Caroline Reed is a Rural Resilience Specialist at Invest Appalachia, supported by the Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) program, where she works to build meaningful connections across universities, nonprofits, local government, and funders to strengthen regional collaboration, understand community needs, and identify opportunities for high-leverage climate investment in Central Appalachia.
Caroline has spent nearly a decade working at the intersection of environmental health, community engagement, and climate adaptation. She holds her MSPH from UNC-Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Public Health, where she studied maternal and child health and environmental toxicology—including research on drinking water contamination in rural wells. Even early in her research career, a background in the visual arts informed her thinking about communication, helping her find ways to make complex scientific findings more meaningful and actionable for the communities they affected. In her early career, she was drawn towards climate work, where she focused on translating climate simulators and models into digestible programs and materials for diverse, international audiences with Climate Interactive.
Wanting to learn more from frontline communities and to root her work more firmly in place, she made her way to New Orleans, where she served as a Director at ISeeChange. Working alongside residents, community-based organizations, government officials, and research institutions, she helped translate lived experience into emergency management protocols, research findings, community training programs, policy recommendations, and infrastructure design to drive climate and disaster resilience, with a core focus on flooding and extreme heat.
Now living in Asheville, Caroline is excited to bring what she has learned to serve the area where she grew up. If you see her in the wild, you’ll find her walking her 3-legged dog, making soap, chatting with neighbors, or getting dirt under her nails in the garden.