Tags: Earth

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Math department receives Regents' Teaching Excellence Award

The University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of mathematics has received the 2022 Regents’ Teaching Excellence Award for Department or Program from the University System of Georgia. The award showcases an outstanding department or program—selected from among all 26 institutions within the university system—that promotes, supports and recognizes excellence in teaching and service to students. The University…

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Waste management can reduce greenhouse gasses

Earth Day 2022 – Make it Count The cycle of producing, consuming and eliminating waste in a closed system (a.k.a. Earth) is the primary challenge of our time. Sustainable stewardship of the products and processes common to everyday life is increasingly coming the fore as we reach limits on waste management practices and recycling capacity, and witness the changing conditions these limits precipitate. Scientists, governments and private industry…

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New study shows resilience of early coastal communities in Georgia

Archaeologists have hypothesized that more than 4,500 years ago, communities on barrier islands along the southeastern coastlines of the North America were abruptly abandoned due to a sudden shift in climate. But new research from the University of Georgia Laboratory of Archaeology indicates that environmental change was happening both during the settlement of these island villages and—over centuries longer than previously…

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New study: Microbial metabolites in the marine carbon cycle

A new study led UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor in the department of marine sciences and member of the National Academy of Sciences Mary Ann Moran describes the current 'state of the art' of studying microbial metabolites, and sets out some new approaches for further investigation. The new paper was published last week in the journal Nature Microbiology: One-quarter of photosynthesis-derived carbon on Earth rapidly cycles through a set of…

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Chemistry student takes unlikely path to Ph.D.

Five years ago, Brianna Garcia was getting up at 3 a.m. to report to her job as a corrections officer at a women’s county jail in California. Today she’s several thousand miles away and getting up later while writing her dissertation in chemistry. The distance between the two experiences is not as wide as one might think, according to Garcia, who will graduate with a Ph.D. in May. “I don’t think anyone who has known my past would ever…

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National Academies Gulf of Mexico report

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine says that assessing the success of the nation’s largest ecological restoration investment effort will require continued improvements in data collection and synthesis and coordination across the Gulf of Mexico region. The April 2010 Deepwater Horizon platform explosion and oil spill seriously damaged Gulf of Mexico ecosystems from Texas to Florida…

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Noted and Quoted, March 2022

Electric vehicles, phosphorescent waters, the war in Ukraine, and how exercise changes your brain are just a few of the stories that featured comment and expertise from Franklin College faculty over the month of March. Read all about it: We teach our son to be empathetic. Are we just setting him up for heartbreak? Keith Campbell, professor of psychology, quoted in The Washington Post Honoring a pioneer in broadcast meteorology, June…

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Shepherd wins SEC Faculty Achievement Award

J. Marshall Shepherd, the Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, has been named winner of the 2022 SEC Faculty Achievement Award for the University of Georgia, the SEC announced on Wednesday. A leading international weather-climate expert, Shepherd is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering and American…

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Does studying abroad delay graduation?

Studying abroad in college can be a glamorous, once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity. But is it also a distraction that slows students from completing degrees and moving on with careers? According to a new study from the University System of Georgia, not at all. The study compiled semester-by-semester records from 221,981 students across 35 U.S. institutions. Of those students, more than 30,000 had studied abroad. The analysis found…

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UGA Skidaway Institute Hawaii research resumes

After a pandemic-induced delay of nearly two years, scientists at the University of Georgia Skidaway Institute of Oceanography have started their 4-year research project to study how dust in the atmosphere is deposited in the ocean and how that affects chemical and biological processes there. The research team of [department of marine sciences faculty] Clifton Buck, Daniel Ohnemus and Christopher Marsay had originally planned to begin…

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Kudos, February 2022

Students lead our roundup of Franklin College awards, accolades, and achievements announced during February – though not to be outdone by our outstanding alumni!  Congratulations all: Shannon Rodriguez, Ph.D candidate in linguistics, studies a dialect of English spoken by Latinos born in Georgia, a particular blend of Southern drawl. She recently presented her dissertation on the topic “Latino English in Georgia: a sociophonetic…

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Noted and Quoted, February 2022

A month with heavy traffic in current events means Franklin faculty were broadly visible in media around the world. Expert insights plus new research findings lead our news highlight for February – a sample: With $900K Falcons grant, Georgia Organics revamps food insecurity fight – associate professor of geography Jerry Shannon quoted by the AJC Quantum computing 2.0: How a UGA physicist builds on a century of knowledge to…

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Shepherd attends White House climate event

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy holds a first-of-its-kind roundtable with some of the nation’s leading scientists on Thursday, including UGA atmospheric scientist J.Marshall Shepherd, to discuss the urgent need to combat the climate crisis and to counter arguments for delaying climate action: The event, which has not previously been reported, will bring together a diverse group of 17 climate scientists, social…

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When pollen comes of age

New research from the University of Georgia has determined when pollen comes of age and begins expressing its own genome, a major life cycle transition in plants. Each grain of pollen is actually its own multicellular organism – with two to 40 cells, depending on the species. Pollen expresses its own genome and is genetically distinct from its parent plant. That means pollen grains from a single flower can have different traits and…

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Artemis project update

Scientists from around the world continue their work in Antarctica near the Thwaites Glacier. Marine sciences professor Patricia Yager and her team are keeping us updated with great images and details about their progress and ongoing challenges to the work. Unstable sea ice and a large iceberg broken off from the deteriorating Thwaites Glacier are blocking two research ships with dozens of scientists from examining how fast the crucial ice shelf…

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Kudos, January 2022

Wonderful awards and accolades across the Franklin College to begin 2022, though there can only be one headline to our January kudos: 41 years! Georgia Bulldogs win rematch vs. Alabama Crimson Tide for first college national championship since 1980 season – ESPN, Sports Illustrated, CNN, ABC News, U.S. News & World Report, UGA Today, GeorgiaDogs.com, ABH, Atlanta Business Chronicle Marshall…

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Kissinger, Yager elected as AAAS Fellows

Jessica Kissinger, Distinguished Research Professor of genetics, and Patricia Yager, professor of marine sciences, are among three UGA faculty named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In a tradition stretching back to 1874, these individuals are elected annually by the AAAS Council for their extraordinary achievements leading to the advancement of science. Fellows must have been AAAS members for at…

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Noted and Quoted, January 2022

A variety of articles and columns, quoting or authored by Franklin Faculty members at the turn of the new year. A recent sample of insights and expertise: Photos, other mementos discovered hundreds of miles away after tornadoes – John Knox, professor of geography, quoted by KMOX in St. Louis, via Audacy Gerald Ford vowed to whip inflation; it whipped him instead – column written by Stephen Mihm, associate professor of history,…

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'Moonshot' for botany

A new Earth BioGenome Project paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences highlights the progress of plant genomics and includes a roadmap for the enormous task of sequencing the genomes of plants worldwide. The Earth BioGenome Project is a federated initiative promoting sequencing the genomes of all multicellular species on our planet. The paper, co-authored by professor of plant biology James…

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Third round of Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grants awarded

How can nanotechnology and big data be used to improve diagnosis of infectious viruses like SARS-CoV-2? That’s one of the questions that will be explored through funding provided by a third round of Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grants. Eleven grants totaling $1.5 million were awarded in November 2021 to recipients of the third round of Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grants. Overall the awards went to faculty from 13 UGA departments,…

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UGA-led team exploring ocean productivity near Thwaites Glacier

Scientists from around the globe have embarked upon the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration(ITGC), an expedition to the Amundsen Sea Polynya in western Antarctica that includes a research team led by UGA marine sciences professor Patricia Yager: While an array of projects associated with the expedition are focused on sea level rise and the physical processes related to the melting, Yager is co-chief scientist and lead P.I. on the…

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New biking map eases the ride around Athens

Athens residents looking for a new way to pedal around the city will soon have a new way to plan their trip. An online mapping application created by UGA’s Community Mapping Lab will provide a fresh look at the most bike-friendly streets to get around the city. Created through a collaboration with local nonprofit BikeAthens, the map highlights the strengths of local biking infrastructure, such as multi-use paths and dedicated bike…

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Fall Commencement, 2021

The University of Georgia and the Franklin College welcome our newest alumni Dec. 17 as 1,888 undergraduates and 1,398 graduate students—a total of 3,286—have met requirements to walk in the university’s fall Commencement ceremonies: Both the undergraduate and graduate Commencement ceremonies will be held in Sanford Stadium. The undergraduate ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m., and the graduate ceremony will be held at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are…

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Noted and Quoted, November 2021

From the "Great Resignation" to cryptocurrency, La Nina, zoom fatigue, and fungal blooms, Franklin College faculty offered expertise, scholarship, and opinion in media platforms across the world. A sample of recent reporting and stories from the month of November and early December: Cameras off can lessen fatigue – Kristen Shockley, associate professor of psychology, quoted by Sales and Marketing Why it’s time for the term “minority” to…

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Kudos, November-December 2021

Franklin students, alumni, and faculty distinguish themselves and the University of Georgia, across campus and around the world with their efforts, awards, new books and successful businesses. A roundup of recent honors and accomplishments: David Richards, a doctoral candidate in the department of geology, received the Mark Dawkins Leadership Award, and Gabriel Smallwood, a senior history major from Savannah, were among six UGA students and four…
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