Areas of Exploration

Agricultural and environmental research is foundational in the land-grant university mission – education for everyone, research for scientifically based decisions and extension outreach to help ensure scientifically based agriculture in practiced in America.

Agricultural and environmental research has three parts:

  • basic, which provides the discoveries for solution to the unknown problems of tomorrow;
  • applied, which uses the solutions of past basic research to address the problems of today; and 
  • directed, which delivers immediate actions to improve our agricultural systems.

We need all three for a healthy agriculture industry and to sustain the environment. At the University of Georgia, we excel at all three, and deliver a $144.4 million boost to Georgia’s economy.


CAES research at UGA delivers a $144.4 million boost to Georgia's economy.
Discover Our Impact

Research News

UGA professor and peanut breeder William “Bill” D. Branch has developed more than 30 novel, licensed peanut varieties. (CAES) CAES News
Branch named National Academy of Inventors Fellow
William “Bill” D. Branch, a professor in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has been elected as Fellow for the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Branch is the 17th UGA faculty member to receive this honor, which recognizes inventors whose innovations have had a significant impact on society, economic development and quality of life.
Drought CAES News
What the warmest year on record means for agriculture in 2025
As the new year gets underway, let’s look back at the climate conditions of 2024 and look forward to what last year's trends may indicate for 2025. Data shows that 2024 was the warmest year on record since official global tracking began in 1880. Three main factors controlled the climate last year: the warming trend across the world caused by greenhouse warming of the planet, the El Niño that dominated the eastern Pacific Ocean in the first half of the year, and the unusual warming of the Atlantic Ocean.
sugar beet cyst nematodes CAES News
CAES scientists discover how cyst nematodes attack crops
People love the taste of sugar beets’ primary byproduct: white sugar. Soilborne cyst nematodes — parasitic, microscopic worms — enjoy the root vegetable, too, but as their sole food source. It’s an obstinate, expensive problem for farmers that researchers at the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are working to solve.