New Crew Hones in on Sustainability and Resilience
Sophie Aguilar | April 7, 2026
The Sustainability and Resilience Crew at Warren Wilson College (WWC) poses in front of a science building at the college’s Swannanoa, N.C. campus. (Echo/Richmond Joyce)
At the start of the 2025-26 school year, Warren Wilson College (WWC) made a new addition to the Work Program: the Sustainability and Resilience Crew. This crew focuses on community engagement and resources that can be utilized for sustainability and resilience.
The crew was born out of the Masters of Applied Climate Studies (MACS) program, where Fae Elkin is a fellow. Elkin is the supervisor for this small crew of four students. The crew does research work on sustainability, resilience and what those concepts mean to communities.
Fern Spence is a first-year student at WWC, and this is their first semester on the Sustainability and Resilience Crew. Along with the group work the whole crew does, each student has their own passion project. Spence focuses their time on the Eco Team, a WWC program that concentrates on educating local third grade students on various science-related topics. Spence stressed how essential Elkin has been to the crew.
“[Elkin] is just really inspirational,” Spence said. “She has opened my eyes to see that sustainability isn’t just picking up trash off the ground, it’s also having access to things in a community that people need, like clothes from the Free Store.”
Elkin has been working to expand the knowledge of what sustainability and resilience is and looks like for WWC and the surrounding communities.
“Sustainability and resilience is such a loaded term and means so many different things,” Elkin said. “Something I think is having a ripple effect is that we are listening. Like, I know the Free Store means a lot to people, and therefore I do what I can to support it.”
The crew works in tandem with an array of off-campus nonprofit organizations, including Swannanoa Grassroots Alliance and Mountain True. Lately, the crew has focused on lessons in recovery from Hurricane Helene. Their work includes gathering stories, helping to co-facilitate conversations and volunteering at events related to this topic. They aim to assist off-campus communities while also gathering information on how WWC can be used as a resource for assistance.
“[Disaster recovery] is a heavy topic sometimes, but I feel like [Elkin] does a really good job at doing some extra mental mindfulness to help prepare everyone and calm them,” Spence said. “It’s a good way to connect with people on campus and meet people off campus and break that Wilson bubble.”
The Sustainability and Resilience Crew would like to expand in numerous ways. They wish to have more crew members moving forward, and also wish to grow their responsibilities. One goal for next year is to focus on resilience planning and establishing WWC as a resource for disaster preparedness.
“I want students to have a voice on campus and to feel empowered in such a world that feels really dark and scary and a place of turmoil,” Elkin said. “And I want them to feel empowered in some of the actions that they can do here.”
The crew plans on strengthening their relationships with different on-campus groups, including the Free Store and the Center for Working Lands, in order to provide different perspectives on what would be best for all aspects of campus in terms of sustainability and resilience.
“At the end of the day, what really keeps us together is care, and wanting to do good work, and have a good time, and spread joy,” Elkin said.
On April 11 from 12-5 p.m., the Sustainability and Resilience Crew will be working with the Swannanoa Grassroots Alliance on an Emergency Preparedness Fair. The crew will also be working with the Climate Action Now initiative and the MACS Program on a Just Recovery event that will focus on supporting post-Hurricane Helene recovery in the region. This event will be on April 18, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. in Canon Lounge.