Sarah Fangman '86

Marine biologist Sarah Fangman's life is a great tribute to the value of keeping one's options open. Through she planned a career in psychology, Sarah used her time at Middlebury to indulge her academic curiosity. "I was attracted to an environmental studies major, mostly because I could dabble in courses from different departments," she says. "During my junior year abroad in the Virgin Islands, I discovered life underwater. That was it, and I headed to the ocean for good."

Today, she is Research Coordinator of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary near Santa Barbara, California, where she works with about 20 people under the auspices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and still thrives on variety.

Among Sarah's professional credentials is her inclusion in the Library of Congress' 2004 Women Who Dare calendar, where she is recognized for her work on the world's only underwater laboratory, as a pilot and scientist on a submersible vehicle, and as a diver with more than 1,000 research dives, at depths as much as 9,500 feet.

With her own experience as a guide, Sarah is deeply committed to encouraging young people to follow their passions -- whenever they manifest themselves. "I didn't get straight As in science," she says. "And I'm not advocating that you don't study. But it's important to avoid feeling like you don't have a chance to pursue your passion just because you don't have the grades or were a bit of a late bloomer. Anything's surmountable."