When the University of Georgia Bulldogs step between the hedges at Sanford Stadium, the grass on Dooley Field needs to look perfect. More importantly, it needs to help safeguard the health of athletes who compete on it. Gerald Henry plays a big role in the latter. The UGA Athletic Association’s endowed professor in environmental turfgrass leads a research team committed to creating sports fields that look good and perform well to limit the occurrence of injuries.

Jim Evans rises before the sun for his commute to work, not even passing a stoplight on his drive to The Cliffs at Keowee Falls, a golf community in rural South Carolina. He starts each day doing the thing he loves most — mowing the greens.

From her cozy office at the J. Phil Campbell Research and Education Center in Watkinsville, Georgia, Pam Knox has a clear view of the sky, and that is the way she likes it. In fact, she’s built a career on it. “One of the nicest things about studying meteorology is I can look outside the window and understand what's going on in the atmosphere, what's causing the kinds of clouds we get, and where the rain is happening and where it's not,” said Knox, director of the University of Georgia Weather Network.

For the third consecutive year, the University of Georgia ranked No. 1 among U.S. universities for number of commercial products brought to market by industry partners based on university research, according to an annual survey conducted by AUTM. These products span a range of industries including poultry vaccines, biodegradable plastics, virtual reality tools for disaster preparedness, biomedical research tools and new plant varieties of turfgrass, blueberries, wheats — and peanuts, developed by newly elected National Academy of Inventors Fellow Bill Branch — to name a few.

From peach orchards to porch conversations, weather is always part of the story in the South — and University of Georgia climatologist Pam Knox brings clarity, science and common sense to every weather event. Whether you’re wondering why the seasons feel out of sync, how climate change plays out in your backyard, or what to expect before the next storm, Knox offers answers grounded in decades of research and a deep connection to the land. It’s your forecast with context.

As we move into the 2025 hurricane season, it is more evident than ever that agriculture is dependent on nature. Even seemingly minor temperature variations have a significant impact on the precise mechanics of plants, animals and insects. As average temperatures have warmed by 3 degrees over the past century, the question remains — how will we adapt our agricultural practices to ensure that all people continue to have access to food, fiber and fuel now and in the future?