Areas of Exploration

Agricultural and environmental research is foundational in the land-grant university mission – education for everyone, research for scientifically based decisions and extension outreach to help ensure scientifically based agriculture in practiced in America.

Agricultural and environmental research has three parts:

  • basic, which provides the discoveries for solution to the unknown problems of tomorrow;
  • applied, which uses the solutions of past basic research to address the problems of today; and 
  • directed, which delivers immediate actions to improve our agricultural systems.

We need all three for a healthy agriculture industry and to sustain the environment. At the University of Georgia, we excel at all three, and deliver a $144.4 million boost to Georgia’s economy.


CAES research at UGA delivers a $144.4 million boost to Georgia's economy.
Discover Our Impact

Research News

First regenerative bioscience Ph.D. grad CAES News
UGA’s regenerative bioscience Ph.D. program celebrates first graduate
The University of Georgia’s class of 2025 included the first student to graduate from UGA’s new doctoral program in regenerative bioscience. Introduced in 2024 by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the new degree focuses on interdisciplinary training in regenerative medicine, biomanufacturing, and biomedical imaging and computation. “I realized on commencement day that I was the first person to graduate from the program,” said Jinghui Gao. “I felt both excited and very, very proud.”
How can we achieve agricultural resilience in a changing climate? CAES News
How can we achieve agricultural resilience in a changing climate?
As we move into the 2025 hurricane season, it is more evident than ever that agriculture is dependent on nature. Even seemingly minor temperature variations have a significant impact on the precise mechanics of plants, animals and insects. As average temperatures have warmed by 3 degrees over the past century, the question remains — how will we adapt our agricultural practices to ensure that all people continue to have access to food, fiber and fuel now and in the future?
This is the automated Drone Dock system developed in CAES Assistant Professor Luan Oliveira’s Precision Horticulture Lab. The dock is designed to be an autonomous service platform for a spray drone. It was the grand winner at the 2025 Farm Robotics Challenge, where it competed against technologies from 37 other universities across the globe. (Photo by Sean Montgomery) CAES News
UGA, partners demo future of agriculture at UGA Grand Farm groundbreaking
The University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, in collaboration with the North Dakota-based Grand Farm, broke ground earlier this month on the UGA Grand Farm in Perry, Georgia. The 250-acre site will be a hub for agricultural innovation projects, demonstrating new technologies and automation focused on specialty crops from Georgia and the Southeast. The first projects are set to go live this year.