News from the Chronicles - May 2019

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Student designs AI app to diagnose plant diseases

Shaza Mehdi tried diagnosing blighted flowers by Googling images of plant diseases and comparing those images with the sick roses, sparking an idea that led her to come up with PlantMD — a smartphone app that can diagnose a plant disease with the snap of a photo: After three months of researching, coding and getting some help from her high school teachers, Mehdi launched the app. “PlantMD works when you take a picture of a…

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CAREER research program to focus on active learning

One key to improving undergraduate education and student achievement across the STEM disciplines, as well as more broadly across the campus, is the integration of evidence-based teaching strategies – using what works most effectively for student learning. Now, a University of Georgia faculty member will lead a five-year, national scale research and education project to better understand and support the use of evidence-based teaching in…

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Scientists develop technology to capture tumor cells

A UGA engineering professor and chemistry doctoral students have published their work on a microfluidic device that may help researchers better understand metastatic tumors: Instead of searching for a needle in a haystack, what if you were able to sweep the entire haystack to one side, leaving only the needle behind? That’s the strategy researchers in the University of Georgia College of Engineering followed in developing a new…

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Virtual German Exchange Program

A virtual exchange between an American and a German peer, the summer term of the UGA Linguistics / Germanic & Slavic Studies exchange program with the University of Hannover, Germany began May 20. As an additional opportunity to work on their German language skills, returning UGA exchange participants and other students who are interested can sign up for the Skype/Zoom Tandem program, which is offered twice a year, once toward…

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UGA Press campaign funds history Ph.D. apprenticeships

The University of Georgia Press created an endowment to fund a publishing apprenticeship program for students from the history department graduate program. The Peggy Heard Galis History Ph.D. Apprenticeship will allow history Ph.D. candidates to gain insight into and experience in the scholarly publishing process: The Peggy Heard Galis apprentices will be Ph.D. students in the UGA history department. The apprentices will receive…

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2019 Berlin Seminar in Transnational European Studies

Next week, the Franklin College and the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts at the University of Georgia and the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at the University of Notre Dame will host the second annual Berlin Seminar in Transnational European Studies: The week-long residential seminar brings together 20 faculty members and Ph.D. students from both institutions, representing all ranks and many different…

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2019 Franklin College Staff Excellence Awards

The Franklin College held our annual Staff Appreciation Reception and Awards ceremony on May 14 in the North Rotunda of the Miller Learning Center. The event is always a great occasion just after the Spring semester to social and recognize our colleagues for their excellent work. The college recognizes staff who have reached milestones in years of service at 10, 15, 20, 25 and this year we celebrated James Griffith, a research professional who…

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Women in Science pursues equality, diversity

Five years ago, Cecilia Sánchez and Anya Brown, ecology doctoral candidates at the time, founded the Women in Science in service of creating a community where they could connect with peers and mentors. Open to anyone (including men) interested in pursuing equality and diversity in science, WiSci has grown to incorporate undergraduate students and an outreach program as well as all STEM disciplines: The organization hosts several events…

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Focus on the Faculty: George Contini

2019 Josiah Meigs Teaching Professor George Contini is a creative inspiration to the students engaged in performance at all levels, exemplifying the scholarship of artistic training and the pursuit of excellence that sends so many on to professional careers on stage and screen: “Whether I am working with undergrads on fundamental technique or graduates on advanced theory, I consider each student encounter a creative…

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5G networks vs. weather forecasting

With the 2019 hurricane season officially beginning June 1, there's another potential obstacle to predicting monster storms: the next generation of cell phones: On one side of the debate, scientists worry that future 5G networks will hurt satellite data they rely on. On the other side, federal regulators and cell phone companies are racing to deploy 5G technology, which will deliver information up to 100 times faster…

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