Tags: faculty

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Thomas to become Dean of Arts and Sciences at UAB

In her 27-year UGA career, Thomas has distinguished herself as an outstanding classroom teacher, graduate student mentor, and researcher. Her work on the psychology of workplace diversity has gained national attention, and she is an elected fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology, and the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race. Thomas has also held several…

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A place at the table

UGA researchers from across campus are deeply engaged in food systems and agricultural sustainability issues around town and around the globe. UGA Research Communications offers an updated look at the social connections that provide the foundation for a wide variety of efforts to support a healthy ecosystem. The largest remaining Saltwater Geechee community in the nation has lived in Sapelo Island’s Hog Hammock community for centuries. Today,…

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The power of positive thinking - on health

New research led by UGA psychology suggests a strong correlation between having a positive perspective about the future and enhanced health. “There are many ways that people cope with risk to survival. One way people may thrive when conditions are risky and difficult is to adopt a positive perspective about the future,” said Brian Haas, lead author of the study and an associate professor in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences…

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Risk of developing psychiatric conditions could be shaped by environment

A new University of Georgia research study links a lack of resources in a given area to a higher risk of certain psychiatric conditions for its residents. Living in low-income, high crime areas correlates with a 79% higher rate of psychotic disorders. Psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia can be debilitating, interfering with a person’s mental, physical and social health. The new study suggests a person’s risk for developing these conditions…

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NSF project to peer into deep space, observe rapid planet formation

University of Georgia faculty member Cassandra Hall is a co-principal investigator on a new project supported by $450,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to learn more about planetary formation by studying a star system over 500 light-years away. The grant funds a three-year collaborative research project between principal investigator New Mexico State University Astronomy Associate Professor Wladimir Lyra, co-principal investigator…

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Conducting fieldwork in Social Science

Rumya Putcha, jointly appointed faculty in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music and the Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies, has developed a career based on understanding her role as a social science researcher. A terrific feature from UGA Research Communications unpacks her approach and the rewarding career she in the process of building: Over her decades-long career studying the role of music in international cultures, that question has been…

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International expedition tracks East Greenland Coastal Current

Nick Foukal, assistant professor in the UGA Department of Marine Sciences is co-leader of an international research project focused on oceanography and current measurements in the East Greenland Coastal Current. The team’s observations aboard the Research Vessel Thorunn Thordardottir from August 29 through September 12 aim to help determine how the East Greenland Coastal Current may influence the stability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning…

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UGA's Maíllo-Pozo earns national teaching award

University of Georgia faculty member Sharina Maíllo-Pozo has been awarded the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP) 2025 Faculty Teaching Award.  The CLASP Faculty Teaching Award recognizes excellence in teaching courses designated for Latin American Studies in which the recipient has demonstrated sustained accomplishment in outstanding teaching effectiveness, including pedagogical style and student success stories;…

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Noted and Quoted, summer 2025

Throughout the summer quiet and into the busy fall, Franklin faculty expertise and research findings continues to resonate broadly across the global media. A few of the many recent stores we've been following: How it’s not about the place — it’s about the people – research lead by Daisi Brand, graduate student in the department of psychology, reported by Health Medicine Network   New research illustrates how live events foster social…

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UGA's Shannon receives USG Hall of Fame Faculty Award

UGA faculty member Sarah Shannon was among three USG faculty honored with the Felton Jenkins, Jr. Hall of Fame Faculty Award at the University System of Georgia (USG) 21st annual Regents’ Scholarship Gala "The Sky's the Limit," which raised more than $4.5 million from generous sponsors to expand need-based scholarships for USG students across the state.  The black-tie gala, hosted at the Delta Flight Museum in August 23 by Maria…

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UGA English professor receives British Arts and Humanities award

University of Georgia faculty member Susan Rosenbaum, along with Jonathan Ellis, Reader in American Literature at the University of Sheffield, received a $351,000 grant from Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) of UK Research and Innovation, a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). Rosenbaum, associate professor in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences…

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Implanted medical devices can also incubate deadly fungal infections

Medical devices that extend lives and improve quality of life for tens of millions of Americans are generally understood to be wonders of modern science. Prosthetic joints and pacemakers are all but a common occurrence in the lives of many, even as they meaningfully alter the health of the patient. But implanting any foreign object into the body also carries risk of introducing deadly fungal infections. New research from University of Georgia…

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New Faculty Tour lets professors get to know Georgia

28 University of Georgia faculty members toured the state in early August on the 2025 New Faculty Tour. The immersive five-day trip introduces new faculty to UGA’s statewide mission and helps them connect their academic expertise to the real-world needs of Georgia communities.  The tour provided a thorough introduction to UGA’s vital role in the state as participants traveled through 45 counties and 15 cities: Tour stops included the UGA…

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UGA's Rodrigues earns national education award

University of Georgia faculty member Cecília Rodrigues has been awarded the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP) 2025 Excellence in Language Education Award.  The CLASP Excellence in Language Education Award recognizes excellence in Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs) spoken in Latin America and the Caribbean, including language instruction, pedagogical success, curriculum development, and efforts to promote,…

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Three Franklin professors named as UGA Faculty Innovation Fellows

The University of Georgia Innovation Fellows Program, a university-wide initiative to provide the UGA community with improved, peer-delivered access to information, training, and assistance related to innovation and entrepreneurship, announced its first cohort of Faculty Innovation Fellows. The program recruited faculty members from select colleges to act as peer-liaisons and ambassadors between researchers and innovation programs…

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UGA microbiology postdoc receives Life Sciences Research Foundation Fellowship

John Ciemniecki, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Georgia, has been awarded a fellowship from the Life Sciences Research Foundation.  The Life Sciences Research Foundation (LSRF) is a non-profit organization that supports early-career investigators by connecting them with philanthropic donors. Less than 5% of applicants receive a fellowship, which will support Ciemniecki’s salary and research expenses for three years…

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Lyall among new SEC leadership fellows

Neil Lyall, associate dean for physical and mathematical sciences and professor of mathematics in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, is one of four accomplished University of Georgia faculty members named as Fellows of the 2025-2026 Southeastern Conference Academic Leadership Development Program: The program, which launched in 2007, seeks to prepare campus leaders for executive careers in higher education. Fellows are selected through a…

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Art professor works to help 'Restore the Night Sky'

Oxford American features UGA art faculty member Marni Shindelman, whose work investigates the impacts of ambient LED lighting on our views of the night sky – and our perceptions of the light sources. Associate Professor in the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia where she heads the photography area, Shindelman brings a keen eye to the effects of a networked world, connecting the invisible to actual sites, anchoring the…

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Ancient bald cypress trees archive climate secrets, future clues

A new research study led by UGA anthropology alumna Katherine Napora (Ph.D. '21) reveals how dramatic shifts in climate can have long-lasting effects on even the toughest, most iconic trees – and offers a glimpse into the powerful forces that shape our natural world. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University and the UGA Museum of Natural History studied bald cypress trees from a buried subfossil deposit at the mouth of the Altamaha River near…

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Professor brings American history into view through art

Museum studies is one of the most popular humanities fields, situating visual art within the cultural and historical contexts in which it emerges. Franklin College of Arts and Sciences assistant professor Tracey Johnson takes the disciplines one step further, showing how art as an educational tool influences culture and history.  "The popular front and cultural front periods of the 1930's influenced the pedagogy of Harlem Renaissance-…

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Childhood adversity leads to health problems later in life

UGA and the Franklin College welcome back alumna Sierra Carter (PhD, '16, clinical psychology), who will join the Department of Psychology faculty and become the next associate director of Center for Family Research in August. Carter is co-author of a new study that suggests growing up with negative events and in dangerous communities in early adolescence can alter an entire lifetime, particularly for Black men and women. “Things that happen to…

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Higher CO2 levels leading plants to contribute to warmer temperatures

One of the elevated dangers of global climate change is discoveries outside the boundaries of expected changes – whether temperature, sea level and other predicted results of higher atmospheric carbon concentrations. UGA scientists now have added plants to net contributors to rising global temperatures. The scientists detail the findings in a study published in the Nature journal Climate and Atmospheric Science documenting the impact of…

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UGA partners with Rowen on climate resilience

The University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the College of Engineering in partnership with the Rowen Foundation has launched a two-year Hydrometeorology and Land Cover Change Observational Study (HALOS) that will begin this summer.  HALOS will generate critical baseline data to monitor how large-scale development impacts local weather, geography and watershed…

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UGA's Perdisci receives Amazon Research Award

Roberto Perdisci, Patty and D.R. Grimes Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Director of the UGA Institute of Cybersecurity and Privacy, was selected as a recipient of an Amazon Research Award.   Amazon Research Awards (ARA) provide unrestricted funds and AWS Promotional Credits to academic researchers investigating various research topics in multiple disciplines. This cycle, ARA announced 73 award recipients who represent 46…

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Genetics professor puts UGA on the corn map

A career of investigation and groundbreaking discovery in maize genetics has helped Kelly Dawe, Distinguished Research Professor in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, reshape how researchers understand—and improve—a vital crop. Through the rich genetic diversity of corn, Dawe has unlocked pathways to long-sought breakthroughs with cross-scale impacts in genetics, cell biology and genome evolution. Our colleagues in Research…
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