Meet the McRae Scholars at UNC Asheville
Phoebe Carnes from Whittier, North Carolina, is a graduate of Swain County High School. She is a member of the National Honor Society, Project Endeavor, Student Lighthouse Team, the Be Kind Club, and the school's concert and marching bands. In the summer of 2021, Carnes had the opportunity to intern at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park through the ACE program, which she will do once again this coming summer as a group leader. Over the past three years, she has spearheaded an independent long-term study of the park's Manitoban Elk herd, where she uses observation and photography to monitor the movement and behavior of particular bulls. She has also established the Swain County Student-Led Earth Day Celebration, which she hopes will continue once she graduates. Carnes enjoys going into elementary schools to talk about her research and raise awareness about endangered species within the National Park and beyond. She hopes to continue her elk research and begin new studies on the behavior of geckos and monitor lizards at UNC Asheville.
Connor Cannon is from Hillsborough, North Carolina, and is a graduate of Orange High School. Introduced to science as a child watching nature documentaries with their mother, they began to draw and depict the many organisms seen on screen. They quickly realized the value of education, language, and visualization, developing a desire to change the world through art, education, and environmental science. They realized this work through work in the theater, technical education courses in high school and gardening. Cannon is a member of the National Technical Honors Society member, BETA, and FFA and has earned many AP credits.
Nadia Fourie is from Pretoria, South Africa, and will be graduating from Groton School, Massachusetts. Fourie started high school in South Africa, before transferring to Groton School in 10th grade as a Headmaster's Inclusion Scholar. In South Africa, she competed for three years as a member of the Gauteng North Provincial Team in the South African Mathematics Olympiad. She has also represented her province at the South African National Championships in Cross Country, Triathlons, and Action Netball. At Groton School, she serves as chapter president of their Active Minds Mental Health Awareness Group, and is a co-head of the Groton Community Engagement Board. She is also a co-head of their Model Congress and Model UN club and has won the Best Delegate Award in her committee at the Harvard Model Congress. During the summer before her senior year, Fourie engaged in research in the field of computational physics, writing a program that uses a modified Ising Model to assess the possible effects of solar shielding on Arctic climate change. At UNC Asheville, she plans to double major in economics and environmental studies.
Anaya Harry is from League City, Texas, and is dually enrolled in Clear Horizons Early College High school and San Jacinto College South. She is a member of the National Honor Society, National Society of High School Scholars, and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. She is a proud ambassador of Youth Climate Save, which is the first youth group organization to educate the youth on the relationship between animal agriculture and climate change and to encourage them to go vegan to mitigate the effects of climate change. She plans to research the relationship between plants and the human body by majoring in biology or health & wellness promotion, with a focus on herbal medicine. She also strives to continue her commitment to community service, having already logged more than 100 volunteer hours.
Andrew Price from Goose Creek, South Carolina, is a graduate of Stratford High School. He led his class as valedictorian and has collaborated with school administration to help under-resourced students by working to establish a STEM tutoring program. He is also a member of both the National Honor Society and French National Honor Society, and he graduated with a seal of Honors and STEM Mastery from Berkeley County School District. Price plans to pursue a B.S. in Atmospheric Science followed by a graduate degree in meteorology. He is a volunteer weather observer for many organizations, including CoCoRaHS and Spotter Network. In addition, he holds two jobs and works with at-risk neurodivergent and queer students in the community, supporting the Miracle League and autism awareness.
Read more about McRae Scholars at https://www.unca.edu/events-and-news/stories/unc-asheville-announces-mcrae-and-provost-scholars-for-the-class-of-2025-with-more-than-568000-in-scholarships-awarded/ and https://www.unca.edu/events-and-news/stories/inaugural-mcrae-and-provost-scholars/.
First-year students and those seeking to transfer to UNC Asheville are considered for both scholarships and need-based aid. To apply, visit: unca.edu/apply.
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