Exterior of the Administration Building front entrance on a blue sky spring day. CAES News
Newest round of Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grants awarded
Ten university-wide projects devoted to advancing interdisciplinary research across multiple application areas have been awarded Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grants as part of the 2023 cohort. The Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grant Program was launched in 2017 and offered again in 2019 and 2021 through a partnership between the offices of Research and Public Service and Outreach. These 10 awards were chosen from 70 proposals and reflect a commitment of $1 million from UGA President Jere W. Morehead.
Building rendering provided by USDA-ARS. CAES News
CAES and USDA break ground on new agriculture research facility at UGA-Tifton
The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service have broken ground on a new state-of-the-art research facility housing the Southeast Watershed Research Laboratory and the Crop Genetics and Breeding Research Unit. the UGA Tifton campus, the research facility will include a new, 31,000-square-foot building housing university and ARS employees working on climate-smart agricultural research.
GRA Eminent Scholar Chair in Crop Genomics Robin Buell working with plant specimens in her Center for Applied Genetic Technologies laboratory. CAES News
CAES researcher explores ancient wheat genomes to improve diversity in bread wheat
University of Georgia plant genomics expert Robin Buell is part of an international team seeking to mine an untapped genetic resource for wheat improvement by sequencing the genomes of ancient varieties representing the worldwide diversity of bread wheat. The two-year project— called the Wheat Diversity Project — is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and will bring Buell together with researchers from the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) and collaborators in France to sequence 12 landrace genomes.
Nathan Tesfayi with one of the communications antennas used by the small satellite lab on the roof of the Geography Geology building. (Photo by Peter Frey/UGA) CAES News
From point to pixel: New paths in a changing world
Nathan Tesfayi’s story is about resilience and big ambitions. Born in State College, Pennsylvania, to Ethiopian parents, his life journey has taken him from living in Ethiopia to studies at the University of Georgia, research with NASA and more. Tesfayi’s interest in the environment was sparked during his AP environmental sciences class at Shiloh High School in Gwinnett County.
Associate Professor Ali Missaoui, one of several University of Georgia faculty associated with the Center for Bioenergy Innovation (CBI) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, breeds switchgrass as a potential feedstock for biofuels at UGA’s Iron Horse Farm in Watkinsville. The switchgrass program is just one of the multiple UGA research projects intended to help the transportation industry move toward a more sustainable future. (Photo by Lauren Corcino) CAES News
Growing our gas: UGA moving biofuels closer to market
As the world grapples with how to reduce its carbon footprint, it’s clear there’s no silver bullet solution for climate change. It will take a multifaceted approach to scale back fossil fuel usage and find more sustainable alternatives. Several UGA researchers are working on promising pathways like bioenergy and bioproducts, forms of renewable energy and materials that could curb carbon emissions.
A Madagascan woman winnows peanuts. The U.S. Agency for International Development has awarded the University of Georgia $2.5 million to work with Kansas State University and scientists in Madagascar to improve food security and resilience to climate change through a rotation of peanuts, sorghum and millet. UGA's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences already is home to the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Peanut, a 10-year, $29 million program to improve farmers' and consumers' lives through peanuts. Photo by Steve Evans though Creative Commons. CAES News
Peanut Innovation Lab at UGA receives $2.5M grant to help farmers in Madagascar
Madagascar is particularly vulnerable to climate change. To help Madagascan farmers adapt, the U.S. Agency for International Development has awarded the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Peanut at University of Georgia an additional $2.5 million to work in partnership with the Global Collaboration on Sorghum and Millet at Kansas State University on a resilient rotation of peanut, sorghum and millet that will improve soil conditions, make farms more productive, feed people and protect the natural environment.