Carolina Woman Magazine

Shannon Johnstone's shelter dog photo portrait series, Landfill Dogs, is one of the new exhibitions at the First Friday Gallery Walk. Johnstone's series earned national press recognition from "World News With Diane Sawyer," Buzzfeed and the Huffington Post.
Jennifer Dasal, associate curator of the N.C. Museum of Art, chose work by Mary Ann Anderson, Linda Ruth Dickinson and Susan Martin to feature in the Three-Person exhibit in Gallery 1. New paintings and multiple print processes are represented in the show.
Gallery 2 of the Gallery Walk is holding an exhibition titled Flirting With Abundance, which features nationally recognized artists Angela Piehl of Kansas City and Crystal Wagner of Atlanta.
Jaclyn Bowie is continuing her work as the newest community artist-in-residence in studio 217. Bowie is an instructor for Artspace's 2014 community outreach program at Hope Elementary Charter School.

A group exhibition by gallery artists called Eno 2013 features new work from various sources, including Alicia Armstrong, Lisa Creed, Kristin Gibson, Chrystal Hardt, Molly Cliff Hilts, Tinka Jordy and Nancy Tuttle May. The exhibit runs through Jan. 19.
Irene Tison was named a new Eno Gallery artist.
Molly Stone's hand-blown glass work is featured in the lower gallery.

For the first time in history, the three historically black institutions of higher education in the Triangle are headed by African-American women. The 12th annual Durham Martin Luther King-Black History Month Parade will be held in honor of this with the theme "Celebrating Black Women in American Culture." The Feb. 1 parade will feature as grand marshals: Debra Saunders-White, Ph.D., chancellor of N.C. Central University; Dianne Suber, Ph.D., president of St. Augustine's University; and Rosalind Fuse-Hall, Ph.D., president of Bennett College.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine ranked UNC-Chapel Hill as the No. 1 value in American public higher education for the 13th year in a row. The magazine's seven-page spread featured Carol Folt, the chancellor, singing and swaying to "Hark the Sound" with first-year students.

The Durham institution of higher education celebrated student's achievements at the 122nd commencement last month. Dr. Annika Barnett, an alumna and a native of Raleigh, was the university's youngest commencement speaker.
The university awarded the Student Service Impact Award to seven undergraduates, including Norjuana Anderson, Amber Lashley, Kamisha Maxwell and Iimani McKnight.
Graduate students also were recognized for their work in the community. Tracy Turner was involved with Habitat of Durham, Meals on Wheels, SPCA of Wake County, Salvation Army and Citizen Schools. Courtney Williams started a program called POISE (Providing Outreach and Inspiration Through Sisterhood and Education).

Twenty faculty members from N.C. State University, in Raleigh, were named 2013-2014 University Faculty Scholars. Each one will receive $10,000 toward academic endeavors for the next five years. They include Karen Daniels, Albena Ivanisevic, Hollylynne Lee, Melissa Pasquinelli, Alyssa Rockenback and Laurie A. Williams.

Samantha Reichle, a graduate of Duke Law, joined TrustCounsel, an estate planning and tax law firm in Chapel Hill.

Shannon Hoffman was named director of resident life at SearStone, a retirement community in Cary.

Kierstin Geary joined the team.
The CEO, Christina Motley, was chosen to instruct a marketing course for the American Society of Professional Education.

Cruise Holidays International, a major travel agency network, announced that two Triangle travel agents won national awards. Shari Marsh received the network's Golden Anchor Award and was named an Outstanding Sales Achiever. Anita Lynch also won an Outstanding Sales Achievement award, which recognizes agents in the top 5 percent of the entire Cruise Holidays network.

Elaine Marshall, N.C. secretary of state, won the Women of Excellence Award presented by the National Foundation for Women Legislators. In 1996, Marshall was the first woman elected to a statewide, executive-branch office in North Carolina.

Dale Sandler, Ph.D., a resident of Chapel Hill, was chosen as Mentor of the Year and recognized for her outstanding ability to guide her scientists and staff at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

North Carolina is transitioning to a knowledge-and-innovation-based economy with increasing employment in high-tech sectors and high-tech wages above the national average, says Sharon Decker, the Commerce secretary. Her statement came as a result of the data collected in the 2013 Tracking Innovation report released by the N.C. Board of Science and Technology. "What this report reveals about North Carolina is critically important if we want to accelerate our recovery from the deepest recession in more than a generation," Decker said.

The N.C. Council for Women appointed new board members including: Laura Riddick, Dena Barnes, Joyce Krawiec, Marsha Prestage, Valerie Procopio, Kirby Tyson and Debbie West. The council members are selected by the governor and will serve until June 2015.

Kim Janzen is the new executive director of the SPCA of Wake County. Janzen came to SPCA from the Kansas Humane Society, where she served as president/CEO for 10 years. During Janzen's time there, her work included overseeing a capital campaign for construction of a shelter and headquarters as well as increasing revenue streams, staffing and animal adoptions.

Six women from the United States, including Taliana Tudryn of Chapel Hill, traveled to Burma last month to participate in the Women's Forum Myanmar 2013: "Women in a Fast-Opening Society." This was the first international women's conference held in the country. The women are members of the ANNpower Vital Voices Initiative, the alliance between Vital Voices Global Partnership and the parent company of Ann Taylor and LOFT. During the conference, the six young women had the chance to participate in interactive sessions, panels and speaking sessions with influential female leaders.

Junior Achievement of Eastern North Carolina received the Bronze Summit Award, one of the highest honors from the national organization. The local group has seen 35 percent growth during the past four years. Bebee Bason Lee, president of the local group, said, "We thank our more than 350 classroom volunteers and hundreds of corporate partners who joined with our board of directors and staff to empower thousands of young people to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices."

Band Together, a Triangle nonprofit that raises money and awareness for charitable causes, is looking for volunteers for Band Together Roadies, said Cari Swann. She can be contacted at caswann@gmail.com.

Amber Smith, founder of Activate Good, the nonprofit volunteer center, said many opportunities for volunteering in the Triangle are continuing into this month. They include the Volunteer Pledge-A-Thon and Pro-Heroes 2014.

Meg McGurk, Citizen of the Year
Judith Cone, Town and Gown Award
Theresa Keller-Albin, Irene Briggaman Lifetime Achievement Award
Mary Elizabeth Powell, UNC Public Safety Employee of the Year.

International Focus, a Raleigh-based nonprofit that supports North Carolina's international communities, announced the addition of two employees. Leila Bekri, raised in Tunisia, is the new director of international visitor leadership programs. Maria Adoskina, from Russia, is the director of special projects.

The Women's Giving Network of Wake County awarded $100,000 to three area nonprofits that support women and children, according to Pamela Dowdy, president of the local giving circle, which is a program of the N.C. Community Foundation. Receiving $30,000 grants each were: The Hope Center at Pullen for supporting a full-time case manager who provides intensive support services to at-risk young people between the ages of 13 and 24; and Dress for Success - Triangle for supporting a new career center manager as well as childcare and transportation stipends. Read and Feed received $40,000 for a new RV for its Feed the Reader Road Show, which will serve 96 more children in eastern Wake County.

At its Jan. 13 meeting featuring Jess McLamb, the National Association of Women Business Owners Greater Raleigh holds a one-hour workshop to cover the basics needed to put together a simple, one-page business plan.

Suzanne Rousso, artistic director of the Mallarmé Chamber Players, announced the line-up for the second annual NC HIP Music Festival. HIP stands for Historically Informed Performance, and the entire festival is performed on Renaissance and baroque period instruments with historical performance practices. The festival runs Jan. 21-Feb. 7 in various venues in Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh. It features performances by local and international ensembles.

Deep Dish Theater presents a developmental workshop of "Debris," a new play written and performed by Katja Hill, Jan. 15-19. Directed by Paul Frellick, the theater's artistic director, the workshop continues the company's 13th season at University Mall, in Chapel Hill. "Debris" is a funny and moving memoir centered around Hill, her mother and a journey to Finland, her mother's homeland. Hill has been a frequent presence on the Deep Dish stage, dating back to the inaugural season production of Shaw's "Arms and the Man."

Billie Redmond, CEO of TradeMark Properties, was a silver award winner in the lifetime achievement category in the 10th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

Michelle Fox, of Fox Rental Management Associates, was elected vice president of the Triangle chapter of the National Association of Residential Property Managers.

Kelly Cobb, of Raleigh's Fonville Morisey Realty, was elected president of Long & Foster's Gold Team. It's an agent-led organization that provides networking, education and business development opportunities, as well as special programs for agents.

Ashley Rain, sales manager, was a silver finalist for Sales Manager of the Year from the National Home Builders Association.
Melyssa Kemp is rejoining M/I Homes, representing Greystone Estates as a new homes sales consultant.

Sherry Warf, member of the Raleigh Regional Association of Realtors, joined Coldwell Banker Advantage New Homes as the on-site representative for Chesapeake Homes at Rustica Oaks.

Pamela Mansueti, buyers' agent and relocation specialist, earned the agent of the quarter honor at Raleigh's Linda Craft & Team Realtors for the third quarter of last year.

A newly-discovered dinosaur species, Siats meekerororum, was one of the largest predatory carnivores from North America. Lindsay Zanno, a N.C. State University paleontologist with a joint appointment at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences stated, "It's been 63 years since a predator of this size has been named from North America." The remains that were found belonged to an individual that would have been over 30 feet long and weighed at least four tons.

Longstanding forensic identification techniques may be changing due to the work of Ann Ross, Ph.D., a forensic expert and professor of anthropology at N.C. State University, in Raleigh. The previous ways of identifying human remains by using the shape of a person's skull are being called into question. The study shows there is not enough variation in skull shapes to make positive IDs.

Hannah Burrack, Ph.D., an associate professor of entomology at N.C. State University, in Raleigh, is doing work on honey bees and other pollinators to understand which species are the most effective pollinators. These findings eventually will have huge impacts on the agriculture industry. "We've developed a set of metrics that we think offers a comprehensive overview of pollination efficiency, which would allow researchers to compare data from different crops and regions," Burrack said.

WakeMed Health and Hospitals announced the addition of Dr. Andrea Crane to its staff. Crane is the hospital's first urogynecologist, a relatively new subspecialty focused on pelvic floor disorders.

Kris Herfkens, Ph.D., was inducted into the National Volunteer Hall of Fame in the health professional category. Herfkens is a clinical neuropsychologist in private practice in Durham, and she focuses on treating people with Multiple Sclerosis.

Eliana M. Perrin, MD, MPH, associate professor of pediatrics in the UNC School of Medicine, authored a study about obesity and children. Perrin and co-authors analyzed the top-grossing G- and PG-rated movies from 2006-2010. Perrin asserts that these films are "glamorizing unhealthy eating and sedentary behavior yet condemning obesity itself."
Researchers at the UNC School of Medicine have discovered why some breast cancer cells are resistant to chemotherapy and are working toward overcoming this resistance. Adriana S. Beltran, Ph.D., a research assistant professor in the department of pharmacology, found that the protein Engrailed 1 is overexposed in basal-like carcinomas and has designed a chain of amino acids in the lab to kill basal-like tumors.

Sheila Santacroce, Ph.D., of UNC-Chapel Hill, received a 2013 Nurse Researcher Grant from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to finding cures for children with cancer.

Sound Sleep Institute, an integrated sleep management program, announced the addition of Janice Stewart as an account representative. Stewart has over 10 years' experience in the healthcare field.

Stephanie J. Wilson, president of ACCESS Medical Development, a regional real estate development firm focused on medical office buildings and office parks, announced that the company completed the new location of Debnam Clinic, in Raleigh. The clinic provides medical care to the underserved communities in Southeast Raleigh and parts of Wake County.

This month, Wake County libraries host free programs featuring African-American writers. The Eva Perry Regional Library welcomes Michele Andrea Bowen, Sharon Ewell Foster, Cheris Hodges and Lisa Watson on Jan. 12. The East Regional Library hosts Sharon Ewell Foster, Deborah Fletcher Mello, Leceila Turnage and Lisa Watson on Jan. 16. The Southeast Regional Library features Sharon Ewell Foster, Cheris Hodges, Deborah Fletcher Mello and Leceila Turnage on Jan. 19.

The local children's book "Goodnight Carolina," written by Missy Julian Fox, Elaine O'Neil and Marie Myers Lloyd, is available as an App for the iPhone, iPad and Android. Also, the book was adapted into a printed map and tour brochure by the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau. The popular book is a love story for Tar Heels of all ages.

Rita Berman, a freelance writer and editor in Mebane, announced the publication of her book "The Dating Adventures of a Widow." The small collection of fiction and nonfiction is available in paperback on Amazon.