Environmental Sciences and Sustainable Agriculture

Sustainable agriculture is generally thought of as agricultural production systems that address three areas:

  • being profitable for the farmer
  • being environmentally friendly
  • providing a good quality of life for the farmer, farmworker, and the community.

Although there are arguments about what does and does not constitute sustainable agriculture, the core issue is providing food, fiber, and possibly energy for a growing population without destroying the ecosystems on which we all depend.

This requires looking at agricultural production in new ways and exploring alternatives that will work with ecological cycles and reduce dependence on non-renewable resources. It also requires considering how agriculture impacts the economic and social fabric of our communities—both rural and urban, local and global.

The department of Crop and Soil Sciences offers a graduate-level Sustainable Agriculture area of emphasis for students interested in pursuing this work.

Research areas include:

  • Agricultural Anthropology
  • Biomicrometeorology
  • Pedology
  • Remediation of Organic Pollutants
  • Soil Chemistry
  • Soil Fertility/Waste Management
  • Soil Microbiology
  • Soil Physics
  • Sustainable Agriculture
  • Water Conservation/Management 

For more information about Environmental Sciences and Sustainable Agriculture research, please contact the faculty member(s) listed in the table below.

Agricultural Anthropology Jennifer Jo Thompson jjthomp@uga.edu
Agricultural Anthropology Carrie Furman cfurman@uga.edu
Biomicrometeorology Monique Leclerc leclerc@uga.edu
Pedology Matt Levi matthew.levi@uga.edu
Remediation of Organic Pollutants Qingguo (Jack) Huang qhuang@uga.edu
Soil Chemistry Aaron Thompson aaront@uga.edu
Soil Fertility/Waste Management Miguel Cabrera mcabrera@uga.edu
Soil Fertility/Waste Management Glen Harris gharris@uga.edu
Soil Fertility/Waste Management Henry Sintim hsintim@uga.edu
Soil Microbiology Mussie Habteselassie mussieh@uga.edu
Soil Physics Nandita Gaur nandita.gaur@uga.edu
Sustainable Agriculture Dorcas Franklin dfrankln@uga.edu
Sustainable Agriculture Taylor Randell Singleton trandell@uga.edu
Sustainable Agriculture Jodi Johnson Maynard jlmaynard@uga.edu
Sustainable Agriculture Jennifer Jo Thompson jjthomp@uga.edu
Water Conservation/Management  Gary Hawkins ghawkins@uga.edu