Tags: Human Nature

photo of garbage on a conveyor
Leaning into the Plastics Problem

Once considered the key to all manner of convenience, practicality and profit, plastics turn out to be one of most dangerous and long-lasting pollutants to the natural environment. Georgia Magazine takes a look at how UGA faculty researchers are working to approach the problem from many angles, including the development of new materials with industry partners: Jason Locklin, an associate professor in UGA’s chemistry department, had a related…

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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…

photo of jellyfish half in water
Joye featured in Planet Earth: Blue Planet II

  Georgia Athletic Association Professor of Arts and Sciences Samantha Joye is featured in the new BBC documentary series, Planet Earth: Blue Planet II: Presented by Sir David Attenborough and scored by Academy Award-winner Hans Zimmer, Planet Earth: Blue Planet II takes viewers on a revelatory and magical journey into the mesmerizing world of our oceans — by turn tempestuous and serene, exquisitely beautiful and bleakly…

photo man speaking at lecture
Kudos, January 2018

Congratulations on the many recent honors and accomplishments of faculty, students and alumni of the Franklin College and our colleagues around the university: The University of Georgia observed its anniversary as the birthplace of public higher education in America during the week of Jan. 22-26, and the UGA Alumni Association celebrated the occasion by hosting a weeklong series of events, including the 16th annual Founders Day Lecture Jan. 22…

brain graphic, with photo of two men
Study offers new insight into brain architecture and function

Great collaboration from computer science and engineering faculty: The researchers in UGA’s College of Engineering and the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences’ department of computer science say their study is the first to identify specific areas they call “three hinges.” They believe these junctions of three ridges along the brain’s surface play an important role in how the brain forms as well as how it works. “The traditional way of…

photo of bearded capuchin monkey with stone tool
New primate behavior study: perceiving kinetic energy

“Our study raises the possibility that perceptual processes differ between humans and other primates in ways consequential for flaking stones,” Mangalam said. The full study is available at http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/14/1/20170587 Image: A wild bearded capuchin monkey is striking an intact piaçava nut with a quartzite stone hammer (Credit: Dorothy M. Fragaszy). 

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New microbiome analysis tool puts Big data to work

A new computational tool developed by UGA statistics researchers shows promise for further understanding and identifying the complicated makeup of the microbiome: Microbes, found everywhere—in our environment, on our skin and in human bodies and consisting of bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoans and viruses—form microbiomes that have both good and harmful implications for human health. With the creation of this new big data tool, researchers…

illustration graphic of bulldog in football uniform
UGA plays for the National Championship

When last we watched our inimitable heroes play for all the marbles, it was a January evening long ago but a steady memory and stirring inspiration in all the time since. Congratulations to the Georgia Bulldog football players, coaches, staff, band, cheerleaders, alumni and supporters around the globe and best of luck tonight. May your passes be straight, your runs swift and may your number be ONE when it's all said and done. #GoDawgs Image…

photo of students walking campus
Welcome back students!

The hills streets, buildings and buses are alive with the sound of classes beginning today. Student learning and success are always the priority at UGA, and the measurements of that precedence have never been stronger: In a campus-wide effort led by Academic Affairs and Student Affairs, the university has made fostering student success — both during their time on campus and after graduation — a key priority. Last year UGA became the nation’…

red rose photo
Happy New Year 2018

By any other word would smell as sweet; From the Bard's pen to our eyes. Go Dawgs. Image: via wikimedia commons. Quote: Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene II

collage of research photos and building
UGA surges in NSF research rankings

Terrific news about the overall impact of the research enterprise on campus: The University of Georgia climbed seven spots to No. 54 among all U.S. universities, colleges and research institutions in the latest National Science Foundation Higher Education Research and Development rankings. "This is dramatic progress," said Vice President for Research David Lee. "Institutions normally rise or fall in these rankings a spot or two at a time." In…

woman in a lab
Amazing Student: Brittany Jenkins

Winner of a 2017 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study, doctoral student Brittany Jenkins is committed to a career in medical research: My research on the genetics of breast cancer health disparities has allowed me to travel many places to further my training. I am currently located in Detroit, Michigan, where I am continuing my dissertation work at Henry Ford Health System under my adviser, Dr. Melissa…

satellite photo of hurricane
Researchers investigate personal hurricane evacuation decisions

An important question with relevance throughout our region is the focus of a new research collaboration: Why do some people living in the path of a major hurricane decide to evacuate while others stay put? Prashant Doshi, a professor of computer science, and professor of psychology Adam Goodie are gathering information about residents in areas hit by hurricanes Irma and Harvey to learn more about how people make decisions in risky…

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…

fresco painting detail
Kudos, November 2017

Graduate student papers, TedX, AAAS and new offices for our advising colleagues lead the most recent round up of kudos and congratulations: UGA sociology graduate students Tara Sutton, Brittany Martin, and Eric Klopack accepted the ‪@ASCRM41 Division on Women & Crime graduate student paper award at the 73rd annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology November 15-18 in Philadelphia, PA Former UGA faculty member and Franklin College…

man with spiky plants
Three UGA Plant Center faculty named AAAS Fellows

Two Franklin College faculty members are among three UGA professors named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science: [The] three faculty members are among 396 new AAAS Fellows who will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue-representing science and engineering, respectively-rosette pin on Feb. 17 at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2018 AAAS Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas. "Selection as an AAAS…

woman at smart board, photo
Interdisciplinary classroom: Go ask ALICE

Created by Gutierrez, professor of ­mathematics, and his students as a part of a National Science Foundation grant, ALICE is 21 years in the making and originally began as a program called Literatronica as part of an adaptive learning grant.  In discovering how and why UGA continues its ascent among colleges and universities, the answers keep tumbling out of creative faculty, engaged students and novel uses of technology within the…

honey been taking pollen from asparagus plant
How sex chromosomes diverged within a species

New research from an international team of breeders, genome scientists, and plant biologists at UGA sheds light on longstanding questions about the origin and early evolution of sex chromosomes, and at the same time serves as a foundation for asparagus breeding efforts: While most flowering plants are hermaphrodites, garden asparagus plants are typically either male (XY) or female (XX), although YY "supermales" can be produced in the…

photo of woman outside
Focus on Faculty: Paola De Santo

And, I also adore teaching elementary Italian language courses. The enthusiasm beginning students have for Italy and its language is reinvigorating, as is the exponential growth in language competency that is characteristic of this level.  A Willson Center Faculty Fellow and winner of the Virginia Mary Macagnoni Prize for Innovative Research, De Santo is an Italian studies scholar who truly personifies the liberal arts learning environment…

climate map shaded red
Courage on Climate Change

The Office of Sustainability hosts a discussion today with former U.S. congressman Bob Inglis (R-SC), "Finding the Courage to Come Together on Climate Change": Mr. Inglis is a six term congressman from South Carolina who is advocating a free market approach to begin dealing with the problems associated with the burning of fossil fuels. He is currently Executive Director of republicEn.org, a growing grassroots community of over 3,750…

photo of empty swing
Childhood stress-related resistance to vaccines

The effects of stress on contemporary life continue to come into focus. Added contributions will come from UGA researchers trying to understand why stress experienced during childhood could make vaccines less effective for some people: The researchers will study immune responses based on age, and whether or not stressful life experiences like physical or mental abuse, poverty, or adversity such as chaos in the home or neglect, can increase…

photo of actors in stage
Noted and Quoted, October 2017

Franklin faculty, students and alumni continue to appear in a variety of media around the world. A sampling of October news about and by our colleagues: Study provides first estimate of total U.S. population with felony convictions – research by associate professor of sociology Sarah Shannon at Phys.org “Something tropical” in the Gulf of Mexico this weekend? Hurricane season is not over, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor…

black and white still with actors
Filmmaker Ponsoldt visits Cine

The Last Picture Show, based on the 1966 novel by Larry McMurtry, starred Timothy Bottoms, Cybill Shepherd, Jeff Bridges, Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn and Ben Johnson. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards including best picture and best director, with Johnson and Leachman winning best supporting actor and best supporting actress. Ponsoldt's The Spectacular Now stars our very own Athens, GA as a setting as well as former UGA…

parade photo with band and majorette
Home(coming) is Where the Arch is

The Homecoming parade kicks off Friday at 6 p.m. and winds through downtown Athens. Led by the Redcoat Band, the parade will include floats, displays, spirit squads and appearances by UGA athletes and university and Athens dignitaries. Congratulations to the UGA seniors, and especially the five Franklin majors, on the ten-member 2017 Homecoming Court. Good luck everyone and welcome back to the many alumni on campus today and this weekend.…

photo of Griffin campus
Gift to bring café to Griffin campus

A historic structure at the heart of the University of Georgia Griffin campus will undergo a $1 million renovation thanks to a gift from the Dundee Community Association: The nearly 100-year-old facility, which once housed mules that pulled plows and other farm equipment, will be repurposed into a café that will connect students and the surrounding community with the history of Griffin and Spalding County. The 3,900-square-foot Dundee Café at…
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