Advances in Plant Sciences

UGA plant scientists provide the tools for more adaptable, advanced plant varieties that lead to food security and sustainability around the world. Researchers in pest and disease management, crop production, and turf science find solutions for the grand challenges we face globally. Research spanning advances in plant sciences include the following:

Pest/Disease Management
Plant Breeding and Genetics
Specialty Crops
Crop Management
Plant Growth and Growing Process
Grass Sciences and Management
Plant Implications for the Public

Three graduate students in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) have been honored with an E. Broadus Browne Award for Outstanding Graduate Research: plant pathology student Shaun Stice took first place in the Ph.D. category; Sam McDonald, a plant breeding, genetics and genomics student placed second in the Ph.D category; and plant pathology student Caroline Burks received first place in the master’s category.

CAES News

Graduate students honored with research awards

Three graduate students in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences have been honored with an E. Broadus Browne Award for Outstanding Graduate Research.

UGA researchers have been looking for ways to reverse the decline of pollinator populations by examining centipedegrass as a food source for pollinators.

CAES News

Your lawn could help save the bees

Over the past few decades, pollinators have been in decline worldwide, which is concerning because 70% of crops used for human food depend on pollinators. Turfgrasses – used for most residential lawns – often take some of the blame for pollinator decline as they are known to be wind-pollinated and were thought not to serve as a pollinator food source, until now.

Qian Feng, a second-year doctoral candidate in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has mapped additional genes responsible for volatile production in order to offer a more complete picture of the biochemical pathways in tomatoes. She hopes that other researchers can introduce the desirable genes into current or new varieties to breed a tastier tomato.

CAES News

UGA student investigates why modern tomatoes have lost their flavor

Why have tomatoes lost their flavor? Why do some dishes call for ketchup when cooking with tomatoes? These are a couple of the questions that Qian Feng, a second-year University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences doctoral candidate, seeks to answer through her research.

Nutrient-enhancing research

Organic practices could benefit farmers in developing countries

University of Georgia researchers found using a local soil inoculant - an organic, sustainable practice for farmers in developing countries - can increase zinc in soybeans.