was launched in the summer of 2015. Through this competitive program, undergraduates complete an applied research project in collaboration with a faculty advisor and local partner organization. Each fellowship includes funding for students, materials support, and a faculty and community partner stipend.
The McCullough Fellowship program offers intensive mentoring to undergraduate students at UNC Asheville engaged in sustainability projects and research in the Asheville area over the summer and fall. Applicants are invited to propose faculty‑advised, applied research projects addressing one or more of the following areas: land use and conservation; urban planning; sustainable agriculture; resilience and environmental sustainability.
The McCullough Institute for Conservation, Land Use and Environmental Resiliency aims to help solve some of the nation’s most challenging problems, while creating new job opportunities for students in environmental and sustainability careers. UNC Asheville has named the institute to honor Dr. Charles T. McCullough Jr. for his lifelong civic and environmental advocacy. McCullough and his wife, Shirley Anne McCullough, committed $1 million to create an endowment for the institute.
The McCullough Institute’s goals include working with faculty to develop certifications in environmental studies and policy as added professional credentials to degree study for UNC Asheville’s students. Four areas of focus are land use and conservation, urban planning, sustainable agriculture, and resilience and environmental sustainability.
The McCullough Fellowship Program allows students to gain practical skills through applied research projects in Western North Carolina in such areas as data analytics and mapping, environmental and administrative law, application of new technologies, and the preservation of critical ecosystems. McCullough Fellows collaborate with faculty members and community-based businesses and organizations to address areas of critical need in our local area.
Interdisciplinary Applications of Sustainability in the Classroom
At UNC Asheville, you don’t have to be an Environmental Studies major to learn about sustainability issues: Creative and forward-thinking professors incorporate this multi-dimensional concept into nearly every department and program on campus. As of our last survey (2016), over 100 individual classes were identified that significantly incorporated sustainability content. Students from disciplines as diverse as engineering, sociology, economics, and art history have opportunities to consider the relationship between humans and their environment in classes that examine food and nutrition, alternative energy, religious traditions, and more. Course offerings are always changing, so be on the lookout for classes that give you a chance to expand your knowledge of sustainability.
In 2020, UNC Asheville launched an Interdisciplinary Certificate in Sustainability. Visit the Sustainability Curriculum web page to learn more about course requirements.
Our increasingly complex world needs critical thinkers with strong problem-solving skills who are able to address the long-term viability of social-ecological systems. The Interdisciplinary Certificate in Sustainability seeks to give students to broad understanding of environmental, socioeconomic, and humanistic systems through interdisciplinary academic preparation, community engagement, and cross-campus collaboration so that they can help develop local and global solutions for a sustainable future.
Certificate Requirements
The Interdisciplinary Certificate in Sustainability requires the completion of a minimum of 5 courses and 13 semester hours, including IST 230, Sustainability Seminar (1 credit)- the core required course for the certificate. The reaming courses must be chosen from the list below, with a least two courses at the 300-400 level. Courses must represent at least two different discipline. No more than eight of the required 12 semester hours that a student applies towards an interdisciplinary certificate may have the same course prefix. No more than 8 hours from a declared major or minor may be applied toward an interdisciplinary certificate. All courses used for the certificate must be completed at UNC Asheville. Interdisciplinary certificates may only be completed in conjunction with the completion of an undergraduate degree at UNC Asheville.
Courses
Required courses:
IST 230- Sustainability Seminar (1)
Additional courses:
ATMS 103 – Introduction to Meteorology (3), BIOL 110 – Plants and Humans (3), BIOL 135 – Concepts in Ecology and Evolution (3), ECON 242 – Economics of Food (4), ECON 245 – Land Economics (4), ECON 339 – Environmental and Natural Resource Economics and Policy (4), ECON 338 – Morality and Material Progress (4), ECON 450 – Seminar in Economics (4), ENVR 130 – Introduction to Environmental Science (3), ENVR 234 – Energy and Society (3), ENVR 324 – Environmental Ethics (3), ENVR 332 – Environmental Management (3), ENVR 333 – Environment, Design and Solar Energy (3), ENVR 336 – Environmental Health (3), ENVR 365 – Strategies for Sustainability (3), HIST 319 – Southern Appalachian History and Culture (4), HWP 225 – Nutrition Science and Healthy Eating (4), HWP 333 – Food Politics and Nutrition Policy (4), INTS 201 – Introduction to Global Studies (4), LIT 363 – Appalachian Literature (4), MCOM 495 – Media Studies Seminar (4), PHIL 312 – Applied Ethics (3-4), POLS 354 – Environmental Politics (4), POLS 363 – The Political Economy of Development (4)
Career Paths
Career Paths
McCullough Fellowships
McCullough Fellowships
The McCullough Fellowship connects undergraduate students at UNC Asheville with hands-on, community-based research that addresses some of the most pressing environmental and land-use challenges of our time. Through faculty-advised, applied research projects, McCullough Fellows collaborate with local organizations across Western North Carolina to advance solutions in land use and conservation, urban planning, sustainable agriculture, and environmental resilience.
Launched in 2015, the fellowship provides funding, mentoring, and professional support that allow students to gain practical experience while contributing meaningful research to the region. By bridging academic inquiry with real-world application, the McCullough Fellowship prepares students for careers in sustainability and environmental leadership while strengthening partnerships between the university and the broader community.
After graduating from UNCA, within two months I began my job as a project scientist for the environmental consulting firm Trileaf. I conduct migratory bird studies, indoor air quality assessments and environmental site assessments. Bird studies are by far my favorite. My favorite class at UNCA was Wetland Ecology because I use the skills I gained from that course daily!
UNC Asheville has a vibrant sustainability culture that welcomes the involvement of students, staff, faculty, and the community. From our curriculum to our student organizations, our campus facilities to our beautiful edible gardens, UNC Asheville offers a wide range of opportunities for exploring and enhancing our relationship with the planet and its living systems.
Every day, in classrooms, offices, labs, residence halls, dining areas, and open spaces, we co-create a vibrant and sustainable future for UNC Asheville. Your involvement can meaningfully strengthen our natural environment and our communities.
- Sustainability Story
- SEC Story (coming soon)
Outside the Classroom
Outside the Classroom
Sustainability at UNC Asheville goes beyond the classroom and into the community. Students lead projects through the Student Environmental Center, from composting and energy-saving campaigns to Eco-Reps events in the residence halls. They also connect with Asheville’s local food scene—helping in campus gardens, shopping at the North Asheville Tailgate Market, and supporting regional farms through our Eat Local initiatives.
These experiences let students make a real impact on campus life and in the wider community while learning hands-on skills for a more sustainable future.
Sustainability Clubs
Sustainability Clubs
UNC Asheville students turn their passion for the planet into action through a variety of sustainability-focused clubs. Whether organizing conservation projects with ASHE, advocating for environmental justice with Amnesty International, protecting local habitats with Audubon, or pushing for climate action and fair trade on campus, these student-led groups give you the chance to create real change.
Joining a club is an easy way to connect with others, gain leadership experience, and make a meaningful impact on campus and in the wider Asheville community.
Greenfest
Greenfest
Brought to you by the Student Environmental Center, Greenfest is a bi-annual series held at UNC Asheville in the Spring and Fall that celebrates sustainability, students, faculty and community. Each semester, students choose a theme relevant to current topics in environmental sustainability and partner with community members to plan events in order to generate conversation around environmental issues and engage students in environmental stewardship. Events are open to everyone, though some require registration!
Eat Local
Eat Local
A student-led initiative, the Student Environmental Center (SEC) at UNC Asheville engages students, faculty, staff and the Asheville community in conversation, advocacy, and action around environmental issues, broadly defined. The SEC is a campus resources for information related to environmental stewardship, university sustainability processes and community outreach.
UNC Asheville students took a leadership role in demonstrating our campus’ commitment to sustainability in 2006 when they initiated a Green Campus Initiative Fee to fund sustainability projects and establish the SEC. Since then, the department and its advisory board have used funds from the Green Campus Initiative Fee to purchase an electric GEM car for University Police, to install dual flush toilet valves in a number of campus buildings and occupancy sensors for light fixtures in Highsmith Student Union. The SEC also worked closely with Dining Services to initiate a post-consumer composting program and established a vegetable garden to augment the supply of local produce.
Meet the Team
Casey King
Lecturer of Environmental Science, Director of Sustainability
Office: 006 Karpen Hall
Phone: (828) 350-4556
Email: cking10@unca.edu
