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A supergene is a collection of neighboring genes located on a chromosome that are inherited together due to close genetic linkage. Studying these unique genes is important to understanding the potential causes for differences among the social structure of fire ants, specifically for controlling the species and building upon the existing knowledge base.
Supergene in fire ants may lead to understanding of developmental behaviors
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A unique study conducted by University of Georgia entomologists led to the discovery of a distinctive supergene in fire ant colonies that determines whether young queen ants will leave their birth colony to start their own new colony or if they will join one with multiple queens. Researchers also found that ants were more aggressive toward queens who don’t possess the supergene, causing colony workers to kill them. This critical finding opens the door to new pest control methods that may be more efficient in eradicating problematic fire ant colonies. 
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Students News

UGA Livestock Judging Team coach Sarah Loughridge, members Sadie Lackey, Morgan Rowan, Leanne Chafin, farmer owner John Turner, Ian Bennett, Anna Butler, Abigail Sartin and assistant coach Dylan Davis at an Angus farm in Tennessee. CAES News
UGA Livestock Judging Team coach Sarah Loughridge, members Sadie Lackey, Morgan Rowan, Leanne Chafin, farmer owner John Turner, Ian Bennett, Anna Butler, Abigail Sartin and assistant coach Dylan Davis at an Angus farm in Tennessee.
Livestock Judging
Seven college students, one van, 10,000 miles and too many rumps, quarters and hooves to count — this is what one year on a collegiate livestock team looks like.
Forty-six people presented posters at the RBC Symposium held Friday, April 26. RBC Symposium Judge Simon Platt, BVM&S, a UGA professor of veterinary neurology, is shown with RBC poster presenter Katherine Watkins of the Easley Lab. View more images at https://adobe.ly/2vBPsxf. CAES News
Forty-six people presented posters at the RBC Symposium held Friday, April 26. RBC Symposium Judge Simon Platt, BVM&S, a UGA professor of veterinary neurology, is shown with RBC poster presenter Katherine Watkins of the Easley Lab. View more images at https://adobe.ly/2vBPsxf.
Student Researchers
The 5th annual Regenerative Bioscience Center Fellows Symposium drew more than 54 student participants. The gathering generally focused around the center’s core research projects of stroke, neurological injury, and orthopedic conditions. The 2019 event, titled Climb Higher, included students in the CAES Animal and Dairy Science program.
A group photo of the speakers at the UGA-Tifton centennial celebration included, from left: USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Director Scott Angle, UGA CAES Dean Sam Pardue, UGA President Jere Morehead, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, UGA-Tifton Assistant Dean Joe West, Congressman Austin Scott (GA-08) and USDA Southeast Area Director Archie Tucker. CAES News
A group photo of the speakers at the UGA-Tifton centennial celebration included, from left: USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Director Scott Angle, UGA CAES Dean Sam Pardue, UGA President Jere Morehead, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, UGA-Tifton Assistant Dean Joe West, Congressman Austin Scott (GA-08) and USDA Southeast Area Director Archie Tucker.
Centennial Celebration
For 100 years, the University of Georgia Tifton campus has been committed to agricultural research that benefits the state of Georgia and the world. As the campus turns the page to its next century, UGA-Tifton is focused on cultivating the next generation of agricultural leaders who will help feed and clothe a growing population.
University of Georgia students Jake Matthews, Morgan Hart, Katelyn Bickett, Reaganne Coile, Alyson Dallas, Cam Shepherd and Ben Parker will spend their summer in Washington D.C. as part of the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Congressional Agricultural Fellows Program. CAES News
University of Georgia students Jake Matthews, Morgan Hart, Katelyn Bickett, Reaganne Coile, Alyson Dallas, Cam Shepherd and Ben Parker will spend their summer in Washington D.C. as part of the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Congressional Agricultural Fellows Program.
Congressional Ag Fellows
Seven University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) students will call the nation’s capital home this summer while serving as CAES Congressional Agricultural Fellows.
UGArden intern Lily Dabbs, a second-year geography major working toward a certificate in urban and metropolitan studies, delivers the first crop of UGArden vegetables to Ava Parisi, UGA Student Food Pantry director and a student majoring in health promotion and behavioral medicine. Photo by Vince Selvidge. CAES News
UGArden intern Lily Dabbs, a second-year geography major working toward a certificate in urban and metropolitan studies, delivers the first crop of UGArden vegetables to Ava Parisi, UGA Student Food Pantry director and a student majoring in health promotion and behavioral medicine. Photo by Vince Selvidge.
UGArden Donations
Food insecurity is an issue among college students that is rarely discussed but all too common. With limited funds or inconsistent income streams, some college students may have to choose between paying rent and buying groceries.
Cole Sosebee, a fourth-year student in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication, presents his research poster at the 2019 College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Research Symposium. CAES News
Cole Sosebee, a fourth-year student in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication, presents his research poster at the 2019 College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Research Symposium.
Undergraduate Research
On April 3, almost 70 College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) undergraduate students presented their research in the annual CAES Undergraduate Research Symposium.
From left, Rep. Houston Gaines (Georgia House District 117), CAES Alumni Association President Van McCall and Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame inductees Robert Lowery, Louie Boyd, Fred Greer, Abit Massey, Johnny Crawford, Wayne Hanna and Buddy Leger celebrate the dedication of the renovated hall of fame with CAES Dean and Director Sam Pardue. CAES News
From left, Rep. Houston Gaines (Georgia House District 117), CAES Alumni Association President Van McCall and Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame inductees Robert Lowery, Louie Boyd, Fred Greer, Abit Massey, Johnny Crawford, Wayne Hanna and Buddy Leger celebrate the dedication of the renovated hall of fame with CAES Dean and Director Sam Pardue.
Ag Hall of Fame
Since 1972, the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) Alumni Association has housed the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame. With Georgia being home to such visionaries as Martha Berry, D.W. Brooks and Glenn Burton, the hall of fame plays an important role in telling the story of 20th- and 21st-century agriculture in the U.S.
FABricate entrepreneurship competition judges, from left, Four Athens' Jim Flannery, CBH International's Caroline Hofland, and Farmview Market's Keith Kelly, congratulate CAES agribusiness master’s degree student Eileen Schaffer and psychology student Amy Wright, otherwise known as Herb Girls Athens, for their win with their healthy coffee supplement, Rally Coffee. CAES News
FABricate entrepreneurship competition judges, from left, Four Athens' Jim Flannery, CBH International's Caroline Hofland, and Farmview Market's Keith Kelly, congratulate CAES agribusiness master’s degree student Eileen Schaffer and psychology student Amy Wright, otherwise known as Herb Girls Athens, for their win with their healthy coffee supplement, Rally Coffee.
FABricate
A two-woman team, Herb Girls Athens, won the $2,500 grand prize at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ FABricate entrepreneurs’ contest.
UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences student Reaganne Coile has spent the 2019 session of the Georgia General Assembly working with the office of Sen. John Wilkinson and the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Consumer Affairs. CAES News
UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences student Reaganne Coile has spent the 2019 session of the Georgia General Assembly working with the office of Sen. John Wilkinson and the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Consumer Affairs.
Legislative Internship
From the future of industrial hemp to farmland protection, University of Georgia junior and Bogart, Georgia, native Reaganne Coile has had a front-row seat to the debates that shape the future of Georgia agriculture. 
University of Georgia Horticulture Club students prepare for their 2019 Spring Plant Sale. The sale, April 6-8 and April 12-15, will take place at the corner of Riverbend Road and College Station Roads from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays at noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. CAES News
University of Georgia Horticulture Club students prepare for their 2019 Spring Plant Sale. The sale, April 6-8 and April 12-15, will take place at the corner of Riverbend Road and College Station Roads from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays at noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays.
Plant Sale
The University of Georgia Horticulture Club's spring plant sale will be held the first two weekends in April to help raise money for scholarships and educational activities.