The NC State Coastal Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (CRSI), led by Professor Erin Seekamp, is part of the Provost’s Office of University Interdisciplinary Programs (OUIP). The CRSI is leading the Coastal Community Resilience Immersive Training (C-CRIT) program in collaboration with the KIETS Climate Leaders Program, led by Amanda Mueller. NC Coastal vulnerabilities are being addressed within the state of North Carolina through the NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR), creation of the Resilience Coastal Communities Program (RCCP) by the NC Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management (DCM), which is focused on 20 coastal communities identified in the 1974 Coastal Area Management Act. The RCCP model and process help communities identify climate resilience projects that could be funded through federal programs. In FY 2025, the C-CRIT program completed its partnership with Jones County, delivering a risk and vulnerability assessment report, a publicly available online story map conveying the report’s findings, and a presentation to community leaders of the report’s findings. These products and activities are intended to inform decision-making and support resilience project funding applications, ultimately fostering a more resilient Jones County, from infrastructure to quality of life.
In 2025, the C-CRIT program team partnered with NCORR, the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center, and the North Carolina State Climate Office to identify and select Gates County as the region for Year 2 participating communities. Projected impacts include the following: training 6 C-CRIT Assessment Coordinators; providing asset maps and vulnerability assessment to Gates County, which will support their participation in future phases of NC DCM’s Resilient Coastal Communities Program.
As part of the OUIP-provided funding, CCRIT Faculty mentor Dr. Rebecca Ward adapted the C-CRIT Assessment Coordinator training programming into 1-credit hour, sequential 8-week online graduate-level courses that were offered in Spring 2025 (developed and instructed by Dr. Ward): NR 595 601 Engaging Local Perspectives and Data to Map Community Assets for Resilience (10 students in Spring 2025); and NR 595 602 – Approaches to Vulnerability Assessment for Community Resilience Planning (8 students in Spring 2025). These courses attracted students from a wide array of departments and degree programs across campus: Civil Engineering, Forestry and Natural Resources, Political Science, Design, Geospatial Analytics, Parks, Recreation, & Tourism Management, Climate Change and Society (a professional master’s program), and Environmental Technology and Management. It is intended that these courses will continue to be offered and promoted through NC State’s Climate and Sustainability Academy. Additionally, the C-CRIT program team continues to seek funding to support Y3 AmeriCorps member stipends. In FY 2025, a preproposal was submitted to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for continuity and expansion of the C-CRIT program.