News Stories - Page 39

Dependents of military service members are invited to apply to attend two week-long camping experiences coordinated by the University of Georgia’s 4-H program at no cost. Held at Rock Eagle 4-H Center in June, these summits are open to 13- to 18-year-old dependents of military members currently serving in active, guard and reserve components.

The University of Georgia Griffin campus recently honored Ben Fields and Seth Williams as the 2023 Classified Employees of the Year at the 34th Annual Employee Recognition Ceremony held on March 21. The award is presented to classified personnel who have made the most significant impact on UGA-Griffin programs.

Farmers around the world grow peanuts because the plant adapts to poor soils and produces a crop even as droughts become more common. Smallholder farmers around the world grow the crop on modest plots and cook the nuts into traditional dishes or sell the crop for money to send their kids to school. On April 12, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the University of Georgia announced a five-year extension of their collaborative research and outreach work in peanut innovation.

Kevin Vogel, an assistant professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of Georgia, has received a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award from the National Science Foundation. Supported by the more than $1 million CAREER grant, Vogel and his team will spend the next five years building upon the still-limited body of research regarding the symbiotic relationship between kissing bugs and a highly specified bacterium that resides in their gut.

Georgia 4-H dedicated the Thomas F. Rodgers Administration Building at Rock Eagle 4-H Center to honor former Georgia 4-H state leader Tom Rodgers for his years of service to 4-H and University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. During his tenure as Georgia 4-H leader, Rodgers championed the renovation of the Rock Eagle 4-H Center, raising more than $2 million to secure Rock Eagle’s status as a centerpiece of Georgia 4-H.

Three University of Georgia professors from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences have been appointed to serve on Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA). Chosen by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) secretariats and external referees, Faith Critzer, Abhinav Mishra and Todd Callaway will serve among a roster of experts from 33 countries.

Plantfi, a novel system to track plant moisture, sunlight and overall houseplant health, is the winner of University of Georgia’s 2023 FABricate Entrepreneurial Initiative competition. Alex Breazu, the UGA mechanical engineering student who leads Plantfi, got the idea while on his own “plant parent” journey, during which he overwatered and killed his fair share of houseplants.

The University of Georgia has honored four faculty members with its highest accolade for teaching, the Josiah Meigs Distinguished Professorship. The Meigs Professorship underscores the university’s commitment to excellence in teaching, the value placed on student learning experiences and the central role instruction plays in the university’s mission.

An innovator in agribusiness and an exemplary public servant in Extension will be inducted into the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame on April 29 during the 67th University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Alumni Association Awards in Athens.