& Hazards Lab
Sustainable Triangle
Field Site
An interdisciplinary undergraduate program in collaboration with Sustainable Carolina, where students develop and apply sustainability skills to address real-world environmental challenges facing UNC–Chapel Hill and the surrounding community.
Sustainable Triangle Field Site
The environmental capstone led by Dr. Antonia Sebastian is a key component of the STFS program. This semester-long course is a team-based project that tackles an environmental research question or issue for a local client. This unique program offers undergraduates insight into how universities and communities partner for a more sustainable future. STFS allows students to integrate academic studies in environmental science, urban planning, and related fields with hands-on capstone research and field experiences. For eligibility criteria, course requirements, and application details, please visit UNC’s Institute for the Environment website.
STFS Portfolio
The STFS Environmental Capstone welcomes undergraduate students from a range of UNC programs, including ENEC, E3P, EMES, Urban Planning, and Environmental Health Sciences. Students develop skills in translating research and presenting findings—valuable tools for future careers in the growing sustainability sector.
Hydrology
River floods are critically important in the global hydrologic cycle. While seasonal floods can be environmentally restorative, they can also have devastating socio-economic and public health consequences. Anthropogenic changes ranging from watershed to global scales have substantially altered the response of many of the world’s rivers and are driving increased flood risk, making this a critical topic for the 21st century. Additionally, water is an essential resource for all life, and the availability of clean water will become one of the most important socio-political and economic discussions over the coming decades.
Courses:
'Flood Hydrology: Models and Data Analysis' (EMES 414): Beginning with the hydrologic cycle, this course covers concepts related to rainfall runoff and hydrologic response, flood frequency analysis, the mechanics of open channel flow, and overland and channel routing. Students gain experience working with real-world data and engineering software.
'Groundwater' (EMES 435): This course covers fundamentals of groundwater storage, subsurface flow and contaminant transport, emphasizing the role of groundwater in the hydrologic cycle, the relation of groundwater flow to geologic structure, and the management of contaminated groundwater and drinking water resources.
Natural Hazards
Natural hazards arise from a suite of dynamic processes that operate within the Earth and along its surface.
How individuals and communities prepare for and respond to natural disasters is strongly influenced by our perception of the risk associated with these processes.
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Course:
'Natural Disasters: Hollywood vs Reality' (EMES 105): This introductory hazards course investigates a range of natural hazards, using popular media as a starting point for analyses and discussions of disaster causes. Excerpted segments from disaster films are paired with scientific analyses to highlight the causes, consequences, and public perceptions of natural hazards. The course provides an introduction to earth science processes through the lens of popular media. In-class research activities, cooperative laboratory analyses, and small group discussions form the basis for evaluating the physical and geologic processes that create natural hazards. Analytical exercises foster an appreciation of the role hazards play in modern society and demonstrate how scientific approaches to problem solving can mitigate the risks associated with such hazards.
Student Photos
