Monday, May 03, 2010

First generation high school graduate Sarah Fann was working up to 70 hours a week at McDonald’s when she enrolled in the University of North Carolina Wilmington in 2006. When she graduates magna cum laude on Saturday, May 8, 2010, Fann will be heading to Australia for a year-long Fulbright research fellowship and a future of endless possibilities.

“Growing up, I pushed myself because I knew that education was the way out of my hard childhood. I wanted to get a scholarship and go to college,” she said.

Eight scholarships, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s prestigious Ernest F. Hollings award, have given Fann the freedom to quit the fast food business and focus entirely on her passion for conducting research that makes a difference. This summer, she will continue to further her dream of one day serving as a full time professor when she begins a year-long Fulbright fellowship studying the effects of depth on species in ecosystems near the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

“I attribute much of my success to the caliber of education I had at UNCW. Here, you have tremendous opportunities to grow, but I think college is ultimately what you make of it – just like the rest of life. If you really want to, you can fade in the background – or – you can stand out and make a difference,” she said.

Fann could have chosen to attend the other schools that offered her scholarships, including UNC Chapel Hill, but the marine biology and statistics double major said she was impressed by UNCW’s commitment to student research and mentoring and the caliber of the Honors Scholars Program.

For the past four years, Fann has explored research that sheds light on the impact of global climate change, pollution and other damaging human environmental factors hurting marine life. She has worked alongside seasoned UNCW researchers on projects ranging from the genetic analysis of invasive lionfish to her honors thesis, “Envrion centrality quantifies the relative roles of species in generating ecosystem activity,” which focuses on developing a new  metric to measure the ability individual species have to control the energy flow within an ecosystem.

Some of Fann’ s other notable accomplishments include a two year stint on the National Collegiate Honors Council board of directors and a first place award in the National Marine Fisheries Hollings research competition.

Sarah Fann is featured in a UNCW scholarship video (look for her at 1:17 and 3:28): http://uncwtv.uncw.edu/video-scholarship_2009

Fann and other successful UNCW grads are available for interviews by request. The 79th UNCW commencement exercises will be held at 2 and 5:30 p.m. Friday, May 7 and 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday, May 8 in Trask Coliseum.

Other graduate interview possibilities:

Charles Soden, B.S. in business administration, concentration in entrepreneurship and business development
This former student body vice president decided to create a job for himself when the economy got tough by starting his own business, Apex DeckSavers in the Triangle area. With the help of his UNCW entrepreneurship classes, his business has continued to grow. He plans to continue expanding his business full time upon graduation.

Catherine Starek, B.A. in music, concentration in music education

The North Carolina Symphony created an intern position especially for this musician and future teacher. She will develop music education curriculum for the symphony in Raleigh, preparing her to fulfill her dream of one day teaching music full time.

Ezechiel Orski-Ritchie, B.S. in business administration, international business concentration in marketing

During his two years with UNCW, this international student from France has had several internships, including a recent six-month stint with the Charlotte Bobcats marketing team. He plans to start an international business/marketing master’s program in Germany this fall.

Media Contact:
Joy Davis, Marketing and Communications, 910.632.3903 or davisjc@uncw.edu