About

RENCI at UNC Asheville’s initial project will be to develop current 3-D weather models for disaster planning and response in Western North Carolina, which has a long history of devastating floods and mudslides. When completed, the models will be put to use by city and county planners, emergency responders, educators, and others.

RENCI’s selection of UNC Asheville, along with East Carolina University, as its first two engagement sites, represents the next step in creating a statewide virtual organization that will bring leading-edge technology, high-end computing, and university and community expertise to bear on regional and statewide issues.

“UNC Asheville’s partnership with RENCI provides the high-end computing resources and infrastructure that will enable us to address important environmental problems threatening our region and other regions of the state,” said UNC Asheville Chancellor Anne Ponder. “Of equal benefit is the opportunity this collaboration presents to further develop a new economic sector organized around environmental research and planning, one in which our faculty and students are already at work.”

RENCI at UNC Asheville is the result of a strong community collaboration between UNC Asheville through its National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center, NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, the City of Asheville and Buncombe County, all working together under the umbrella of the HUB economic development initiative.