Tags: faculty

photo of woman in marsh with instruments
UGA professor recognized for coastal stewardship

Merryl Alber, professor in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of marine sciences, will receive the 2019 Margaret A. Davidson Award for Stewardship from the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF), a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the understanding and stewardship of estuarine and coastal ecosystems worldwide.  The Davidson Award recognizes an individual who demonstrates extraordinary leadership,…

photo of woman with underwater robotic glider
Underwater gliders improve hurricane forecasts

Assistant professor of marine sciences Catherine Edwards, with colleagues at the UGA Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and the University of South Florida has developed and deployed autonomous underwater gliders to improve the accuracy of hurricane forecast models: The 2018 hurricane season provided Edwards and her colleagues a fortuitous opportunity to demonstrate the value of glider data. Edwards deployed two gliders in…

photo of large group of people with statue outdoors
UGA hosts Radiocarbon and Archaeology 9th International Symposium

More than 100 researchers gathered in Athens in May when the University of Georgia hosted the Radiocarbon and Archaeology 9th International Symposium. The symposium, held at the Classic Center, showcased current archaeological research that employs radiocarbon dating, as well as recent developments in the radiocarbon technique. Along with a full range of academic sessions and lectures, the symposium also included several social events and field…

cubist painting collage with people and coffee cups
Poems, Philosophy & Coffee

New UGA professor and department head of philosophy Aaron Meskin arrived on campus this summer from Leeds University. Meskin co-authored a new book, OPPOSITE: POEMS, PHILOSOPHY & COFFEE, an experiment in philosophy and poetry he explained in a recent article: The British poet, Helen Mort, and I recently explored a novel way in which poetry and philosophy might be in dialogue. We put together a book, Opposite: Poems, Philosophy…

aerial photo of water puddles on glacier
June research news and expertise notes

Even during the quiet days of June, Franklin College faculty expertise never sleeps! Here are a few of the many articles written by or featuring the work of faculty members from across the college over the past month:   Meteorologists fear 5G network could take forecasting back to the 1980s, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and Geography Marshall Shepherd speaking on CBS This…

side by side photos of two men
Using swine models for neurological research

Researchers in the UGA Regenerative Bioscience Center have used an imaging method normally reserved for humans to analyze brain activity in live agricultural swine models, and they have discovered that pig brains are even better platforms than previously thought for the study of human neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s: By using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), the researchers…

headshot of woman
Roberts-Galbraith receives McKnight Scholar Award

University of Georgia faculty member Rachel Roberts-Galbraith has received the 2019 McKnight Scholar Award, which recognizes scientists in the early stages of their careers working in the field of neuroscience. An assistant professor of cellular biology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Roberts-Galbraith is the first UGA faculty member to receive the award.  “Dr. Roberts-Galbraith’s studies are a unique combination of…

graphic estimates on map outlines
Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth System Studies will investigate planet’s integrated system

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a national consortium of academic and nonprofit institutions, with leadership from the University of Maryland College Park (UMD) and North Carolina State University focused on improving our understanding of how the atmosphere, ocean, land, and biosphere of Earth interact with each other and with human activity as an integrated system. The Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth…

photo of a large group seated on sunny steps of a medieval palace.
Cortona at 50

Fifty years ago, Jack Kehoe, professor at the UGA Lamar Dodd School of Art, went on a two-month search to select a site for the school’s Study Abroad Program. After visiting more then two dozen different locales throughout Italy, he chose not one of the major centers of art studies, like Florence or Rome, but instead, the remarkable Tuscan town of Cortona, Italy. The first group to journey to Cortona consisted of 39 summer students. The…

still video of man speaking on television
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…

Photo of man indoors, arms folded
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…

photo of students auditorium classroom with laptops
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…

photo of four musicians seated on steps
Inaugural Chamber Music Athens festival

The Hugh Hodgson School of Music presents the inaugural Chamber Music Athens, a festival with a national scope that will bring together internationally-acclaimed guest artists, UGA faculty and students May 12-21 for 10 days of chamber music festivities and performances: Audiences can enjoy concerts in the Performing Arts Center as well as venues on and off the UGA campus, such as the Georgia Museum of Art, the State Botanical Garden of…

photo of three people with electronic equipment
Focus on the Faculty: Yohannes Abate

A prolific researcher at the frontier of new developments in quantum optics and 2-D materials, associate professor of physics Yohannes Abate is also a dedicated teacher who inspires students with his fascination for discovery: How does your research or scholarship inspire your teaching, and vice versa? I deliberately aim to integrate my research activities into meaningful theoretical and practical exercises that introduce…

two comic book covers, side by side, English and Spanish language
Anthropology comic series, workbook connect fun to critical thinking

The Center for Applied Isotope Studies provides crucial research and analytical expertise in radiocarbon dating on campus and around the world. The commitment of its faculty, staff and students also stretches into helping young people think about science by bringing anthropology to life: [Former CAIS research scientist Alice Hunt] wanted a way to hook undergraduate students while teaching them the skills professors are…

undersea photo of ocean vents
Noted and Quoted, April 2019

Mirror-like optical illusion in the deep Pacific Ocean and the world's first ever gene-edited lizards lead the many media mentions of research and scholarship by Franklin faculty during April. A sample: Why our youth should be celebrated not mocked – a climate case study, writes Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor Marshall Forbes in his regular column at Forbes   Church in the Maelstrom: A…

photo of woman next to podium on dais
Kudos, April 2019

Honors week, new grants and a Guggenheim Fellowship headline the accolades for Franklin faculty announced during the month of April: The 2019 CURO symposium’s first day also included a keynote address by Jennifer McDowell, professor and chair of the Behavioral and Brain Sciences Program in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, on the topic of “Minding Your Brain.” McDowell spoke to a packed house about the…

photo of woman, with blurred face in the foreground
Samantha Joye named Regents’ Professor

Samantha Joye, an internationally recognized University of Georgia marine scientist who studies the complex interplay between microbes and large-scale ecological processes in the oceans, has been named Regents’ Professor, effective July 1: Joye is Athletic Association Professor of Arts and Sciences in the department of marine sciences, part of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Regents’ Professorships are bestowed by the Board of Regents…

photo of woman outdoors
A leading voice for diversity: Kecia Thomas

Franklin College senior associate dean Kecia Thomas leads diversity efforts and initiatives throughout the university, supports faculty and graduate students success and helps recruit many of the most talented professors in the nation to UGA: To add to Thomas’s long list of responsibilities, diversity within the university is her primary area of study. Thomas often works with organizations within UGA and other institutions in which she conducts…

photo of woman with computer boards
New open-access data resource supports collaboration in global infectious disease research

An international team of researchers has launched the Clinical Epidemiology Database, an open-access online resource enabling investigators to maximize the utility and reach of their data and to make optimal use of information released by infectious disease researchers around the world: The development of ClinEpiDB has been led by the University of Pennsylvania’s David Roos, the E. Otis Kendall Professor of Biology in the …

studio headshot of man
Jutras named director of UGA school of Music

Athens, GA – Peter Jutras, Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy in the University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music, has been named director of the Hodgson School by Franklin College of Arts and Sciences dean Alan Dorsey. The appointment is effective July 1, 2019. “The Hodgson School of Music is one of the pillars of our vibrant arts programs, attracting some of the best young musicians in the world to study and train at UGA,” Dorsey said…

headshot of man, with color graphic block
History professor awarded Guggenheim Fellowship

Scott Nelson, Georgia Athletic Association Professor in Humanities in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded a prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship: Nelson, who specializes in 19th-century American social history in the department of history, has authored or co-authored five books, most recently “A Nation of Deadbeats: An Uncommon History of America’s Financial Disasters.” “The…

graphic with Young Frankenstein, images and dates
UGA Theatre 2018-2019 season finale: Young Frankenstein

“It’s pronounced ‘Fronkensteen.’ ” Is it? Find out beginning tonight as UGA Theatre presents its final production of the 2018-2019 season: Young Frankenstein by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan.  The production is directed by professor George Contini and co-directed by alumnus John Terry. Performances will take place April 5-6 and 10-13 at 8 p.m. and April 7 and 14 at 2:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Theatre at 255 Baldwin St.…

photo of two men in lab
NIH provides long-term funding for Escalante microbiology lab

The National Institutes of Health announced a Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) granted to UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor Jorge C. Escalante-Semerena of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of microbiology. MIRA grants are designed to increase the efficiency of NIH funding by providing investigators with greater stability and flexibility, thereby enhancing scientific productivity and the chances…

graphic with red and blue circuits over a fingerprint pattern
UGA Symphony Orchestra to premiere student composition

The UGA Symphony Orchestra will be performing an extraordinary concert tonight, Tuesday, April 2nd, at 7:30 p.m. in Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall. Directed by Mark Cedel, the orchestra will be performing pieces by Robert Schumann, George Walker, and Richard Strauss. Guest faculty artist Josh Bynum will be featured on Walker's "Concerto for Trombone and Strings." The UGASO will also be performing the…
Subscribe to faculty

Support Franklin College

We appreciate your financial support. Your gift is important to us and helps support critical opportunities for students and faculty alike, including lectures, travel support, and any number of educational events that augment the classroom experience. Click here to learn more about giving.

Every dollar given has a direct impact upon our students and faculty.