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Kevan Lamm teaching undergraduate students CAES News
CAES researchers prepare students to address complex challenges of the future
Over the next three years, researchers in the University of Georgia’s Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication aim to transform undergraduate education in agricultural and environmental sciences by integrating systems thinking — an approach that encourages students to see the bigger picture by understanding how different components within a system interact.
Thermal imaging technology could improve the production of fruits and vegetables. CAES News
Thermal imaging may help fruits, veggies stay fresher longer
Before your favorite produce arrives at the grocery store, it must be carefully harvested and maintained across long stretches of time. A recent University of Georgia review suggests new temperature measuring technologies could make that process much simpler, amid growing agricultural challenges fueled by fluctuating climates. Maintaining temperature, humidity and light is critical to ensuring fruits and vegetables don’t spoil or deteriorate rapidly. Temperature spikes are the root of adverse outcomes, so monitoring these changes quickly and accurately is key.
At the 2024 Georgia Life Sciences Summit held Oct. 21-22 in Atlanta, Professor Quingguo “Jack” Huang of the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences received the Golden Helix Innovation Award for his research in technologies to mitigate “forever chemicals” in water resources. (Photo by Andrew Davis Tucker) CAES News
Georgia Bio awards recognize UGA inventor, corporate partners
University of Georgia Professor Quingguo “Jack” Huang, Delta Innovation Hub resident Dalan Animal Health, and Athens manufacturer Meissner Corporation were recognized for their achievements in the life science industry at Georgia Bio’s Georgia Life Sciences Summit, held Oct. 21-22 in Atlanta. The Golden Helix Awards celebrate the contributions of Georgia legislative, academic, corporate, and advocacy leaders working to grow the life science industry and foster strategic partnerships that create a healthier world.
Seth McAllister and farmer Mark Daniel discuss crop production and agritourism. CAES News
UGA Extension supports agritourism through expert advice and collaboration
On a sunny day with bright-blue skies, I arrive at Mark’s Melon Patch in Sasser, Georgia, and immediately spot the familiar white University of Georgia Cooperative Extension pickup truck, the Terrell County Extension logo prominently displayed on the door. Seth McAllister, the Agriculture and Natural Resources agent for Terrell County, greets me with a broad grin and a firm handshake. Terrell County alone has 60,000 acres of row crops, half in cotton. But what McAllister loves most about his role as an Extension agent is the diversity of his work.
Combining data collection and analysis with plant pathology, precision agriculture and robotics, the UGA team will build a photographic library of the foliar symptoms caused by onion diseases and other physiological disorders, feed them into the AI software, and use machine learning to identify the diseases based on pattern and color recognition from the images. CAES News
UGA uses AI, robotics to improve Georgia’s Vidalia sweet onion crop
A multidisciplinary team of UGA researchers aims to enhance the competitiveness of Vidalia onion growers in Georgia by providing them with the ability to confidently detect onion diseases early, enabling them to make management decisions on their crop at a critical time. These abilities, researchers say, should result in increased yield and quality of marketable onions and an overall increase in efficiency and productivity.
The study represents the most detailed and comprehensive picture to date of the health of the monarch fall migration in Eastern North America. (Photo courtesy of Pat Davis) CAES News
The monarch butterfly may not be endangered, but its migration is
With vigorous debate surrounding the health of the monarch butterfly, new research from the University of Georgia may have answered the biggest question plaguing butterfly researchers. Why are the wintering populations declining while breeding populations are stable? Published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study suggests that monarchs are dying off during their fall migration south to Mexico.
Jennifer Jo Thompson shops for locally grown produce at the Athens Farmers Market. CAES News
CAES anthropologist works to build sustainable food systems
Jennifer Jo Thompson's work is situated at the intersection of science, health and food systems. A researcher in the University of Georgia Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Thompson uses her background in medical anthropology to engage with policy and social justice to improve sustainability in agriculture and food systems. Learn more about her journey to academia and ongoing projects to build sustainable food systems in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Flocking to the classroom CAES News
Flocking to the classroom: UGA's Avian Academy hosts ag and STEM teachers
On a Monday morning in late June, just over two dozen middle- and high-school teachers trickled into a classroom at the University of Georgia Poultry Research Center and took their seats in groups of two and three. Hailing from public schools around the state, the teachers were preparing for Avian Academy, a highly popular three-day program for agriculture and STEM teachers hosted annually.
Planted three years ago during the pandemic, the University of Georgia’s Heritage Apple Orchard is starting to bear fruit and spark interest in the state’s agricultural history. Its 139 varieties hail from a time when Georgia was a major player in the country’s apple industry. (Photo by Michael Terrazas) CAES News
Taste of history: UGA Heritage Apple Orchard now bearing fruit
On a fine day at the University of Georgia Heritage Apple Orchard, you can see the fringing peaks of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest rising around like a hedgerow, guarding against whatever forces might encroach. When Stephen Mihm looks over the tops of the 275-odd dwarf apple trees that constitute the orchard, he sees more than a pretty view of the Appalachian foothills. He sees clear into Georgia’s past.