Contact Information

Dr. Ormsby has been teaching Environmental Studies and Humanities courses at UNC Asheville since 2015.  Before coming to UNC Asheville, she worked for 12 years on a different campus, teaching environmental studies and working on campus sustainability initiatives, ranging from habitat conservation to recycling, campus gardens, and general conservation measures.  Her research interests include global sustainability, environmental education, ecovillages, park management, and sacred forests.  She has worked with many students on campus sustainability initiatives, including completing greenhouse gas inventories and implementing a campus climate commitment, designing a reusable to-go container (the eco-clamshell), creating a campus butterfly garden, maintaining an alumni grove, and establishing a campus carbon offset program. Alison has had a variety of work experience over the years – she was an environment/parks Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone, a Fulbright scholar in India, a journalist with the United Nations, and an environmental consultant in Philadelphia.