Tags: Earth

From competitions and professional society inductions to the most prestigious fellowships and scholarships, our colleagues – and students – continued to shine brightly, lighting up Honors season at UGA and beyond. A roundup of just a few of the many awards and accolades: Bob Schmitz, UGA Foundation Professorship in Plant Sciences and Lars G. Ljungdahl Distinguished Investigator in the department of genetics, was honored with the 2024 Charles…

Franklin faculty expertise and research findings – from a new COVID test to the rise of hybrid species and the dangers of bounce houses – appeared in a variety of media around the world during April. A sample of the breath of subject matter and the reach of public scholarship, plus coverage of a theatre alumnus: Black-owned autonomous grocer goes where other stores aren’t – Jerry Shannon, associate professor of geography, quoted by…

The 2024 Generative AI Competition for UGA students took place this spring and the winners were announced this week. In the competition, UGA students and student teams were invited to use AI to create something meaningful to enrich the UGA community/experience.  Eight projects were submitted, ranging in topic from threatened species to schedules. Earlier this month, the top three projects were determined by a panel of faculty judges:…

Study Abroad can introduce life-changing experiences for students – whether visiting foreign countries for the first time or opening new connections to people, places, and potential careers. Franklin College units have historically offered robust Study Away opportunities – the Cortona program and the Classics Study in Rome were both initiated in the 1970s. Integrating travel and study opportunities with on-camous degree programs can be…

Three University of Georgia faculty members – two from the Franklin College – have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the organization announced this week, bringing the university to 45 total members of the exclusive group. Fellows are elected each year by the AAAS Council to recognize achievements that lead to scientific progress. This year, UGA’s new Fellows are Victor Thompson and Marguerite…

The Division of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, take a bow. University of Georgia juniors Elaine “Lainey” Gammon and Sara Logsdon are among 438 undergraduates across the nation to be recognized as Barry Goldwater Scholars in 2024, earning the highest undergraduate award of its type for the fields of mathematics, engineering and natural sciences. Congratulations to these amazing students – and the Franklin faculty who are teaching and…

Hannah Ericson, a doctoral candidate in Genetics, is the Grand Prize Winner at this year’s University of Georgia Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition for her presentation titled “Catalyzing Change: What Helps Department Heads Be Successful?” A Ph.D. candidate studying biology education in the Genetics department in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Hannah works with Dr. Tessa Andrews studying teaching evaluations at UGA: To promote…

INAS is accepting applications for the Ruth Pack scholarships through May 31. Preference is given to Native American students, applications are limited to INAS certificate students, Native American students and students working in Native American fields.  Courtesy of a generous gift to recruit and support Native American students at the university from UGA alumnus Chris Goeckel (BBA’84), the Institute of Native American Studies (INAS) will…

University of Georgia faculty member Bob Schmitz was honored with the 2024 Charles Albert Shull Award from the American Society of Plants Biologists (ASPB). The award, initiated in 1971 by the Society to honor Dr. Charles A. Shull, is a monetary award made annually for outstanding investigations in the field of plant biology by a member who is generally under forty-five years of age on January 1st of the year of presentation, or is fewer than…

Congratulations to the many Franklin College faculty members who were recognized this week at the 45th annual University of Georgia Research Awards. Our departments, programs and institutes were well-represented with a range of creative investigations across the full breadth of disciplines and professorial rank, including Early Career Scholar Award winners, all four from the Franklin College: Established by the UGA Research Foundation, these…

The American Association of Geographers (AAG) announced University of Georgia faculty member Marshall Shepherd as one of two 2024 Presidential Achievement Award winners. The AAG Presidential Achievement Award, established by the AAG Council to recognize individuals who have made long-standing and distinguished contributions to the discipline of geography, honors up to two recipients per year. Shepherd, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished…

The Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Multidisciplinary Seed Grant Program has funded two new tracks of collaborative research projects: Rapid Interdisciplinary Proposals (RIP) and Innovation in Interdisciplinary Instruction (I-Cubed). The seed grant program responds to the need for new paradigms that shape future research, life-long learning, public discourse, service, and dynamic entrepreneurship. $50,000 in seed funding from college…

The rapid expansion of technological advances in computing is increasingly being mirrored in the expansion of computing at UGA. With the new School of Computing, one of the most in-demand undergraduate majors, and multiple clusters of faculty hires around artificial intelligence, data science and cybersecurity, computing on campus is already well into its next era. Our colleagues in Research Communications unpack the story: Computer science isn’…

Georgia Magazine highlights the next launch of MOCI: Multi-view On-board Computational Imager, the second satellite planned for orbit from the university’s Small Satellite Research Laboratory. MOCI (pronounced mo-chee) will not only capture images but check and process those images, extracting data and deleting images that aren’t needed: The satellite also will use feature detection and matching software to process them and send data back to the…

Dean of the Franklin College Anna Stenport and Hairy Dawg invite YOU to help support our students and programs on Dawg Day of Giving 2024.   Give TODAY!

Gregory Robinson, the Foundation Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, leads research efforts that have made enormous impact in chemistry and discoveries in sustainable energy, from exploring metalloaromaticity to the first example of a boron-boron double bond in a molecule. A chemistry department faculty member since 1995, Robinson has received many of the most prestigious awards for scientific ac hievement, including the Southern Chemist Award…

Excellence in Teaching Awards, Meigs Professorships and our newest Regents' Entrepreneur lead the March kudos. Congratulations to our colleagues, alumni and students on these outstanding accomplishments:   The University System of Georgia Board of Regents approved Valentine Nzengung as Regents’ Entrepreneur. Nzengung, professor of environmental geochemistry in the department of geology and founder of MuniRem Environmental, LLC, is the third…

Our March survey of media mentions and appearances by Franklin College faculty begins with the local coverage of professor and head of the department of history Stephen Mihm's journey to the South Pacific on a mission to search the ocean depths for soldiers who disappeared in a fierce battle of World War II. Mihm chronicled the search in the March issue of Smithsonian, in an article which also highlights the work of Franklin alumnus Dr. Patrick…

University of Georgia professor Victor Thompson has been appointed the Executive Director of the Georgia Museum of Natural History (GMNH), effective August 1, 2024. Thompson is a Distinguished Research Professor in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of anthropology and the current Director of the Laboratory of Archaeology.  The home of more than a dozen distinct collections, facilitating research for professionals,…

The newest round of 10 Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grant Program awards chosen from 70 proposals reflect a commitment of $1 million from UGA President Jere W. Morehead. In a follow-up to the success of UGA research teams to pursue work initiated through the seed grant program, the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences announced additional support for the Presidential Seed Grant projects. Franklin College Dean Anna Stenport announced…

The Simons Foundation has awarded $8.4 million to support collaborative research in coastal tidal marshes, via a cluster of seven linked project awards through its Life Sciences division. The project, “Ecosystem on the Edge: How Coastal Marsh Plants and Microbes Thrive in an Oscillating Environment,” is led by Zoe Cardon at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in collaboration with Jennifer Bowen (Northeastern University), Inke Forbrich (…

In recognition of his success in developing the tools and expertise to counteract some of the most environmentally toxic byproducts of military materiel, the University System of Georgia Board of Regents approved Valentine Nzengung as Regents’ Entrepreneur at its Feb. 13 meeting. Nzengung is the third UGA faculty member to receive this honor. The distinction recognizes innovative faculty members who have demonstrated success in translating…

Faculty from the department of geography, School of Computing, and the College of Engineering are collaborating on a group of DoD-funded projects focused on optimizing geospatial artificial intelligence. The capability to deploy GeoAI for real-time usage will enable first-responders to react rapidly to changes in terrain around the world resulting from climate change and natural disasters. The campus-wide research effort, which includes faculty…

2014 Nobel laureate in Chemistry Eric Betzig will visit the University of Georgia on March 25, 2024. Betzig, Professor of Molecular and Cell biology and Eugene D. Commins Presidential Chair in Experimental Physics at the University of California, Berkeley, will give two public presentations hosted by departments in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Betzig, also a Senior Fellow at the Janelia Research Campus, and an Investigator of the…

A new study published February 28, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Matthew D. Howland of Wichita State University and Victor D. Thompson of the University of Georgia reports that thousands of historic and archaeological sites in Georgia are at risk from tropical storm surges, a number that will increase with climate change. Due to rising sea level and increasingly severe tropical storms, human-caused climate change poses a…