Renée Mazurek, MS

My Story

I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania, running around outside on the family farms with my cousins. Together, we collected rocks and searched for critters in the local creeks. I didn’t know much about geology when I started college. After my first class, I knew it was a good fit and fell in love with the study of the Earth. Since then, I have lived in eastern North Carolina, where I studied climate change and river morphology. I also lived in Idaho and Montana, where we explored the mountains and hot springs, before coming back to Western North Carolina to raise our family. In the last 20 years, I have taught geology and environmental science at WCU, AB Tech, UNCA. I have also worked for a national nonprofit focused on connecting environmental nonprofits and telling impact stories through a variety of storytelling mediums. I am so happy to be joining the Warren Wilson faculty in 2026.