News from the Chronicles - December 2012


NSF renews coastal research grant

The UGA Marine Institute on Sapelo Island was founded in 1953 and has been at the center of ecological research on salt-marsh coastal ecoystems ever since. That work, lead by our department of marine sciences, continues apace with the renewal of an important NSF grant: A consortium of universities headed by the University of Georgia will continue ecological field research on the marshes and estuaries of the Georgia coast following the renewal of…

fulbright logo
Franklin College, UGA among top producers of Fulbright students for 2012-13

The internationalization of the UGA campus and student body continues apace: The University of Georgia is 25th among research universities for the production of Fulbright Student Scholars in the 2012-2013 academic year, according to the latest ranking from the government's flagship international exchange program. Sixteen University of Georgia students were offered international travel-study grants from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program for the…

two people in a lab
Researchers find ancient mechanisms propel modern parasites

Finding cures and new treatments for diseases seems to be a unique eschelon of highly-informed scientific detective work, as this new finding published by Franklin College researchers demonstrates: Long ago, when life on Earth was in its infancy, a group of small single-celled algae propelled themselves through the vast prehistoric ocean by beating whip like tails called flagella. It's a relatively unremarkable tale, except that now, more than…


ARCO in Venice

A year ago last month, I had the distinct privilege of traveling to Italy with one of the premiere ensembles in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music - the ARCO Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Franklin Professor of Music Levon Ambartsumian. ARCO was invited to play a UNESCO-sponsored concert in the renowned opera house La Fenice, in Venice. It was a very beautiful concert and delightful experience. Now WUGA-TV will broadcast the one-hour…


Scientists to speak at SEC renewable energy symposium

A three-day SEC-sponsored event in February to discuss the future of renewable energy will feature two Franklin researchers with wide experience in our region's quest for renewable fuels: The SEC Symposium theme, “Impact of the Southeast in the World’s Renewable Energy Future,” will explore the spectrum of renewable energy technologies, including bioenergy, solar, wind, wave/flow and nuclear.  ... Researchers from all 14 member schools will…


UGA scientific divers discover 36,000-year-old gray whale fossil

This story has been cropping up several places, even before we could get the press release out. But it is, ahem, a whale of a story: While the Atlantic gray whale was hunted to extinction by the 1700’s, the Pacific or California gray swims today with a population near its pre-whaling levels. University of Georgia scientists have published their discovery of an Atlantic gray whale fossil off the Georgia coast that has re-enlivened…


The biofuels equation: public opinion

From time to time we've mentioned the long-term investments at UGA in people and research on the issue of developing renewable energy sources. The university has cultivated a wide range of expertise on the subject that goes back decades. And all of that research on everything from fermentation of sugars in plant lignin to biodiesel and drought resistant strains of switchgrass would not be complete without also looking at public support for…


Tool-using Orangutans and improving cotton at the genome level

A ScienceNow article in Wired.com features the work of a faculty member from psychology: Primatologist Dorothy Fragaszy of the University of Georgia in Athens says orangutans might have ideas of the sort that Gruber describes, but that’s not the most plausible explanation. Fragaszy cautions that Gruber cites only one study that discusses orangutans developing stick skills in the wild — and she says that work isn’t conclusive about when…

adoration of the magi
Season's Greetings

All the Warmth and Peace of the holidays to you from the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Image: Hieronymous Bosch, The Adoration of the Magi, panel, circa 1495.


2012 on the Franklin Chronicles

As the year winds down, I would like to thank everyone for a wonderful 2012 on the Chronicles. We launched the blog right before the new year and brought it into full operation as the year progressed. The Franklin College has wonderful IT professionals, and it is because of them that this idea of a college-specific media site has come to fruition. I am indebted to them, particularly Sean Hendrix and Lauren Blais. My thanks and appreciation for…

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