Faculty Expertise
C. Robin Buell, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar Chair in Crop Genomics at the University of Georgia, has been named the 2026 Southeastern Conference Professor of the Year, the conference’s highest faculty honor.
Buell becomes the fourth UGA faculty member to receive this award, which recognizes scholarly excellence and transformational impact in teaching, research and service at SEC institutions. UGA faculty have claimed three of the last five awards. An internationally recognized leader in plant genomics, bioinformatics and computational biology, Buell is a professor of crop and soil sciences in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Her work has been instrumental in the development of massive genomic datasets that are used by scientists worldwide to improve crop resilience and productivity.
Wayne Parrott, Distinguished Research Professor in the department of crop and soil sciences, director of the Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics and interim director of the Center for Applied Genetic Technologies in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, along with Olin Rhodes (UGA Athletic Association Professor of Applied Ecology in the Odum School of Ecology and director of the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory) have been named University Professor in recognition of their extraordinary impact on the University of Georgia.
In addition to teaching for almost 40 years in the department of crop and soil sciences, Parrott has played an instrumental role in shaping UGA’s study abroad programs. In the mid 1990s, he co-founded one of the university’s earliest study abroad programs, Agroecology of Tropical America. Parrott later served as chair of the risk management board for all UGA study abroad programs, helping the university establish core risk management protocols. He received the Study Abroad Director of the Year Award and Richard Reiff Award for Campus Internationalization in recognition of his enduring impact on UGA’s global initiatives.
University of Georgia researcher - and Crop and Soil Sciences faculty member - Qingguo “Jack” Huang's work focuses on PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), the human-made chemicals that are so difficult to break down in the environment that they’re often referred to as “forever chemicals.”
Student Life
The Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture annual retreat provided excellent opportunities for networking and sharing knowledge among the 35 faculty members and 45 graduate students who attended. The Integrative Precision Agriculture Club (IPAC) organized excellent student-focused sessions on innovation throughout the program including 3MT™ and poster competitions and a panel discussion on career pathways. The winners of the competitions with their advisor’s name in parenthesis are listed below.
Poster Competition
- Shekhar Thapa, Electrical and Computer Engineering (Rains)
- Amrinder Jahkar, Crop and Soil Sciences (Bastos) and Binita Ghimire, Crop and Soil Sciences (Lacerda)
3MT Competition
- Sara Maktabi, Crop and Soil Sciences (Vellidis)
- Polycarpe Mizero, Crop and Soil Sciences (Bastos and Baxter)
- Aleena Rayamajhi, Plant Pathology (Mahmud) and Thevathayarajh Thayananthan, Environmental, Civil, Agricultural and Environmental Engineering (Zhang)
Graduate students Kamana Pilania, Himani Ahlawat, and Priscilla Campos from the Basinger Lab participated in the M.S. poster session at the Southern Cover Crops Conference 2026 held in Gainesville, Florida February 24-26.
Kamana Pilania (poster title: Flying Seeds: Maybe a Solution for Delayed Cover Crop Planting) placed first and Himani Ahlawat (poster title: Evaluating Cover Crop Mediated Palmer Amaranth Suppression in Cotton-Corn Rotation System) placed second.
Congratulations to the Basinger Team!
Master’s student Matteo Listuzzi earned top honors at the 2026 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Agricultural Equipment Technology Conference held in Louisville, Kentucky. Listuzzi received First Place in the conference’s highly competitive Student Poster Session and Competition.
Listuzzi is pursuing his master’s degree in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences on UGA’s Tifton campus. Under the mentorship of Dr. Wesley Porter, his research examines advanced precision planting systems in major row crops, with a primary focus on corn and peanuts. His work aims to improve planting accuracy and efficiency using cutting‑edge agricultural technologies.
The award recognizes both the scientific merit and communication quality of his research presentation, highlighting the impact of UGA’s ongoing efforts in precision agriculture innovation.
Contact Us
Main Office: 706-542-2461
Fax: 706-542-0914
Miller Plant Sciences Building
120 Carlton Street
Athens GA 30602