UNCW Honors

Wilmington Fellows Class of 2020

	Jessica Gray Jessica, originally from Lincoln, Alabama, pursued a double major in Mathematics and Statistics with a minor in Educational Studies. While she has not decided on her end goal, the options include becoming a college professor or an engineer at NASA; luckily she has a few years to decide. While at UNCW she took advantage of the math department's five-year program which allows for undergraduate students to begin graduate level courses. She worked with Housing and Residence Life as a Desk Receptionist in Galloway Hall. She became involved with RHA while also remaining active in the Math & Stat Club, intramural sand volleyball, and community volunteering.
	Cailin Harrell Cailin Harrell is from Terre Haute, Indiana. She completed her degree in Marine Biology and Environmental Studies, while minoring in Chemistry. During her study abroad semester at James Cook University in Queensland, Australia, she found her calling in the field of aquaculture. As it is a relatively new field in the United States, Cailin hopes to get in on the ground floor of this emerging field. Combining her passion to protect coral reef ecosystems, Cailin aspires to work in the coral aquaculture industry, growing new coral to transplant onto dying reefs, and thus combat the devastating impacts climate change is having on coral reefs. Cailin maintained her involvement with the Plastic Ocean Project, SCUBA club, and volunteer work with Wilmington’s Adopt-An-Angel.
	Rebekah James Rebekah James grew up in a small town outside of Charlotte, NC. Since beginning school at UNCW, she became involved in many campus organizations, including the Plastic Ocean Project, the photography club, the club swim team, and the SCUBA club. She was also a diver and a volunteer at the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher. While at UNCW she pursued a double major in Marine Biology and Environmental Science. She studied abroad in Australia as a way to be exposed to different biodiverse marine ecosystems around the world. Her long-term goal is to pursue a masters and doctorate degree in Marine Biology in preparation for a career as a university professor, while also performing some form of research focused on cartilaginous fish.
	Megan Travers Megan Travers was a Film Studies major and a Digital Arts minor. She has always had an interest in the areas of visual art and creative writing, and she plans to pursue a career as a director of narrative cinema. Although she does like live-action, Megan also has a special interest in animation, especially traditional 2D. Megan was involved in the Catholic Campus Ministry and Atlantis Magazine as a copyediting committee member, and she joined the Flicker Film Society and the Writers’ Association as well.
	Emily Grose Emily is from a suburb north of Atlanta, Georgia. She is double majored in Marine Biology and Psychology. Freshman year, she completed her first DIS research project with Dr. Emslie on avian stable isotope and mercury analysis and presented at the Spring Research Showcase. In fall of her sophomore year, Emily participated in Semester by the Bay, a marine biology program in Homer, Alaska, and interned with the US Fish and Wildlife Service as a Sea Otter Stranding Intern. After Hurricane Florence, she helped with the creation of Hawk’s Harvest, an off-campus food pantry, in collaboration with Catholic Campus Ministry and Office of Student Leadership and Engagement. She secured a $3,000 grant from the Association of Student Governments to supplement the pantry. In summer of 2019, she was an Otter Training Intern with the Georgia Aquarium and worked with Southern Sea Otters, Asian Small-Clawed Otters, African Penguins, Beluga Whales, and Harbor Seals. In 2019-2020 she served as the SGA Treasurer, responsible for allocating more than $650,000 to student organizations, the Undergraduate Stranding Coordinator for the UNCW Marine Mammal Stranding Program, and a CSURF Research Ambassador. She completed her honors thesis with Dr. Pabst on the extrinsic eye muscles and morphology of bottlenose dolphins. She plans to work as a marine mammal trainer with hopes of becoming a managerial curator/director of zoological operations.
	Mikayla Sonnenfeld Mikayla double majored in Marine Biology and Environmental Science. She completed on her honors thesis on marine plankton physiology and morphology. She completed an incredible study abroad program in England during her time at UNCW. After completing her undergraduate degree, Mikayla wants to attend graduate school to study Marine Microbiology either at UNCW or in Hawaii. Mikayla is extremely passionate about the Honors College and is so thankful for all the opportunities it has given her, both inside and out of the classroom. Outside of academics, Mikayla was part of the UNCW Club Gymnastics Team, the study abroad ambassadors, and the Theta Gamma chapter of Delta Gamma Fraternity.
	Savannah Miller Savannah Miller is from Brookeville, Maryland, right between Washington D.C. and Baltimore, so she is used to hustle and bustle. She picked UNCW because of the relaxing atmosphere, excellent academics, and numerous research and volunteering opportunities. Savannah compelted a double major in Public Health Studies with a Pre-Clinical Concentration and Spanish. She was also extremely involved on campus: she was the Membership Co-Chair for Student Ambassadors, a Supplemental Instruction Leader for BIO 201, a member of the Kappa Delta Sorority and an intramural sand volleyball player. When she is back home in Maryland, Savannah volunteers for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (in summer 2017 she interned for the head of the Osteology Lab there). In summer 2019 she worked at a NOAA laboratory as an intern through the NOAA Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship Program. After graduating from UNCW in Spring 2020, Savannah moved to Atlanta, GA to begin her Master's of Public Health program at Emory University.