Tags: faculty

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Noted and Quoted, September 2023

From storms to smart phones to... what happened to the Southern accent? Research from Franklin College faculty and graduate students was widely reported during September. A sample of the stories and media pick from across the globe: Scientists are asked if humans have broken the Earth’s climate – Marshall Shepherd, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor od Geography, quoted by CleanTechnica, The Extinction Chronicles  Does…

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Professor studies endangered languages and their variations

Awareness about languages, the differences in how individuals speak, and how these create local identities may come as no great surprise to American Southerners. When speakers of certain linguistic varieties decline, though, their languages become endangered. Keith Langston’s scholarship addresses questions of linguistic structure and the relationship of language and identity, with a focus on the country of Croatia. “We always have this idea…

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Classic Georgia accent fading fast

A collaborative study between the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech has found the classic Southern accent is undergoing rapid change in Georgia. The instigator? Generation X. “We found that, here in Georgia, white English speakers’ accents have been shifting away from the traditional Southern pronunciation for the last few generations,” said Margaret Renwick, associate professor in UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of…

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Shepherd wins Environmental Achievement Award

University of Georgia professor J. Marshall Shepherd was recently named the recipient of the prestigious 2023 Environmental Achievement Award. This accolade is presented annually by the Environmental Law Institute to individuals or organizations that have made notable contributions to environmental protection, conservation and sustainability. “Dr. Shepherd’s outstanding career and commitment to understanding and communicating about climate…

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Sociology faculty, students, honored at ASA conference

Faculty and students in the department of sociology were recognized for career excellence and innovative research at the 118th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association: The Educative Power of Sociology in Philadelphia, PA in mid-August. William Alex Pridemore, professor and head of the department of sociology, received the 2023 Albert J. Reiss Distinguished Scholarship Award. Presented every other year by the…

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CRISPR enables plant biologists to engage grand challenges

New research from UGA plant scientists describe how CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology has a significant role to play in developing sustainable agriculture. The study and illustrations are featured on the cover of the August issue of the CRISPR Journal, which details how recent studies in the deployment of genome editing in trees are opening new avenues for sustainable forestry: The widespread success of CRISPR medicines in the clinic is…

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UGA faculty member Julie Ray "Beautiful" Scenic Designer

Professor and head of the department of theatre and films studies Julie Ray served as Scenic Designer for the recently-opened Beautiful: The Carole King Musical for Aurora Theatre. MFA candidates Jack Stoffel and Cody Russell served alongside her as Assistant Scenic Designers with Russell also designing props. Aurora Theatre holds a special place within UGA and the department, as one of its co-founders is alumnus Anthony Rodriguez…

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UGA faculty awarded Moore Foundation grant to investigate 'brain on a chip'

Imitating the astonishing energy efficiency phenomena of the human brain presents the next challenge in high-speed computing. Potential solutions might combine new quantum functionality that arise from nano-scale complex materials to replicate brain-like performance, or neuromorphic computing. Yohannes Abate, Susan Dasher and Charles Dasher MD Professor of Physics in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of physics and…

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Back to School Exhibition Opening Reception

To celebrate the start of the Fall 2023 semester, the Lamar Dodd School of Art welcomes friends and members of the community to the Back to School Exhibition Opening, an occasion to meet six new faculty members and an incoming cohort of graduate students in studio art, art education, and art history while enjoying four exhibitions on view in the Dodd Galleries. The exhibition opening, on Friday August 11 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Lamar…

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Five UGA faculty receive NSF CAREER awards for research

Five University of Georgia early-career faculty – three from Franklin College units – have been recognized in 2023 by the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER), which rewards faculty who have the potential to serve as leaders in the advancement of research and education:   UGA’s newest awardees include Akram Alishahi (Department of Mathematics), Amanda Frossard (Department of…

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Bram Tucker prioritizes people in work to understand cultures

Bram Tucker is an associate professor in the University of Georgia’s Department of Anthropology, where his Behavioral Ecology and Economic Decisions Labstudies how people make decisions under risks, vulnerabilities and changes. He works primarily with Mikea hunter-gatherers, Masikoro farmers and Vezo fishers in southwestern Madagascar, and previously served as president of the Society for Economic Anthropology with the American…

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Poetry in motion: Jed Rasula

Jed Rasula, a poet in the Department of English and 2023 winner of the Albert Christ-Janer Award for Creative Research, has produced a dozen scholarly books, three poetry collections and two omnibus anthologies, held an assortment of editorial positions, and earned multiple prestigious awards and honors. Our colleagues in UGA Research Communications profiled Rasula and his career-long advocacy for the arts – especially poetry:   While…

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In Memoriam: Lars G. Ljungdahl

University of Georgia Professor Emeritus Lars G. Ljungdahl passed away in July 2023 at the age of 96. A pioneer in the field of anaerobic metabolism, Ljungdahl made remarkable discoveries leading to a set of biochemical reactions now known as the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway, and about supramolecular cellulosome complexes that efficiently digest cellulose. Ljungdahl joined the faculty of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of…

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Aerial dance program taking flight at UGA 

Aerial dance, a mesmerizing fusion of dance and acrobatics, has found its place at the University of Georgia (UGA) with the development of an aerial dance program. Elizabeth Stich, a performer and instructor, joined the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences as an assistant professor of dance in 2022 to spearhead this new initiative.  "We are fortunate to have Elizabeth Stich's expertise on our faculty," said Jean Martin-Williams, associate…

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How individuals learn racial biases at the microlevel

While many White American residents believe that disregarding race would help minimize racism, or fear that acknowledging race could lead to the development of racial biases in children, multiple research studies suggest that racial socialization in White American families can reduce racial biases among children and provide a counter narrative to the systemic factors that reinforce racial biases. Individual-level racial biases operate across…

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The First Kings of Europe: professor explores ancient hierarchies in Field Museum exhibit

Attila Gyucha, assistant professor of archaeology at the University of Georgia’s Department of Anthropology, and colleagues organized an exhibition at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History titled, “The First Kings of Europe”. Gyucha is the co-curator and leading editor of two books that accompany the exhibition, which runs through Jan. 28, 2024. It can be accessed by discovery or an all-access pass, and showcases more than 700…

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UGA research links climate change to lazier jet stream, leading to weather extremes

Jet streams are relatively narrow bands of strong wind in the upper atmosphere, typically occurring around 30,000 feet in elevation, that blow from west to east. The normal westerly flow leads to week-to-week variations in the weather, modulated in the mid-latitudes by ridges and troughs in the jet stream. The influence of a high-pressure ridge, for example, produces clear, warmer weather conditions; a trough in the jet stream is typically…

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Five UGA undergraduates offered Boren Scholarships in 2023

The Boren Scholarships are designed to add important international and language components to students’ educations by giving them the opportunity to study overseas in world regions critical to U.S. interests. The national initiative is administered by the Institute of International Education on behalf of the National Security Education Program. Boren recipients commit to working in the federal government for at least one year after graduation in…

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Colorful foods improve athletes’ vision

Nutrition is an important part of any top athlete’s training program.And now, a new study by researchers from the University of Georgia proposes that supplementing the diet of athletes with colorful fruits and vegetables could improve their visual range. The paper, which was published in Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, examines how a group of plant compounds that build up in the retina, known as macular pigments, work to improve eye health…

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Mary Ruth Moore, 1936-2023

It is with great sadness that we share the news that beloved Professor Emerita of Photography Mary Ruth Moore has passed. Mary Ruth was, according to dear friend and former colleague Senior Lecturer Ben Reynolds, “unpretentiously and purely an artist.” She is remembered as a deeply enthusiastic beacon who centered encouragement in the studio and classroom to help students hone in on their strengths. During her retirement party, solo exhibition…

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Agrawal appointed director of School of Computing

The University of Georgia has appointed Gagan Agrawal, professor and associate dean for research and graduate studies in the School of Computer and Cyber Sciences at Augusta University, as the director of the UGA School of Computing. Agrawal was selected after a national search and will begin as director July 1. UGA elevated its longstanding department of computer science to a School of Computing in July 2022 in response to rising student…

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Paradigm Shift: Paintings by Margaret Morrison

The Lyndon House Arts Center presents the opening of Paradigm Shift: Paintings by Margaret Morrison, on June 8, 2023.  The exhibition, on view through September 1, 2023, includes a reception on Thursday, June 8 at 6 p.m.  Morrison, professor of art and chair of Painting and Drawing in the Lamar Dodd School of Art, received a 2022 Willson Center Faculty Research grant for her proposal, “Paradigm Shift - A Theory of…

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Urban Climate Justice

A new book of essays published by the UGA Press explores the links between climate justice and urban justice. Edited by Jennifer L. Rice, Joshua Long and Anthony Levenda, Urban Climate Justice – Theory, Praxis, Resistance was published May 1. Arguing that climate injustice is one of our most pressing urban problems, the volume explores the possibilities and challenges for more just urban futures under climate change. Whether…

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Psychology researchers changing the way we diagnose, treat schizophrenia

Our colleagues from UGA Research Communications take a deep dive across the breadth of department of psychology research on schizophrenia, changing perceptions of the disorder, new information that could bring clarity to how clinicians diagnose and treat it in the future. Great work by some of UGA's best: The popular understanding goes something like this: An individual, usually a young adult, begins having hallucinations—“hearing voices”…

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UGA students excavate Athens factory site

"Any understanding of the world must begin at home--or end there." --Siegfried Lenz, The Heritage, 1981. Faculty members at the University of Georgia have partnered with Sandy Creek Nature Center to create a field school to teach students in a hands-on environment.  “We wanted to establish a class that offers hands-on field experience to teach archaeological methods to students,” said Attila Gyucha, assistant professor in…
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