News Stories - Page 49

Four graduates of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) are among the University of Georgia Alumni Association's 40 Under 40 Class of 2022. Among the young alumni finding creative solutions to world problems, leading businesses and serving their communities are four honorees from CAES: a lawyer, a veterinarian, an industry representative and a medical resident.

From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts and health officials have witnessed a wide variety of symptoms — one patient may have a severe cough, while another may have no symptoms at all. A new study by University of Georgia virologist Malak Esseili points to the reasons that some patients have digestive issues with COVID-19 and others do not.

Joro spiders are polarizing figures. If you live in Georgia, you’ve likely seen the massive-but-harmless spiders hanging between power lines or from the eaves of your house, their golden webs glistening in the sunlight. While some find them a fascinating effect of globalization, others don’t care how they got here. They just want them gone.

Georgia 4-H has chosen 62 high-school students for the Georgia 4-H Ambassador Program to represent the organization in the program areas of Healthy Living, STEM, Tech, Wildlife and Pollinators around the state. Representing 42 Georgia counties, ambassadors were selected through a competitive application process and attended a comprehensive training weekend at Rock Eagle 4-H Center in June.

Since launching Silo Springs Ranch in 2020, Audrey Gravelle and her husband have jumped many hurdles associated with starting a farm. They’ve found a meat processor, formed a limited liability company and marketed the finished product — in this case, grass-fed and finished cattle that is processed locally and sold directly to customers in Georgia. Starting a farm or agribusiness is more complicated than often realized — and comes with plenty of risk.

Francisco Diez-Gonzalez, director of the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety, is the 2022 recipient of the Harry Haverland Citation Award from the International Association for Food Protection. Diez was nominated for the award, which is given “to an individual for years of devotion to the ideals and objectives of IAFP,” by 2003 Harry Haverland award recipient and CFS emeritus faculty member Larry Beuchat.

When you take a probiotic supplement, you are likely under the assumption that all those billions of beneficial bacteria will happily establish themselves in your digestive tract, providing a range of health benefits. But despite extensive study, it is not clear how well probiotics can survive the gastrointestinal tract.

The Southern Integrated Pest Management Center has inducted University of Georgia Cooperative Extension fruit pathologist Phil Brannen into the Integrated Pest Management Hall of Fame for his significant contributions to commercial fruit growers throughout the Southern U.S. over the past 30 years.

How much is a salt marsh worth? That’s one of the questions the University of Georgia and The Nature Conservancy will try to answer as they launch a pilot study funded by Georgia Sea Grant to determine the socioeconomic value of salt marsh ecosystems in Georgia.