2012 Alumni Forum Highlights · The Morehead-Cain Scholars Program

2013
April 26.

Proudly Introducing the Morehead-Cain Class of 2017

The Morehead-Cain Foundation—home of the oldest, most prestigious merit scholarship program in the United States—is proud to introduce its class of 2017.

This fall, the Morehead-Cain program will welcome to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 48 new Morehead-Cain Scholars from around the world. The class of 2017 will include:

Twenty-three scholars who attended North Carolina high schools;
Twenty-five scholars from schools outside of North Carolina; including
One scholar from Kenya;
One scholar from Italy;
Three British scholars; and
Three Canadian scholars.

Since its founding in 1945, the Morehead-Cain has been a model for countless merit scholarships throughout the United States, including the University of Virginia’s Jefferson Scholars Program; Duke University’s Benjamin N. Duke Scholars Program; and Emory University’s Woodruff Scholars Program.

In addition to covering all expenses for four years of undergraduate study at UNC, the Morehead-Cain features a distinctive program of summer enrichment experiences. Over four summers, scholars have the opportunity to complete an outdoor leadership course, carry out public service in the United States or abroad, conduct research at sites across the world and gain experience in private enterprise.

The summer enrichment program, designed to broaden each scholar’s experience and worldview, is complemented during the academic year by a Discovery Fund that encourages deeper exploration of a particular interest. From attending development conferences in Geneva to shadowing emergency room doctors in Boston, Morehead-Cain Scholars are given the resources to pursue educational opportunities wherever they find them.

As set out in the program’s founding documents, selection criteria for the Morehead-Cain are leadership, academic achievement, moral force of character and physical vigor. Morehead-Cain recipients are chosen solely on the basis of merit and accomplishment, not financial need.

Currently, more than 220 Morehead-Cain Scholars study on campus, making outstanding contributions across the full range of University life. From student government to community service to the performing arts, Morehead-Cain Scholars play a prominent role in Carolina’s vibrant student community.

In the past ten years, thirteen Morehead-Cain Scholars have won Rhodes Scholarships to England’s Oxford University, one of the world’s most competitive and prestigious awards for graduate study. Since the first Morehead Scholars graduated from Carolina in 1957, 30 of UNC’s 33 Rhodes Scholars have been Morehead-Cain graduates.

Morehead-Cain Scholars have accounted for 23 of the University’s 35 Luce Scholars and 19 of Carolina’s 32 Truman Scholars, among the nation’s most generous and distinguished awards for graduate study. Twenty-eight Morehead-Cain Scholars have won Fulbright Fellowships.

The nearly 3,000 Morehead-Cain alumni across the world are a similarly diverse and distinguished group. They include:

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch;
U.S. Congressmen Jim Cooper, Mike McIntyre and David Price;
Jonathan Reckford, chief executive officer of Habitat for Humanity International;
Karen Stevenson, a Los Angeles attorney and the first black American woman to win a Rhodes Scholarship;
Tim Sullivan, chief executive officer of Ancestry.com;
Adam Falk, president of Williams College;
Peter Blair Henry, dean of New York University’s Stern School of Business; and
Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health.

New Morehead-Cain Scholars are listed below alphabetically by North Carolina county, state and country. Students noted with one asterisk are listed in more than one location. Those with two asterisks took a gap year between high school and college. For more information, please feel free to call the Foundation at 919-962-1201.

NORTH CAROLINA

Alamance

Meredith Gracen Miller is graduating from Western Alamance High School in Elon, where she is president of the art club. During high school, Meredith brought her love of art to her community, painting murals for various organizations in her hometown. She has won countless awards for her artwork at both the local and state level, and has also spent time in South America volunteering for Global Health Outreach. Meredith is the daughter of Mark and Lisa Miller of Elon.

Buncombe

Leah Grace Everist will come to UNC in the fall from Asheville High School in Asheville. At Asheville High, Leah co-founded the SERVE-Interact club, quickly expanding it into one of the largest and most active service clubs at the school. She is also the captain of the field hockey team and is working on her certification as a nursing assistant. She is the daughter of Luke and Mary Everist of Asheville.

Catawba

Emily Catherine Perry comes from Hickory High School in Hickory. Emily dances pre-professional ballet at the highest level with the North Carolina Dance Theatre and is also an entrepreneur. Cupcakes4Ballet is her home business, through which she sells cupcakes to fund a need-based scholarship for younger students at her ballet school. An avid baseball fan, she has also visited 22 of the nation’s 30 Major League Baseball stadiums. Emily is the daughter of John and Jackie Perry of Hickory.

Chatham

Diane Nicole Thompson will graduate from Northwood High School in Pittsboro. Diane held two terms as Northwood’s student body president and is the goalie of the varsity soccer team. To show support for her fellow athletes, Diane is the co-leader of her school spirit organization, cheering on Northwood at athletic events. She is the daughter of Michael and Robin Thompson of Chapel Hill.

Durham

*Morgan James Howell joins the Morehead-Cain program from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham. As a high school student, Morgan completed his own genetic research project at Duke University and was an international finalist in the high school genetic engineering competition. He is also an all-conference wrestler and participates in NCSSM Mock Trial. He is the son of Frank and Gina Howell of Norwood.

Nicholas Torquil MacLeod is from Carolina Friends School in Durham. Nick played practically every sport available to him at CFS, including basketball and Frisbee. He is the two-year captain of the soccer team and started on a premier-level club team. He also serves on the discipline committee at CFS, working with students and staff to promote integrity on campus. Nick is the son of David and Jackie MacLeod of Durham.

*McKenzie Sean Folan graduates this spring from Woodberry Forest School in Woodberry Forest, Va. McKenzie is a jazz trumpet player and captain of the varsity baseball team. He also founded the Old Town Elementary School BackPack Program, an organization that provides children in need with backpacks filled with food to take home with them on the weekends. McKenzie is the son of McDara and Ragan Folan of Winston-Salem.

Lauren Grace Kent comes to Carolina from Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem. A budding journalist, Lauren is the co-editor-in-chief of her student newspaper. She is also a champion pole vaulter and has been active in Girl Scouts for more than ten years, earning the Girl Scout Gold Award. She is the daughter of Cameron and Susan Kent of Winston-Salem.

Erik Reinhard Schoning is graduating from West Forsyth High School in Clemmons, where he is a member of the varsity swim, cross-country, and track teams. Erik is the president of his school’s National Honor Society, and started a creative writing column in the student newspaper. Erik is the son of Martin and Nury Schoning of Clemmons.

Guilford

Anne Bennett Osteen joins the Morehead-Cain program from Walter Hines Page High School in Greensboro. An all-conference golfer, Anne Bennett leads the Page golf team as a captain. She also is the co-editor-in-chief of the student newspaper and tutors her fellow students preparing to take the SAT. Anne Bennett is the daughter of William and Elizabeth Osteen of Greensboro.

Iredell

Robert Morris Gourley is from South Iredell High School in Statesville. Rob is a young physicist and aspiring astronaut, winning second- and third-place awards at an international science competition and presenting at the largest physics conference in the world. He is also a lineman on the varsity football team and a first-chair trumpet player. Rob is the son of Robert Gourley, Jr. and Heather Griffin of Mooresville.

Mecklenburg

Anthony Michael Asher graduates this spring from Providence Day School in Charlotte. Tony spends his time tutoring through the Best Buddies program and Freedom School while leading the varsity lacrosse team. He also finds time to shadow neurosurgeons at a local clinic and edit his school’s satirical publication, Charging Backwards. Tony is the son of Anthony and Gillian Asher of Charlotte.

Eryn Rachel Ratcliffe comes to UNC from Charlotte Country Day School in Charlotte. Eryn earned her Girl Scout Gold Award, is president of her school’s National Art Honor Society, and has been an actress, choreographer, and singer in school musicals. She also plays varsity lacrosse and tennis. Eryn is a member of the Environmental Awareness Council and was a participant at the North Carolina Women’s Conference. She is the daughter of David and Patti Ratcliffe of Charlotte.

John Wilson Sink attends Myers Park High School in Charlotte. Wilson is the co-captain of the school’s rowing team, receiving national rankings in both 2011 and 2012. He is an Eagle Scout, having led several Boy Scout expedition trips, and also travels the world performing with a youth handbell choir. In 2012, he served as an intern with the Democratic National Committee. Wilson is the son of Robert and Caroline Sink of Charlotte.

Morgan Elizabeth Zemaitis is graduating from Mallard Creek High School in Charlotte. At Mallard Creek, Morgan is the student body president and the editor of the yearbook. She also started a women’s golf team, currently serving as its captain. Morgan lived and worked in Jamaica with Won by One Jamaica, building houses and supporting the local community. She is the daughter of John and Kathleen Zemaitis of Charlotte.

Nash

Vincent Charles Andracchio III will come to UNC from Rocky Mount Academy in Rocky Mount. Tripp spends his time as chairman of Rocky Mount Academy’s Honor Council and performing leading roles in musical theater performances. He also co-captains the varsity soccer team and earned his badge as an Eagle Scout. He is the son of Vincent and Genie Andracchio of Rocky Mount.

Onslow

*Alicia Hayne Alford is graduating this spring from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va. Ali chairs the school’s honor council and is on the varsity soccer, lacrosse, and track teams. During her summers, Ali has trekked mountains and worked as a camp counselor, leading canoeing and kayaking expeditions. She is the daughter of Michael and Alicia Alford of Jacksonville.

Orange

Norman Trevor Archer attends Chapel Hill High School in Chapel Hill. On campus, Norman is a state-champion ultimate Frisbee player and co-president of his school’s a cappella group, the Beau Brummels. He also coordinates dinners at the local soup kitchen and provides music lessons to children by leading the Save the Music Club. He is the son of Trevor and Janet Archer of Chapel Hill.

Christopher Chen Reeder joins us from Chapel Hill High School in Chapel Hill. As a member of the track team, Chris was last year’s MVP and won a silver medal in the state meet. He serves as president of the Key Club, co-editor of the school paper, and a volunteer at the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science. He is the son of Bennett Stewart and Sue Chen of Chapel Hill.

Pitt

Meera Caroline Ravi is graduating from Junius H. Rose High School in Greenville. Meera has led her school’s Relay for Life team while also founding several community Relay teams. She plays varsity lacrosse and dances with the Greenville Civic Ballet. Meera also plays with the community orchestra and volunteers with her community’s youth soccer league. She is the daughter of M. S. Ravi of Greenville.

Rockingham

Timber Grey Beeninga is from Rockingham County High School in Reidsville. Timber is president of both her senior class and the National Honor Society at her school, and has been a Girl Scout for more than ten years. She also leads the school’s Beta Club and swims with the varsity swim team. Timber was selected to participate in the 2011 Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership seminar. She is the daughter of Scott and Rose Beeninga of Summerfield.

Scotland

Destinee Hope Grove is graduating from Scotland County High School in Laurinburg, where she is student body president and president of the National Honor Society. Destinee is also the co-editor of the school newspaper and serves as the starting goalie of the soccer team. She is the daughter of Ruby Clark of Wagram.

Stanly

*Morgan James Howell comes to UNC from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham. As a high school student, Morgan completed his own genetic research project at Duke University and was an international finalist in the high school genetic engineering competition. He is also an all-conference wrestler and participates in NCSSM Mock Trial. He is the son of Frank and Gina Howell of Norwood.

Wake

Kristen Marie Gardner comes from Needham B. Broughton High School in Raleigh. At Broughton, Kristen is the co-captain of the cross-country and track teams and the vice president of Model United Nations. Outside of school, she interns with a science museum, plays multiple musical instruments, and leads music at her church. She is the daughter of Jerome and Marie Gardner of Raleigh.

*Anita Simha is from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham. Anita is the NCSSM student body president and stays active as a traditional Indian dancer. She spent last summer doing plant biology research with loblolly pine trees. Anita is also a trivia buff: in 2011, she won first place in the world in the Knowledge Masters’ Open. She is the daughter of Babu Simha and Chitra Murthy of Cary.

Caroline Aunspaugh Woronoff is graduating from Cary Academy in Cary, where she serves as student council president and is co-founder of the school’s chapter of Students for Gender Equality. She also plays varsity soccer and serves as a student ambassador for Cary Academy. Caroline makes time to volunteer at a local cat shelter, noting that her favorite experience was learning how to prepare cages for escape artists and pugnacious cats. She is the daughter of Robert and Diane Woronoff of Raleigh.

OTHER STATES

District of Columbia

*Nakisa Barzani Sadeghi joins the Morehead-Cain program from the National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C. Nakisa leads her school’s public forum debate team, and has earned a top-four ranking at nationals. She also co-edits the student paper, plays classical piano, and competes as a figure skater and ice dancer. Nakisa also co-founded an organization that coordinates student performances at local assisted-living facilities. She is the daughter of Kyoko Ando of Alexandria, Va.

Indiana

Caleb Nathaniel Jadrich comes to UNC from the Culver Academies in Culver. Caleb was the captain of the Culver football team as an offensive tackle, played on the state champion ice hockey team, and was chosen as most valuable player on the lacrosse team. He is also a research chemist, conducting electrochemical tests for fuel cell catalysts. Caleb represents Culver as third in the chain of command in the corps of cadets. He is the son of Duane and Sara Jadrich of Brownsburg.

Maryland

Martha Butler Isaacs is graduating from Roland Park Country School in Baltimore this spring. At Roland Park, Martha serves as president of the student government association and runs varsity cross country. She is active with Stony Run Young Friends, an organization dedicated to community service and workshops on wellness and activism. Martha traveled to Haiti in 2011 to plant trees as a part of earthquake environmental relief efforts, and finds time to help take care of local farm animals. She is the daughter of William and Paisley Louise Isaacs of Butler.

New Mexico

Ana Claire Dougherty is from United World College-USA in Montezuma. Ana is active in her community in a variety of ways: volunteering at homeless shelters and soup kitchens, teaching music, mentoring, and tutoring. She serves as a resident advisor in her dorm and is the first-ever American leader of her school’s African Chorus. She is also an instrumentalist, playing trombone and tuba. She is the daughter of Timothy and Katharine Dougherty of Albuquerque.

New York

*Amy Rebecca Woff joins the Morehead-Cain program from the Fortismere School in London, where, as Head Girl, she coordinates with students and teachers to improve the academic and campus experience. Amy is also a part of the exclusive Football Academy Center of Excellence, competing with both Arsenal and Watford at different points in her soccer career. She was the youngest delegate to represent her school for Model United Nations, and has a particular interest in Abraham Lincoln. She is the daughter of Richard Woff of London and Janet Katz of New York.

Ohio

Joseph O’Rourke Sullivan is from Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland, where he serves as class president and was awarded the Kenyon College presidential book award. Outside of school, Joe volunteers his time traveling on mission trips, supporting the homeless in his community, and coaching third- and fourth-grade lacrosse teams. He is the son of Frank and Barb Sullivan of Bay Village.

Pennsylvania

Brian Charles Shields is graduating this spring from Hampton High School in Allison Park. Brian attended the Westinghouse Science Honors Institute, led his cross-country team as captain, and volunteered at the local food pantry. An amateur rock and mineral enthusiast, Brian is always searching for rare geological treasures. He is the son of Joseph and Valerie Shields of Allison Park.

South Carolina

Rossi Akim Anastopoulo comes from Ashley Hall in Charleston. Rossi is the captain of the varsity tennis team, winning two state championships over the course of her high school career. She also serves on the Honor Council, is president of Model United Nations, and is active in community outreach with the Greek Orthodox Youth of America. She is the daughter of Akim and Constance Anastopoulo of Charleston.

Caroline Spears Jennings is from Christ Church Episcopal School in Greenville. Caroline is a very successful cross-country runner, now serving as the captain of her team. She has organized several race fundraisers to support a community center in Ecuador. Caroline is also the captain of the Bluebells, her school’s all-female a cappella group, and president of the Environmental Club. She is the daughter of Harold and Kristi Jennings of Greenville.

Peter Everett McWilliams comes to UNC from Hammond School in Columbia. Peter has a wide range of interests and involvements. He is the senior captain of the varsity football team, stars in school plays and musicals, and interns as a chemistry lab technician, where he works with polypeptides and nanofibers. Peter also volunteers in his community repairing homes for the elderly. He is the son of Wilson and Katherine McWilliams of Columbia.

Tennessee

Alexandra Key Polk graduates this spring from Harpeth Hall School in Nashville. Allie is president of the Math Club and the Cum Laude Society, and serves as the editor-in-chief of her school newspaper. She also worked as a research intern at a Children’s National Medical Center lab last summer. She is the daughter of Julia Polk of Nashville and William Polk of Nashville.

Graham Charles Treasure comes from West High School in Knoxville. Graham chairs the Knoxville Youth Action Council and conducts engineering research with the National Science Foundation. He is an Eagle Scout and competes with the varsity tennis team as captain. He is the son of Charles and Lisa Treasure of Knoxville.

Texas

Morgan McKenna Pergande is from Fort Worth Country Day School in Fort Worth. Morgan has played three seasons of sports every year in high school, earning nine varsity letters and leading the football team as captain. He also performs with his school’s improv comedy troupe as well as in plays and musicals. Morgan serves his classmates as student body president. He is the son of John and Frasher Pergande of Fort Worth.

Katherine Anne Stotesbery will come to UNC from Regents School of Austin in Austin. Her love of Russian literature led Kate to start a book club at Regents, of which she is now president. She has won awards for her art projects at the district and state levels, and has served as a co-captain of the varsity volleyball team. In the summers, Kate volunteers at a summer camp, teaching wakeboarding. She is the daughter of William and Susan Stotesbery of Austin.

Utah

Tony Hong Liu is from the Waterford School in Sandy. Tony serves as student body president and is first chair violist in the Waterford orchestra and small chamber ensembles. Tony also co-founded the history club at Waterford and won two state championships on the soccer team. He is the son of Jian and Jie Liu of Lindon.

Virginia

*Alicia Hayne Alford is graduating this spring from Episcopal High School in Alexandria. Ali chairs the school’s honor council and is on the varsity soccer, lacrosse, and track teams. During her summers, Ali has trekked mountains and worked as a camp counselor, leading canoeing and kayaking expeditions. She is the daughter of Michael and Alicia Alford of Jacksonville, N.C.

*McKenzie Sean Folan graduates this spring from Woodberry Forest School in Woodberry Forest. McKenzie is a jazz trumpet player and captain of the varsity baseball team. He also founded the Old Town Elementary School BackPack Program, an organization that provides children in need with backpacks full of food to take home with them on the weekends. McKenzie is the son of McDara and Ragan Folan of Winston-Salem, N.C.

Nancy Zhang Gao is from Nicolet High School in Glendale. Nancy is president of the debate team and captain of her school’s Federal Reserve Challenge team, which won the state competition. She is also dedicated to cancer treatment research, interning for two years with a lab at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. Nancy spent time encouraging citizens to vote during the 2011 Wisconsin recall elections. She is the daughter of Hua Gao and Liping Zhang of Fox Point.

INTERNATIONAL

Canada

Caleigh Morgan Bachop joins the Morehead-Cain program from Mount Douglas Secondary School in Victoria, British Columbia. Caleigh led the redesign of her student council as part of a national initiative, creating a new school constitution. She was awarded the Service Cup for her outstanding leadership contributions at Mount Douglas, where she also participated in Model United Nations and led the cross-country team as captain. She is the daughter of Stephen and Cindy Bachop of Victoria, British Columbia.

**Laura Catherine Limarzi comes from the Assumption College School in Windsor, Ontario, where she served as prime minister of the student council. Laura was selected to represent Canada at the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership World Congress, and she volunteered with many local organizations, including Autism Ontario, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and her local church. She is the daughter of Bruno and Rosemary Limarzi of Windsor, Ontario.

Ariana Brynn Vaisey is from the Lester B. Pearson College United World College in Victoria, British Columbia. Ariana led overnight camps, teaching environmental stewardship, and volunteered with a salmon hatchery, promoting education and advocating for the hatchery. She also manages a greenhouse and outdoor garden for her school. She is the daughter of Tasha Nathanson of Port Moody, British Columbia.

Hong Kong

*Ottavia Zattra comes from Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong. Ottavia serves as the leader of the environmental group at her school and volunteers with organizations dedicated to the eradication of human trafficking. She has also traveled to rural China and Cambodia to work with children in local communities and has served as her school’s class president. She is the daughter of Luigi Zattra and Alessandra Edda Cariolato of Cornedo Vicentino, Veneto, Italy.

Italy

Kenya

*Bradley Calvin Opere comes to UNC from the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa. Active in student government, Bradley wrote the school’s inaugural honor council constitution. He also designed a national three-day conference linking entrepreneurial-minded students across South Africa. Bradley was president of his secondary school before attending ALA. He is the son of Milka Juma Adoyo of Nairobi and Ezekiel Opere of Nairobi.

South Africa

*Bradley Calvin Opere comes to UNC from the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg. Active in student government, Bradley wrote the school’s inaugural honor council constitution and serves as chairman. He designed a national three-day conference linking entrepreneurial-minded students across South Africa. Bradley was president of his secondary school before attending ALA. He is the son of Milka Juma Adoyo of Nairobi, Kenya and Ezekiel Opere of Nairobi, Kenya.

United Kingdom

Alexander Darwin Clayton is from Stewart’s Melville College in Edinburgh, Scotland. Alex is an elite rugby player, captaining the U16 Scottish Schools Cup finalist team. He was also appointed regimental sergeant major through the Army Cadet Leadership Course and is deputy head boy of his school. Alex now teaches swim lessons, having retired from the top Scottish swim club. He is the son of Richard and Lorna Clayton of Edinburgh.

Harry Joe Edwards comes from Greenhead College in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Harry is an internationally ranked tennis player, representing Great Britain for several years. Harry tutors his peers through Maths Peer Tutoring and raises funds for an international microfinance charity. He is the son of David and Anne Edwards of Cleckheaton, Kirklees, West Yorkshire.

*listed in more than one location

**took a gap year in 2012–2013

2013
February 20.

Christy Lambden ’14 elected UNC’s first British Student Body President

From The Daily Tar Heel
Published February 20, 2013

In an unexpected outcome, Christy Lambden was elected student body president in a runoff election Tuesday, winning 55 percent of the vote and defeating Will Lindsey.

The candidates had an extra week to campaign because neither collected a majority of the votes in the general election last week — though Lindsey finished in first by a 15-point margin.

“I’m just absolutely delighted,” Lambden said. “To come up with a victory is really exceptional.”

Lambden received the most endorsements from student organizations out of the five original candidates. He collected 22 percent of the vote in the general election.

The last time a candidate finished in second place in the general election and still won the runoff election was in 2009 when Jasmin Jones was elected by a slim margin.

Lambden said he is glad that he can start focusing on implementing his platform.

“Campaign season is an entity of its own. It was wonderful to be a part of it,” he said.

Leimenstoll said he looks forward to working with Lambden.

“If he thought he was working hard, he needs to get ready to work even harder,” he said.

“It is a huge responsibility, and I hope he’s excited about it, but also ready.”

Read the story from The Daily Tar Heel

View Christy's campaign website

2013
February 19.

Henry Ross ’13 chosen as Morehead-Cain’s 23rd Luce Scholar

From unc.edu
Published February 19, 2013

Congratulations to Henry Laurence Ross ’13, one of two UNC seniors this year chosen to win the prestigious Luce Scholarship.

Ross, 22, is a classics major and biology minor and a Morehead-Cain Scholar.

The son of Caren and Gordon Ross, Ross graduated from The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn., in 2009. At Carolina, Ross has served as a counsel in UNC’s student-run honor system and currently serves as the deputy student attorney general and solicitor general for the student body. He was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and is a member of Chi Psi fraternity.

Ross has pursued international research in Cape Town, South Africa, and taught school in rural Zimbabwe. On campus, he’s taken graduate-level studies in Latin and received the 2012 Preston H. and Miriam L. Epps Prize in Greek Studies, the top classics award for undergraduates. He also has served as captain of the squash team.

He spent last summer working as an investigator for the Public Defender Service in Washington, D.C., and hopes to attend law school in the future.

Read the full press release from unc.edu

2013
January 08.

Madhu Vulimiri ’14 receives research award at national health disparities conference

From the UNC Gillings School of Public Health website:

Madhu Vulimiri, ’14, a junior health policy and management major at Gillings School of Global Public Health at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, won a first-place award for her diabetes research at the sixth annual National Conference on Health Disparities, held in Little Rock, Ark., Nov. 28 – Dec. 1.

Vulimiri presented her poster, “Patient and Provider Perspectives of Community-based Health Promoter-led Diabetes Intervention,” which was developed through semi-structured interviews with patients and providers.

“Through attending the conference, I learned that health disparities are a fight about how we live,” Vulimiri said. “We have a social responsibility to understand community priorities and bring them back to our schools, organizations and agencies. At their root, health disparities exist when an individual’s zip code can affect his or her health outcomes more than genetic code.”

View Madhu's presentation poster

Read the full story from the Gillings School website

2013
January 05.

Jake Bernstein ’16 named to Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Social Entrepreneurs

For their work in establishing a national website to help teens connect with available volunteer opportunities, Jake Bernstein ’16 and his sister, Simone, were named to the 2012 Forbes 30 Under 30 List for Social Entrepreneurs.

From the Forbes website:

“In 2009 Simone Bernstein, then 17, and her brother Jake, then 15, spent the summer creating a website that listed all the volunteer opportunities for teens in their hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. The reason: as a young teen Simone Bernstein had been frustrated by a lack of a central resource for this information. This March Simone and Jake launched a national website, volunTEENnation.org . The siblings also created a regional Youth and Family Volunteer Fair. Roughly 7,500 young people have found opportunities to give back through VolunteenNation since its launch.”

To see the full 30 Under 30 list, visit the Forbes website.

Visit the Volunteen Nation website.

2012
December 09.

Ned Sharpless ’88 appointed Deputy Director of UNC Lineberger Cancer Center

Chapel Hill, NC – Norman E. “Ned” Sharpless, MD, has been appointed Deputy Director of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Sharpless is the Wellcome Distinguished Professor in Cancer Research, professor of medicine and genetics.

“Ned Sharpless is one of the most accomplished physician-scientists in America. He has repeatedly published groundbreaking translational science in the world’s top journals and, as a result, has attracted numerous large federal and foundation grants, making him one of UNC’s top funded researchers,” said Shelley Earp, MD, Director of UNC Lineberger and UNC Cancer Care.

“His scientific accomplishments are matched by his outstanding mastery of clinical medicine, molecular genetics and animal modeling, as well as his passion for making life better for cancer patients. In addition, he is a scientific entrepreneur and one of UNC’s most sought-after teachers and mentors,” Earp added.

In his new role, Dr. Sharpless will be responsible for guiding the Center’s scientific agenda across the basic, clinical and population sciences. He will also lead the strategic planning process setting the direction for the 2014–2020 time frame, in preparation for the Center’s 2015 NCI grant renewal. His previous role at the cancer center was Associate Director for Translational Research.

Read the full story on the Lineberger website.

2012
December 03.

The New York Times announces the launch of Corey Ford’s ’00 media start-up accelerator

From the article by Elizabeth Jensen
Published: December 2, 2012

Can the nascent entrepreneurial ideas bouncing around Silicon Valley help reinvent public media?

Matter Ventures, a start-up accelerator that will provide four months of financial and logistical support for budding media entrepreneurs, will be unveiled Monday by its partners: KQED, a public television and radio station operator; the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; and the Public Radio Exchange, known as PRX.
_____________________

The accelerator will be led by Corey Ford, a former producer for the PBS program “Frontline.” Mr. Ford most recently built Runway, an accelerator for the Google chairman Eric E. Schmidt’s early stage venture capital firm, Innovation Endeavors.

Matter Ventures will finance four rounds of five teams each over two years. Each of the 20 teams selected will get $50,000, mentoring from the KQED staff, and educational workshops, as well as work space in the Matter Ventures’ headquarters in the South Park section of San Francisco, just blocks from KQED.

“A big part of this is about the culture and the community that you create,” Mr. Ford said. Each round will end with a day of presentations to potential investors.

Applications for the first class, which will begin work in late February, are being accepted through Jan. 6 at www.matter.vc.

Read the full New York Times article here.

The transcript of Corey's interview with KQED Public Radio can be found here.

2012
December 01.

Amirah Jiwa ’15 featured in London Sunday Times University Guide 2013

In this year’s Sunday Times University Guide, Amirah Jiwa ’15 encourages her fellow Britons to consider taking their undergraduate degrees in the U.S.

“Last year, more than 4,000 UK students chose to study in America. One of them, Amirah Jiwa, is starting her second year studying economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after winning a British Morehead-Cain merit scholarship worth $200,000 (£123,500) over four years, covering all her expenses (apart from flights). ‘I am having the time of my life,’ says the 19-year-old former pupil at Mill Hill County high school, a comprehensive in northwest London. ‘It really is everything and more than I imagined. The application process isn’t difficult, I would encourage everyone to do it.‘”

Times subscribers can access the full article here.

2012
November 19.

Rachel Myrick ’13 earns the Rhodes Scholarship

UNC Student Body Vice President Rachel Myrick wins Rhodes Scholarship

By Kristin Skill
The Daily Tar Heel

Senior Rachel Myrick is happily rescinding all of her other graduate school applications after receiving news Saturday that she will be a Rhodes Scholar.

Myrick, who is a Morehead-Cain Scholar, Carolina Research Scholar and Carolina Public Service Scholar, is the 48th Rhodes Scholar from UNC.

The 32 American Rhodes Scholars of 2013 were selected from a pool of 838 candidates nominated by their colleges and universities.

“I knew it was such a long shot,” said Myrick, who is also the student body vice president.

“I got in the middle of so many graduate school applications because it was totally inconceivable that this was going to happen, but now that I’m canceling all of those applications, it’s a great feeling.”

Myrick said the notification process was delayed because of Hurricane Sandy.

The applications were due to the University the first week of school, and about a week and a half ago, Myrick received the invitation to attend the final round of interviews in Washington, D.C., this past weekend.

The two scholars for each of the 16 districts in the United States were announced in front of candidates and interviewers on Saturday.

“When I heard my name, I just froze. I was in total disbelief. We had already been waiting for three hours altogether, and I was preparing myself for thanking interviewers and congratulating candidates,” Myrick said.

Student Body President Will Leimenstoll said he could not think of a more deserving person to receive the Rhodes Scholarship than Myrick.

“She is completely qualified academically and socially, and she’s a good person at heart,” he said. “I’m glad to see it going to people who have worked hard for it and will do something positive with it.”

In a news release Sunday, Chancellor Holden Thorp congratulated Myrick.

“The Rhodes is a well-deserved honor for this exceptionally bright student, and it will provide even more opportunities for Rachel to make a difference in the world.”

Myrick said she became interested in applying for the scholarship while studying abroad in London her sophomore year.

She will obtain her M.Phil. in International Relations at the University of Oxford, which she hopes will lead to a Ph.D.

Patrick Snyder, a friend of Myrick’s since their freshman year of high school, said she tries to make a positive impact on everyone she meets.

“Coming to Carolina, I knew she was going to set herself up for greatness with her drive and motivation to be involved on campus and in the community,” Snyder said.

Myrick said she is grateful to her high school teachers who taught her to love learning — and the faculty and administrators at UNC who encouraged her to look into the opportunity.

“I think I’ve just had the help and support and encouragement of so many people along this road,” she said.

“It was a stressful process but totally worth it,” she said.

“I still don’t really think it’s sunk in.”

Visit the Daily Tar Heel website.

See Rachel's Fall Banquet keynote speech

2012
November 13.

Tara Seshan ’13 will earn both a degree and a Thiel Fellowship

When billionaire investor Peter Thiel announced that he was establishing an entrepreneurial fellowship for students to drop out of college and start businesses, the move drew headlines and attention in large measure for the tough bargain it proposed: complete college, or get $100,000 in venture capital.

But according to Inside Higher Ed, a small number of fellowship winners have discovered that the dropping out part is optional.

“A handful of Thiel Fellows – the program director, Danielle Strachman, wasn’t sure of the exact number, but she estimated 5 out of 44 – finished college before entering the two-year fellowship program,” reports Inside Higher Ed. “The fellowship is restricted to entrepreneurs who are under 19 years old when they apply, but that leaves room for students who might have started college at younger ages to apply, earn a fellowship and graduate rather than dropping out.”

Among those taking advantage of the loophole is our very own Tara Seshan ’13, who is planning to graduate a semester early in order to pursue her Thiel Fellowship.

“Thiel is definitely known as the drop-out-of-college program,” she told Inside Higher Ed. But for her, it will only mean missing one semester of her Morehead-Cain and Carolina experience.

Tara’s Thiel venture focuses on chronic disease management in developing countries, using technology to help patients keep track of treatment schedules, dosages, and doctor communications.

Learn more Tara's Thiel Fellowship project

Read the full story from Inside Higher Ed

2012
November 05.

Jarrard Cole ’12 finds interesting ways of illustrating the fiscal cliff

Economic policy is not the easiest thing to visualize, so it presents a bit of a challenge for video producers.

At the Wall Street Journal, producer and editor Jarrard Cole ’12 tackled the problem of dramatizing the fiscal cliff — the congressionally imposed series of tax hikes and spending cuts set to take effect at the end of the year — by hiking veteran WSJ correspondent David Wessel to an actual cliff.

The video shoot, which took place near Washington, DC, makes for an interesting study in the art of visualizing an abstraction.

Visit the Wall Street Journal website.

2012
November 05.

Alan Murray ’77 to head the Pew Research Center

After a storied career with the Wall Street Journal —culminating in his role as deputy managing editor and executive editor, online — Alan Murray ’77 is leaving the paper to lead the Pew Research Center.

In an interview with Reuters, Murray talked about his excitement at joining the nonpartisan research center. “I have watched in the last 30 years as trusted facts have become an endangered species,” he said.

The news release from Pew is copied below.

Journalist Alan Murray named president of the Pew Research Center

Washington (Nov. 2) — Veteran journalist Alan Murray, currently deputy managing editor and executive editor, online, for The Wall Street Journal, has been named President of the Pew Research Center, succeeding public opinion expert Andrew Kohut, the center’s Board of Directors announced today. The board said Kohut will stay on as Founding Director and continue to provide counsel on political polling and global attitudes research.

The Pew Research Center, a Washington-based subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, conducts public opinion polling, demographic research and other empirical social science research to inform the public, the press and policymakers. It currently has about 130 employees and an annual budget of $33 million. As a neutral source of data and analysis, Pew Research does not take positions on policy issues. As president, Murray will oversee all the work of the center and its seven thematic projects. He will begin his new position in January 2013.

Murray is an award-winning journalist with more than three decades of experience in covering politics and economics, as well as a stint as co-host of a public affairs program on CNBC. He has served in numerous roles at The Wall Street Journal, including Washington bureau chief. He currently has editorial responsibility for the Journal’s websites, including WSJ.com and MarketWatch. He has led the recent rapid expansion of the Journal’s conference and video operations. (Murray will have a continuing role with the Journal’s conferences during a transition period.) He is the author of three best-selling books, and has won two Overseas Press Club awards for his writings on Asia, as well as a Gerald Loeb award for his coverage of the Federal Reserve. He serves on the Governing Council of the Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. Murray received a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina, where he was a Morehead Scholar, and a master’s degree in economics at the London School of Economics.

“Alan Murray is ideally suited to lead the Pew Research Center in the years ahead,” said Donald Kimelman, Chair of the Pew Research Center’s board and Managing Director of Information Initiatives at The Pew Charitable Trusts. “Alan has had an exemplary journalistic career in which he has demonstrated great integrity and a solid commitment to impartiality. He’s a highly effective and creative leader. And he has a deep understanding of the digital arena in which the center’s future will play out.”

“Trusted facts are an increasingly rare resource in today’s world,” Murray said of his appointment. “Andy Kohut has built the Pew Research Center into a rock of reliable information amidst a sea of supposition and spin. I’m honored to be asked to lead this gem of an institution into a new era of global growth.”

“The board of the Pew Charitable Trusts and I could not be more enthusiastic about this choice,” said Rebecca Rimel, president and CEO of The Pew Charitable Trusts, the center’s parent organization. “The Pew Research Center is widely known for the rigor, credibility and timeliness of its work. Alan Murray brings all the right values to his new role, along with the experience, energy and skill to lead the center. He inherits an institution that is at the top of its game and poised to do even more, especially on the international stage.”

Rimel noted that in June the board of The Pew Charitable Trusts made an additional $6 million, multiyear commitment to enable the Pew Research Center to expand the scope of its international research.

“I’m delighted that Alan Murray, who has been an astute and objective observer of Washington and the world for decades, will lead the Pew Research Center as it expands its research agenda,” Kohut said. “Alan’s commitment to smart, data-driven storytelling will help ensure that the Pew Research Center remains an independent, trusted source of facts and neutral analysis.”

The Pew Research Center marries the storytelling skills of journalism with the methodological rigor of social science. It began as a research project created in 1990 by the Times Mirror newspaper company and called the Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press. In 1996, The Pew Charitable Trusts became the center’s sponsor.

In the ensuing years, The Pew Charitable Trusts launched other information initiatives modeled on the success of the neutral, independent “just-the-facts” approach of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. These included the Project for Excellence in Journalism, launched in 1997; Pew Internet & American Life Project (1999); Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life (2001); Pew Hispanic Center (2001); and Pew Global Attitudes Project (2001). In 2004, The Pew Charitable Trusts established the Pew Research Center as a subsidiary to house these initiatives, with Kohut as its first president. In 2005, the Pew Research Center launched the Pew Social & Demographic Trends project, combining original survey research with analysis of U.S. Census Bureau surveys and other data sources.

As Kohut said when Pew Research was launched in 2004, “It’s more a ‘fact tank’ than a think tank. It’s a new kind of Washington organization that collects information and disseminates it in an understandable and analytical way, rather than producing expert opinion on policy subjects.”

The center’s parent organization, The Pew Charitable Trusts, is an independent nonprofit organization — the sole beneficiary of seven individual charitable funds, established between 1948 and 1979 by two sons and two daughters of Sun Oil Company founder Joseph N. Pew and his wife, Mary Anderson Pew. Its offices are located in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Brussels and London, with staff in other regions of the United States and Australia.

###
About The Pew Research Center: Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. As a neutral source of data and analysis, Pew Research does not take positions on policy issues. The center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

About The Pew Charitable Trusts: The Pew Charitable Trusts is driven by the power of knowledge to solve today’s most challenging problems. Pew applies a rigorous, analytical approach to improve public policy, inform the public and stimulate civic life.

Visit the Pew website.

2012
November 02.

C. David Perry ’70, long-time chief of UNC Press, will step down in March

UNC PRESS editor-in-chief David Perry to retire
UNC News Release

UNC Press is announcing that after 34 years with the publishing house, editor-in-chief David Perry intends to retire in March 2013. Perry joined UNC Press as an editorial assistant in 1979 and was named the Press’s editor-in-chief in 1995. He acquires books in history and southern studies, with a special focus on Civil War and military history, as well as books for the Press’s regional general-interest list.

During his time at the Press, Perry has served on the North Carolina Arts Council and the boards of the North Carolina Writers Network and the North Carolina Writers Conference. He was a member of several task forces to craft new policies for copyright and intellectual property at UNC and helped found the university’s Working Group in Scholarly Communication.

“Others have reported that retirement from something one loves is a bittersweet experience, and I am starting to understand that now. I have been fortunate to be able to spend virtually my entire working life in a rewarding job, surrounded by dedicated colleagues and working with wonderful and committed authors, many of whom I now count among my best friends,” said Perry. “But I am going out on a high note. The Press is in great shape—especially with the hiring of a creative new director in John Sherer. We have terrific, experienced people at every level who maintain a firm sense of the Press’s role in the academy and our responsibilities toward the reading public of our state, region, and beyond. When the time comes next spring, I’ll be leaving with confidence that the future is bright for UNC Press.”

“For as long as most of us can remember, David Perry has been the public face of UNC Press,” said Sherer, who was a member of the Press staff from 1989 to 1991 before returning to the Press as Spangler Family Director in July 2012. “But his enormous impact on the UNC community and the state of North Carolina pale in comparison to the impact he’s had within the Press. I know I share the sentiments of everyone at the Press when I say I am lucky to have worked with him, and the Press is immeasurably a better institution because of his contributions here.”

Bland Simpson, author of seven books published by UNC Press, has worked closely with Perry over the years. “David Perry’s abiding devotion to the Press’s mission and his wonderfully warm personality have inspired much esprit de corps both among the staff and the authors who have worked with him,” Simpson said. “He has not only acquired books—he has nurtured careers. And he has done so with wit, vision, and a magnificent strength of purpose.”

A native of Asheville, Perry is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which he attended on a Morehead Scholarship.

Founded in 1922, UNC Press is the oldest university press in the South and one of the oldest in the United States.

Visit the UNC Press website

2012
October 31.

For a special edition of FRONTLINE, Fritz Kramer ’05 wields the camera in Montana

For a special edition of PBS FRONTLINE, Fritz Kramer spent weeks shooting footage of the fiery political races in Montana. As an associate producer, editor, and cameraman, Fritz has been working on this story since last spring.

What began as long-term coverage of Montana’s tight Senate race turned into an in-depth exploration of the influence of big money in politics. The piece examines the changing role of outside interest groups and the tangled history of federal election law.

You can watch below for Fritz’s journalistic handiwork.

Watch Big Sky, Big Money on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

Visit the FRONTLINE website.

2012
October 10.

Diego Camposeco ’15 lands a photo on the cover of Time Magazine

After spending his summer in Brazil, Diego Camposeco ’15 came home with some stunning photos of urban life.

One of them, it turns out, made it onto the cover of the August 27th issue of Time Magazine. As part of a montage of smaller thumbnail images, Diego’s picture of a Brazilian favella was incorporated just above the cover headline.

Click here to see the full cover, where you’ll notice Diego’s photo just above the E in “WIRELESS.”

You can see the original photo — from Instagram, of course — here.

The Time Magazine cover

Diego's original photo

2012
September 27.

Covering the election for the Huffington Post, Sarah Bufkin ’13 examines the estate tax

Sarah Bufkin ’13, taking a semester off to provide full-time election coverage for the left-of-center Huffington Post, has been delving into the history of the estate tax.

“Sometimes referred to as the inheritance tax, the rules take a percentage from the estates of the wealthiest individuals upon their deaths,” Sarah writes. “In its current formulation, the top marginal rate is set at a generous 35 percent and applies the heirs of less than 0.3 percent of Americans.”

While there have been sporadic calls for raising tax rates on large estates, Sarah reports that the measure has firm opposition from lawmakers who believe it hurts small business.

The discussion has taken on some urgency as Congress approaches a January 2 deadline for the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts.

Read the full article from the Huffington Post.

2012
September 21.

Allison Hawkins ’12 studies the University’s connections to China

On behalf of the UNC system, Allison Hawkins ’12 spent most of her summer studying the University’s relationships with China.

Her research led to the publication of a comprehensive report that will guide UNC policy toward Chinese ventures for the next few years. It will also help inform state policymakers as they work to create economic development opportunities through trade and investment.

“As China’s wealth grows, North Carolina’s opportunity in China grows, too,” the report concluded. “For students, faculty and staff at UNC, basic knowledge of China — whether it stems from travel to China or exposure to Chinese students and faculty on our own campuses — is an increasingly essential element of global readiness.”

Read the full report (pdf).

2012
September 21.

In her latest book, Laura Walker ’88 finds the poetry in the Oxford English Dictionary

In her latest book of verse, poet Laura Walker ’88 explores the hidden meanings and improbable connections between the entries in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Follow-Haswed, which takes inspiration from the entries in the F-H volume of the OED.

“Individual words seemed to open out into entire worlds,” Laura wrote. “Different entries seemed to speak to one another across the dictionary’s pages.”

Laura is the author of several earlier books of poetry, including Swarm Lure and rimmertown/ an atlas. She teaches creative writing at San Francisco State University and UC Berkeley.

Order the book online.

2012
September 05.

In her first published review, Lauren-Kristine Pryzant ’14 looks at impact of climate change

What to Do When the Oceans Rise
By Lauren-Kristine Pryzant ’14 & John F. Bruno
Originally published in PLOS Biology

This summer, Americans are experiencing climate change as record-breaking heat and drought. Our new normal, with its massive wildfires and severe storms, has given the whole nation a sense of the economic and social consequences of global warming that coastal communities around the world have been experiencing for decades.

If you live near the sea, you’re probably witnessing the consequences of too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as rising sea level, coastal flooding, and eroding shorelines. In the western Pacific and Indian Oceans, low-lying islands are being engulfed. Meanwhile, in some parts of the Arctic, the rate of erosion has doubled to tens of meters per year due to thawing and the loss of sea, which increases wind fetch. Rising seas also ruin coastal farmland and fresh water aquifers and can destroy biologically rich habitats like marshlands and mangroves.

The costs of either rebuilding or relocating in response are enormous but unavoidable. Furthermore, since the economies of many coastal communities are based on fisheries and tourism, the impacts of anthropogenic climate change threaten their long-term sustainability. Given their vulnerability, coastal communities are on the front line of global warming. But do they have the capacity to adapt to so much environmental change? Do their responses to past challenges suggest strategies for coping with future change? Can we predict which communities are most vulnerable and help them to become more resilient?

To answer these questions, scientists like Tim McClanahan and Joshua Cinner are merging marine and climate change ecology with modern social science. Their goal is to figure out what aspects of coastal communities facilitate social adaptation and how these traits can be promoted. McClanahan is a renowned coral reef ecologist who lives in Kenya and works for the Wildlife Conservation Society. Cinner, a Research Fellow based at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, is at the forefront of a revolution in the social sciences. He’s leading the way to replace the traditional descriptive case study approach with a sort of human macroecology, where relationships between societies and their environment are explored by assembling geographic databases of social and ecological traits. This new approach is inherently large scale and statistical as opposed to the traditional local-qualitative method.

McClanahan and Cinner’s new book, Adapting to a Changing Environment: Confronting the Consequences of Climate Change, is a primer and also an application of this emerging holistic science. The book is concise, accessible, and written for students, scientists from other disciplines, and policy makers. The authors use coastal east Africa as a case study to develop their model of estimating the “social adaptive capacity” of communities. Unlike temperate and polar coasts, the shorelines of much of the tropics are fringed by coral reefs that buffer coastal communities from waves and storms, provide productive fisheries, and are the base of a tourism economy. The downside is that corals are quite sensitive to ocean warming, and their ongoing global disappearance is both depriving people of their livelihoods and simultaneously increasing erosion as their buffering function is lost. In other words, the vulnerability of this threatened ecosystem is passed on to its human dependents. (Such interconnectedness is a recurrent theme in the book.)

The book contains thorough but understandable introductory chapters on marine fisheries, climate change, and coral reefs. McClanahan and Cinner highlight the challenges of effective fishery management and describe actions taken on international and national levels to more effectively and sustainably manage marine resources. A chapter on coral reef resilience explains what a coral is (a coelentrate, related to jellyfish), how corals form reefs, and the role of the microscopic zooxanthellae that form a crucial symbiosis with their coral hosts. The authors explain how this symbiosis can be disrupted by small temperature increases, leading to the eviction of the zooxanthellae and the “bleaching” and death of the coral if temperatures remain elevated too long. Coral mortality in turn disrupts fisheries as fish habitat is lost and can wipe out tourism based on SCUBA diving. The chapter also includes a refreshingly honest assessment about what local managers can do to make reefs more resilient to climate change (very little).

Coastal communities have a long history of dealing with disturbances such as cyclones. Social adaptive capacity—the ability of a community to respond effectively to change—can be influenced by social traits such as occupational and institutional flexibility, literacy, household assets, infrastructure, and even the degree of social organization. And it’s this capacity, and how to measure it, that lies at the heart of the book. Enhancing the adaptive capacity is the ultimate goal and where global nongovernmental organizations like the World Bank are focusing. However, such social engineering is always easier said than done; even with the best of intentions, it often simply creates more poverty, hardship, and dependency.

The next step will be testing what is currently a predictive framework; measuring the rate and then the success of adaptive actions by communities and nations and then asking, retrospectively, which characteristics were the best predictors of social adaptive capacity and which responses were most effective. Unfortunately, actually testing the efficacy of policies designed to limit the impacts of climate change on ecosystems and people is rarely done. And even when an approach is found to be ineffective, advocates rarely stop promoting it, such as the idea that the implementation of marine protected areas makes reefs more resilient to ocean warming and acidification. Even more challenging is the prospect of identifying which indicators are actually causally linked with adaptive capacity and which merely co-vary with the traits that actually confer resilience.

Having the capacity to adapt is one thing—actually using it is quite another. Here in North Carolina, where our adaptive capacity index would be off the charts in relation to anything in the Indian Ocean, politicians that don’t believe in climate change recently introduced legislation that would effectively block coastal counties’ attempts at adaptive planning in response to sea level rise. They were lobbied by real estate investment groups who fear that any form of state-sanctioned adaptation would hamper coastal development and depress real estate values. Ironically, the northern shore of North Carolina was just found to be within a global hot spot of sea level rise, where sea level is expected to increase by as much as a meter or more this century, whether or not we plan for it.

Of course, the ultimate strategy for adapting to global warming is to rapidly and radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, i.e., mitigation. The difficulty of this is obvious and has led many scientists and activists to move on to adaptation, which from a distance seems less complex and more likely to actually happen. But the same forces that have blocked mitigation (e.g., denial, short-term economic thinking, etc.) could just as easily trip up adaptive planning.

The African nations where McClanahan and Cinner work emit relatively little carbon dioxide per capita; therefore, mitigation at a global scale is largely beyond reach. For these nations, adaption is the only means to cope with a changing climate. Whether they can build their adaptive capacity quickly enough to meet the challenges ahead remains to be seen. But we’d all do well to start building the adaptive capacity of our own communities, because the front lines of climate change appear to be accelerating.

About the Authors

Lauren-Kristine Pryzant is an undergraduate and Morehead-Cain scholar studying business administration and economics in the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC. John Bruno is a marine ecologist and professor at UNC. His research is focused on marine biodiversity and the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems. John earned his PhD from Brown University in ecology and evolutionary biology and is currently working across the Caribbean on coral reef ecology and conservation.

Visit PLOS Biology for more.

2012
August 31.

In the Wall Street Journal, Williams College President Adam Falk ’87 defends the academy

As the president of Williams College, one of the top-ranked liberal arts colleges in the country, Adam Falk ’87 is a staunch advocate of a classical education.

Amid calls for an overhaul of higher education and a national focus on technology and innovation, Falk took to the opinion page of the Wall Street Journal to defend the virtues of classroom teaching.

“Most of us in higher education take the long view about the value of what we do,” Falk writes. “What really matters is the set of deeper abilities—to write effectively, argue persuasively, solve problems creatively, adapt and learn independently—that students develop while in college and use for the rest of their lives.”

And the kind of teaching that develops those skills is both time-consuming and expensive, he contends. “Rich, human interactions can’t be replaced by any magical application of technology.”

“Education is not a commodity,” Falk continues. “It’s a social process, and its value, including its economic value, both to the graduate and to society is unquestionable.”

Read the full piece in the Wall Street Journal.

Learn more about Adam Falk '87.

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