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USA Today’s All-USA College Academic First Team includes
UNC graduate Harris; senior Lagoo has honorable mention

CHAPEL HILL — University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate and Rhodes Scholar Kate Harris – who has conducted research in Antarctica, Malaysia, Mongolia and in a simulated Mars habitat – has been selected to be a member of USA Today’s 2006 All-USA College Academic First Team.

Harris, who graduated in December, was one of 20 students nationwide chosen for the team. Team members each receive a $2,500 cash award and trophy, along with a photograph and a profile in today’s (Feb. 15) USA Today.

UNC’s Janaka Lagoo, a senior economics and anthropology double major from Chapel Hill, was selected as an honorable mention.

U.S. colleges and universities collectively nominated more than 600 students. A panel of judges determined the team of 20, considering academic ability, activities, leadership and endeavors outside the classroom.

Harris, a biology graduate with a minor in geology, attended UNC on a Morehead Scholarship, a full, four-year merit-based award. A native of Georgetown, Ontario, Canada, Harris aspires to travel into space someday.

"For as long as I can remember, I’ve been crazy about all things space and extraterrestrial," Harris said. "My ultimate dream is to become an astronaut, but I know it’s such an incredibly unlikely long shot. So even if I don’t get to fly myself, I want to be involved in the exploration of space in any possible capacity."

During her freshman year at UNC, Harris started SpaceTalk, a student group that arranges visits to local schools to talk about the universe and hosts lecture series.

Harris spent some of her sophomore year in a spacesuit and helmet wandering through a Mars-simulated environment in Utah studying hardy bacteria that can survive harsh conditions.

During the spring semester of her junior year, Harris explored the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, studying surface water.

At UNC, Harris was inducted into the school’s two highest honorary societies: the Order of the Golden Fleece, for contributions to the university; and the Order of the Grail-Valkyries, for achievements in scholarship, public service, leadership and character. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

In November, Harris was awarded a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship in the Canadian competition; the scholarship pays for two to three years of graduate studies at England’s Oxford University. Harris will begin her master’s degree in earth science at Oxford in October.

Harris currently is traveling nationwide promoting the Morehead Scholarship program at high schools.

Lagoo will graduate in May and plans to participate in Teach for America before pursuing a dual degree in medicine and public health.

Locally, she has been active as president of UNC’s APPLES Service-Learning Program and in her work as a doula, or trained birthing assistant, at the N.C. Women’s Hospital. Internationally, she has spent the last three summers working in India with SEARCH (the Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health), focusing on women’s health and empowerment.

For more information, visit http://allstars.usatoday.com.

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(Kelly Ochs, a senior journalism and mass communication major from Winston-Salem, wrote this release for UNC News Services.)

Note: For information on contacting Harris or Lagoo, contact Deb Saine at (919) 962-8415 or deborah_saine@unc.edu.

Photo URLs: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/students/rhodes/2005/harris_kate.JPG
http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/students/research/lagoo_janaka.jpg

News Services contact: Print, Deb Saine (919) 962-8415