Quite a few members of the Park Scholarships community have appeared in the media over the past two months:

Our newest Park Scholars are receiving recognition in their hometown newspapers! Check out Natalie Chazal ‘21 from West Carteret High School in Morehead City, N.C., Natalie Collier ‘21 from Wakefield High School in Raleigh, N.C., Annie Haunton ‘21 from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, N.C., Carley-Martin MacFarlane ‘21 from East Duplin High School in Beulaville, N.C., Jessica Autry ‘21 and Chris Lerma ‘21 from South and West Johnston High Schools in Four Oaks and Benson, N.C., and Haley Ritchie ‘21 from Providence Day School in Charlotte, N.C.

Jacob Alfieri ‘18, an English and statistics major from Easton, Penn., and Chandler Gonzales ‘18, a computer science major from Summerville, S.C., were quoted in the Technician’s coverage of Marc Edwards, the Park Scholarships program’s inaugural Gerald H. Elkan Distinguished Lecturer in Science and Society. Following his talk at NC State on March 21, Edwards was featured on local NPR-affiliate WUNC’s “The State of Things.”

VieMetrics, a startup co-founded by Eric Beppler ‘17, won the top prize (New Venture) and placed first in the Social Impact and Design and Prototype categories of the 2017 LuLu eGames. Sponsored by Lulu.com and hosted by the NC State Entrepreneurship Initiative, the Lulu eGames is NC State’s biggest startup competition—this year, there were 192 entries. VieMetrics provides consulting services to help small companies push biomedical devices to market. Beppler, quoted in this article, is an electrical and computer engineering major from Johns Creek, Ga.

Evan Brooks ‘18, a biological sciences major from Warrenton, N.C., received an Honorable Mention for the 2017 Goldwater Scholarship. Brooks intends to pursue a Ph.D. in developmental and regenerative biology and conduct research on the molecular mechanisms of organ morphogenesis and regeneration.

Natalie Cooke ‘10, a teaching assistant professor and coordinator of the Undergraduate Nutrition Program in NC State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, received the university’s 2017 Undergraduate Academic Advising Award for New Faculty Advisor.

Jasmine Flood ‘12, founder of Riada Adair Design Co., was mentioned in an article highlighting the 20th annual Fashion Exposé, a runway show organized by NC State’s African American Textile Society.

NC State’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences published a feature story on Lianne Gonsalves ‘10, who works as a technical officer in the World Health Organization’s Department of Reproductive Health and Research. Gonsalves connected with Morgan Barbre ‘19 and Cambray Smith ‘18 at the 2016 Women Deliver conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.

As part of Women’s History Month in March, Jessica (Modeen) Hamm ‘04 was one of ten women Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas highlighted on its illumination website. As a technology development manager for Duke Energy in Charlotte, N.C., Hamm and her teammates identify industry innovations to better serve customers.

NC State’s College of Sciences profiled Ashlyn Johnson ‘17—a biological sciences major from Greensboro, N.C. and Service Raleigh co-chair for two consecutive years—on its website. Since this feature was published, Johnson has decided to pursue a Ph.D. in neuroscience at Emory University.

Early last month, John Kelly ‘07 became the 15th person to finish the Barkley Marathons since the ultramarathon trail race’s inception in 1986. Kelly, a data scientist for a software startup in Washington, D.C. who maintains a blog documenting his races, completed the 100-mile race in his native Tennessee. The Washington Post and Runner’s World were among the news outlets that covered Kelly’s remarkable feat of endurance.

NC State’s Office of International Affairs recognized both James Kiwanuka-Tondo, Park Faculty Scholar ‘16 and Larry Silverberg, Park Faculty Scholar ‘20 at its 7th Annual Global Engagement Exposition last month.

College Town published an interview with Laila Knio ‘17, a psychology major from Raleigh, N.C., who recently hosted on-campus screenings of her documentary, The Common Link. Born in Lebanon, Knio returned to her birthplace the summer preceding her sophomore year to shoot the film, which shares eight stories of humanity and the link between them.

Joy Tongsri, associate director for the Park Scholarships program, received an Honorable Mention in the Outstanding Staff category of the Chancellor’s Creating Community Awards, and Jeremy Nortey ‘18—a biomedical engineering major from Gastonia, N.C.—received the Outstanding Student Award. Coordinated annually by the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity, these awards recognize outstanding faculty, staff, colleges, students, and student organizations that have made exceptional efforts and contributions in the areas of equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Sarah Paluskiewicz ‘16, past NC State Habitat chapter president and Build-A-Block co-chair, was quoted in an article about an upcoming site dedication for NC State’s historic Build-A-Block project. Now nearing completion, Build-A-Block will provide 11 families with new townhomes in Raleigh.

Vishwas Rao ‘17 was one of four NC State students selected to receive a 2017-2018 Fulbright U.S. Student Program Grant. A chemistry major from Chapel Hill, N.C. and 2016 Goldwater Scholar, Rao will use his Fulbright to study and develop new strategies to combat antibiotic resistance with Dr. Gerard Wright at McMaster University in Canada. Rao’s Park Faculty Mentor, Gavin Williams, was featured in a short video produced by NC State’s College of Sciences. Williams is/was also a mentor to Kyle Bingham ‘17 and Matthew Draelos ‘14, and recently welcomed Sara Jacob ‘20 to his team of undergraduate research assistants.

Walt Wolfram, Park Faculty Scholar ‘05, recently screened his documentary, Talking Black in America: The Story of African American Language, on NC State’s campus. Based on decades of Wolfram’s research on African-American speech, the film was produced by NC State’s Language and Life Project.