Meg Fairborn is a senior physics and math double major at Whitworth who has been awarded an opportunity to study physics anywhere she wants. “I’m a little bit sad to be going, but I’m also kind of excited to try something else,” said Fairborn.  

Fairborn was awarded a fellowship grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to pursue whatever type of research she wanted at any graduate program. “I feel particularly honored to get the grant this year, since there were so few that were awarded,” said Fairborn.  

Fairborn has been doing her research in fusion energy at the encouragement of her advisors and professors at Whitworth. Fusion energy is what powers the stars, and her research is attempting to bring that reaction down to Earth to harness that energy, she explained. “[Kamesh Sankaran] has really helped me choose fusion,” said Fairborn. “Having his mentorship has been really helpful throughout his process as well,” she added.   

Being awarded this fellowship allows her the opportunity to apply to any school she wants to without having to worry about the school’s programs having enough funding.  “Since I’m bringing my own money, I kind of get to choose which project I want to pursue,” said Fairborn. “It gives me a lot more flexibility and freedom in my research,” she added.  

The NSF typically awards 2,000 grants to students across the United States. However, due to federal funding for science programs aimed towards students and post-doctorates being cut because of the Trump Administration wanting to reduce government spending, there were only 1,000 grants awarded this year, according to Nature. 

“The federal funding cuts have definitely been a little bit nerve-wracking, but luckily getting this grant should hopefully insulate me a little bit from the cuts,” said Fairborn. Whitworth’s emphasis on liberal arts education helped Fairborn learn skills that helped her stand apart from other students and applicants.  

“Having a strong background in writing from Whitworth, especially like the scientific writing from some of my writing-intensive physics classes, has really helped me learn how to use the sorts of tools that I’d use in publishing papers,” said Fairborn.  Fairborn started taking classes at Whitworth when she was in high school through a dual-enrollment program. She decided to attend Whitworth as her college because of the community and because of the opportunities offered by the physics department.   

“I feel like the small size of the physics department has really helped me to form deeper connections with the faculty members than some of my friends from my internships who have gone to larger schools,” said Fairborn. “That really helped me to get solid letters of recommendation that helped me get some of the internships at the national labs,” she added.  

Fairborn also contributed to creating community at Whitworth through the Ice Cream Club. As a break from physics, she likes to create unique flavors of ice cream and has made over 200 different flavors so far. This club started with her bringing ice cream to her first summer internship at Whitworth and expanded from there to the club it is today.  

“I was able to get to know some of the researchers from different projects and spend time chatting with the professors and students. That’s the kind of community I wanted to foster with the club as well,” said Fairborn. 

Fairborn is graduating from Whitworth University this year and is going on to graduate school to continue her research, while also leaving behind a legacy of community. “I really loved my time here,” said Fairborn, “The community has been so great, and I’ve found a lot of support both in and out of the physics department.”