Tags: Four Towers Building

photo of woman with globe
Focus on the faculty: Hilda Kurtz

Professor of geography Hilda Kurtz has a strong belief in educational equity and diversity, as well as a great ability to tap into students’ curiosity in the classroom: My responsibilities include research, teaching and service. My research concerns alternative food politics, and more recently, organic certification. I currently teach courses in human geography at the introductory, upper-division and graduate levels. In addition to…

photo of woman in office, seated with window
Noted and Quoted, February 2018

Faculty members authoring articles and being quoted by the popular media demonstrate the impact of public scholarship and expertise on current discourse surrounding many important issues. A sample of the recognition of and engagement by Franklin College faculty members during February: Four ways that black Catholic sisters rewrote the American story, article by associate professor of history and African-American studies Diane Batts Morrow…

photo of man in front of globe
Amazing student: Sam Tingle

Foundation Fellow Sam Tingle has been able to learn around the world — from the South Pacific to Malaysia to the Greek Island of Lesvos — but has also immersed himself in academics and activities on campus: Current employment:  I am currently working with NASA doing research through a NASA DEVELOP node here at UGA. This semester, I am working on a team that is using imagery from NASA satellites to assess threats to river water quality and…

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UGA to partner in new humanities grant for archeological study

An international research team that includes assistant professor of anthropology and geography Suzanne Pilaar Birch has been awarded Arts and Humanities Research Council UK funding for their four-year project on Radical Death and Early State Formation in the Ancient Near East.  Using new evidence from the Early Bronze Age graves of Başur Höyük, on the Upper Tigris, the project will examine how ritual killing was implicated in…

group photo with small satellite parts
Student satellite team moves one step closer to space

The ingenuity and hardwork of the Small satellite Research Labaoratory continues to lead the project up, up and away: A University of Georgia research laboratory led by a group of undergraduate students is one of only two university research programs chosen by the United States Air Force to build and launch satellites into space. The UGA Small Satellite Research Laboratory, which is supported by faculty from the Franklin College of…

cropped photo of people using smart phones
Noted and quoted, January 2018

From the downside of smart phones to the promise of a 'super yeast' for biofuels to the creation a new island off the Georgia coast, Franklin faculty have been ready and willing to lend their expertise on the full range of issues and current events. A sample from this month: Less smartphone time equals happier teenager, study suggests – article reference research by professor of psychology Keith Campbell in Los Angeles Times, India…

students in a coffee shop
Noted and Quoted, November 2017

Franklin faculty and students appeared in a wide variety of media during the month of November. A sample: UGA studies how stress affects vaccine effectiveness – assistant professor of psychology Katherine Ehrlich quoted in the Red &Black Study says public’s politics are correlated with climate change opinion. They shouldn’t be – Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor Marshall Shepherd writes in his regular column at Forbes…

photo collage with book cover
Kudos, October 2017

New research projects, diversity certificates and a musical premiere highlight accomplishments of faculty, students and staff during October. A sample: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) awarded more than $9 million in grants to explore gaps in knowledge about antibiotic resistance and pilot innovative solutions in the healthcare, veterinary, and agriculture industries. Professor of plant biology and Franklin College associate dean Michelle…

portion of book cover, with photo and text
Indigeneity and the Sacred

A new book on sacred natural sites, Indigeneity and the Sacred: Indigenous Revival and the Conservation of Sacred Natural Sites in the Americas, was recently published by Berghahn Books: The conservation of sites that indigenous people hold sacred has taken urgency as globalization and population growth increased demands for resources in the mountains of the Western Hemisphere.  Fausto O. Sarmiento, a professor of Geography and director of…

man outside with tree
Improving public health messaging on hot car deaths

Critical new findings urge better messaging about the dangers of leaving children in hot cars: Each year, dozens of young children die after being locked in a hot car, but new research from the University of Georgia's department of geography shows that most parents don't believe it could happen to them. Their findings, published recently in the journal Injury Prevention, could help improve public health messaging and prevent more deaths.…

eclipse graphic - black and white
Solar eclipse of 2017

Today is the day. Beginning about 1 p.m. and peaking at approximately 2:38 p.m., the Moon will pass between the Sun and the Earth. Professor of geography John Knox, who led the organization of a massive viewing opportunity at Stanford Stadum, explains.     Go to the stadium, or just get outside somewhere this afternoon for this very rare event. Some reminders: -Viewing the eclipse directly without protective glasses may result in…

algae bloom photo from space
Noted and Quoted, summer 2017

Algal blooms, Waffle House eclipse-viewing, food insecurity, Planet of the Apes, work-life conflicts and many more stories, Franklin College faculty kept a full schedule in media across the globe this summer. Here's a sampling: Assistant professor of geography Jerry Shannon creates map of Waffle House restaurants to watch the solar eclipse from – AJC, R&B, WSB, Q & A in the Chronicle of Higher Education Science says: Trump team garbles…

two head shots, man and woman
Joye, Shepherd receive major career awards

Georgia Athletic Association Professor of Arts and Sciences Samantha Joye and Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor Marshall Shepherd recently received career-defining professional awards: Professor of marine sciences and director of the Ecosystem Impacts of Oil and Gas Inputs to the Gulf research consortium, Joye has been elected as a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. An international nonprofit scientific…

graphic of global circulation
Solar eclipse - teachable afternoon about the sun and climate

The University of Georgia will host a viewing party of the solar eclipse on August 21. Professor Marshall Shepherd uses his Forbes column to underscore a crucial point about the rare event: Intuitively, I think most people understand that we have seasons because the Earth is tilted on its axis as it rotates around the sun. We are currently in northern (southern) hemisphere summer (winter) because that hemisphere is tilting toward…

graphic with text and radar
The science of rain delays

Spatio-temporal rainfall patterns around Atlanta, Georgia and possible relationships to urban land cover. Great stuff. Baseball fans (and teams) are weather watchers comparable perhaps only to farmers. This new work builds on the urban heat island phenomenon Shepherd has published on previously, and like the best science, may help the public make sense out of a puzzling situation.  

graphic with eclipse
Solar eclipse at Sanford Stadium

'Save the date' and we'll revisit with more details soon but Sanford Stadium will be open to the public for the viewing of the total solar eclipse on August 21. The stadium will be open from 1-4 p.m. ET for the viewing. Peak darkness will occur at 2:38 p.m. The first 5,000 in attendance at Sanford Stadium will receive free custom Georgia viewing glasses to watch the eclipse. Views from around the world of the solar eclipse will be featured on…

blus and white NOAA logo
Three UGA students named 2017 NOAA Scholars

Congratulations to University of Georgia undergraduates Elizabeth Ashley, Kevin Cameron and Alexandra Mazurek, who were awarded 2017 Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarships from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: 110 rising juniors from 64 universities in 33 states have been awarded 2017 Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarships. The Educational Partnership Program selected 8 students…

map with colored graphing
Noted and Quoted, April 2017

Franklin faculty and students continue to be quoted by and to author articles across worldwide media, including all major print publications. A sample from the past few weeks: Research by Archeology graduate student Sammantha Nicole Holder had her featured in The Guardian (reconstructing the diet of Napoleon's Grand Army) The other side of Confederate Memorial Day (Spalding Distinguished Professor of History, Emeritus James Cobb) – Time Four…

headshots of two women students
Ganeshan and Wilkes named 2017 Udall Scholars

UGA added two new Udall Scholars to its ranks this year as third-year students Shreya Ganeshan and Elizabeth Wilkes were honored for their leadership, public service and commitment to issues related to the environment. Each year, the Udall Foundation awards about 60 scholarships to college sophomores and juniors for their efforts related to Native American nations or their work in environmental advocacy and policy. Ganeshan, from Johns Creek, is…

field with windmill and approaching storm
Thunderstorm asthma epidemics

"Thunderstorm asthma is a very complex phenomenon and involves interactions of allergens like grass pollens, thunderstorms and susceptible groups of people," said lead author Andrew J. Grundstein, professor of geography in UGA's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. "Our study may help anticipate significant thunderstorms by employing a technique that helps identify wind magnitudes commonly associated with thunderstorm asthma outbreaks." The…

two photos of women
Coley Lecture, Geography colloquium April 21

[The speaker is Siobhan B. Somerville, associate professor of English and gender and women's studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign]. Somerville's expertise includes feminist theory, queer studies and American literature. She has written extensively about the intersection of race and sexuality in U.S. literature and history and is currently studying immigration law and U.S. citizenship. Her publications include …

photo of flooded New Orleans
Migration from sea-level rise could reshape cities inland

A major new publication sheds light on one of the implications of sea level rise - where will displaced people from inundated coastal areas go? In a paper published today in Nature Climate Change, researchers estimate that approximately 13.1 million people could be displaced by rising ocean waters, with Atlanta, Houston and Phoenix as top destinations for those forced to relocate. The study is the first attempt to model the destination of…

students in the lab
UGA CubeSat one step closer to space

Great news from NASA for students and faculty working diligently to design and build UGA's first satellite: The University of Georgia CubeSat project is among 34 small satellites selected by NASA to fly as auxiliary payloads aboard missions planned to launch in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The UGA project, led by a team of undergraduate students and including faculty from the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering, performs…

satellite photo over the Pacific Ocean
‘Atmospheric rivers’ also common in the Southeast

Some timely and informative new research from geography faculty and graduate students on aspects of the erratic weather seen recently: Much of the flood-inducing rainfall that has pummeled California over the last month flowed into the region via a river in the sky. But these so-called atmospheric rivers, which transport large quantities of water vapor poleward from the tropics, can wreak havoc in the Southeast as well. University of Georgia…

Holmes Hunter building, campus
Noted and Quoted, February 2017

From the history of the university to a musical premiere to questions about the president, Franklin faculty expertise is a vital resource across the news media. Some recent articles and broadcast segments: The Whole Story: UGA's Often Overlooked Black History– Flagpole article quotes professor of English Barbara McCaskill and Franklin Professor of English Valerie Babb, director of the Institute for African American Studies Finding the lost Fort…
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