Browse Crop and Soil Sciences Stories

721 results found for Crop and Soil Sciences
2024 honorees are William D. Branch, Georgia Seed Development Professor in Peanut Breeding and Genetics in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, and Elzie Argene Claxton, an agriculture educator and 1980 CAES agricultural education graduate    who went on to earn a master’s degree in 1982 and education specialist degree in 1984 from UGA’s College of Education. CAES News
2024 Hall of Fame Inductees
An innovator in peanut breeding whose research revitalized an industry and an ardent champion of agricultural education were inducted into the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame at the 68th University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Alumni Association Awards in Athens. The 2024 honorees are William D. Branch, Georgia Seed Development Professor in Peanut Breeding and Genetics in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, and Elzie Argene Claxton, an agriculture educator and 1980 CAES agricultural education graduate.
UGA wheat breeder and geneticist Mohamed Mergoum smells one of several test brews created by Creature Comforts on its annual Get Comfortable collaboration using a variety of wheat Mergoum developed at CAES. CAES News
Blending science and philanthropy
Wheat breeders spend years meticulously crossing varieties to coax the best traits out of each species, carefully propagating plant varieties that are healthier, heartier and better suited for the environments where they are grown. Brewmasters are equally painstaking when choosing the components that will give their beers a specific flavor profile. These two exacting professions came together this spring when Athens-based Creature Comforts Brewing Co. reached out to the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences to find a sustainable wheat variety they could use to make a good beer for a great cause.
A field of corn at sunset. CAES News
Protecting Farms And Wildlife
Stanley Culpepper has dedicated the length of his career to supporting farmers in their mission to feed and clothe the world. For the past 25 years, Culpepper has been a weed science specialist for University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and a College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences faculty member. Recently his job has become increasingly complex as mounting challenges around the availability of pesticides — primarily herbicides — have taken center stage in agricultural production.
The Research Awards Program is sponsored by the University of Georgia Research Foundation (UGARF). Awards are given annually to honor outstanding faculty, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, and to recognize excellence in UGA research, scholarly creativity, technology commercialization and entrepreneurship. Award winners are selected by accomplished faculty peers who give their time and energy to help honor well-deserving researchers at UGA. CAES News
2024 Research Awards
As the spring semester starts winding down, the University of Georgia’s annual Honors Week marks a time to celebrate exceptional performance in the classroom, in the service arena and in research, as faculty and graduate students are recognized for their contributions to scientific discovery. Celebrating its 45th year, UGA’s Research Awards banquet and ceremony, set for April 4, will pay tribute to those who have made groundbreaking strides in their respective fields through research, innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.
Five UGA professors were named NAI Senior Members, giving the university 16 in its history. Pictured (clockwise from left) are Elizabeth Brisbois, David Crich, Jack Huang, Ralph Tripp, and Paul Raymer. CAES News
National Academy of Inventors
The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) has selected five University of Georgia researchers as 2024 NAI Senior Members, the largest single induction for the university in its history. UGA now has 16 Senior Members overall. NAI Senior Members recognize faculty, scientists, and administrators for their ability to innovate and commercialize new technologies. UGA’s 2024 inductees are Elizabeth Brisbois, David Crich, Qingguo “Jack” Huang, Paul Raymer, and Ralph Tripp.
Exterior of the Administration Building front entrance on a blue sky spring day. CAES News
Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grants
Ten university-wide projects devoted to advancing interdisciplinary research across multiple application areas have been awarded Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grants as part of the 2023 cohort. The Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grant Program was launched in 2017 and offered again in 2019 and 2021 through a partnership between the offices of Research and Public Service and Outreach. These 10 awards were chosen from 70 proposals and reflect a commitment of $1 million from UGA President Jere W. Morehead.
Building rendering provided by USDA-ARS. CAES News
UGA-Tifton Groundbreaking
The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service have broken ground on a new state-of-the-art research facility housing the Southeast Watershed Research Laboratory and the Crop Genetics and Breeding Research Unit. the UGA Tifton campus, the research facility will include a new, 31,000-square-foot building housing university and ARS employees working on climate-smart agricultural research.
GRA Eminent Scholar Chair in Crop Genomics Robin Buell working with plant specimens in her Center for Applied Genetic Technologies laboratory. CAES News
Bread Wheat Genomics
University of Georgia plant genomics expert Robin Buell is part of an international team seeking to mine an untapped genetic resource for wheat improvement by sequencing the genomes of ancient varieties representing the worldwide diversity of bread wheat. The two-year project— called the Wheat Diversity Project — is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and will bring Buell together with researchers from the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) and collaborators in France to sequence 12 landrace genomes.
Nathan Tesfayi with one of the communications antennas used by the small satellite lab on the roof of the Geography Geology building. (Photo by Peter Frey/UGA) CAES News
Point to Pixel
Nathan Tesfayi’s story is about resilience and big ambitions. Born in State College, Pennsylvania, to Ethiopian parents, his life journey has taken him from living in Ethiopia to studies at the University of Georgia, research with NASA and more. Tesfayi’s interest in the environment was sparked during his AP environmental sciences class at Shiloh High School in Gwinnett County.
Associate Professor Ali Missaoui, one of several University of Georgia faculty associated with the Center for Bioenergy Innovation (CBI) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, breeds switchgrass as a potential feedstock for biofuels at UGA’s Iron Horse Farm in Watkinsville. The switchgrass program is just one of the multiple UGA research projects intended to help the transportation industry move toward a more sustainable future. (Photo by Lauren Corcino) CAES News
Growing Gas
As the world grapples with how to reduce its carbon footprint, it’s clear there’s no silver bullet solution for climate change. It will take a multifaceted approach to scale back fossil fuel usage and find more sustainable alternatives. Several UGA researchers are working on promising pathways like bioenergy and bioproducts, forms of renewable energy and materials that could curb carbon emissions.