Tags: Earth

UGA goes Beyond the Arch to the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography to catch up with graduate student Grace Mann, whose childhood ocean adventures drive her marine science research: She spent her first 16 years exploring the reefs, sailing the waves, and walking the shores of the Turks and Caicos Islands. These experiences instilled in Mann a love for the ocean and, eventually, a calling to protect it.  Her English-born dad and Texas-bred…

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…

Vesta, one of the largest bodies in the asteroid belt, has long occupied human imagination – from Roman mythology to 20th century science fiction.  The protoplanet's Divalia Fossae, massive surface troughs comparable in size to the Grand Canyon, encircle two-thirds of Vesta's equator. Rather than erosion, these deep basins were the result of large meteorite impacts that changed the asteroid’s gravitational field which, in turn, affected…

Scientists from Colorado State University, Georgia Southern, the University of Georgia and the University of Texas at Austin developed a model to provide an early warning and opportunity to protect an ecosystem that serves as the first line of defense against coastal flooding. By using satellite observations, the model identified vulnerable marshes along Georgia’s coast by locating declining root production – a harbinger of marsh failure. The…

Alex Music, a 2025 master's degree alumna in geography in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, is a recipient of an AAAS Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellowship. The 10-week summer program places science, engineering, and mathematics students at media organizations nationwide to use their academic training to research, write, and report on pressing issues, sharpening their abilities to communicate complex scientific issues to the…

Spring 2025 Capstones included computing, history, Statistics, and criminal justice A wide array of capstone opportunities across Franklin College – ranging from data-driven projects in statistics and data science to history students curating a Special Collections exhibition – produced outstanding work and provided many opportunities for student learning and career readiness this spring.  As part of the Academic Innovation Initiative of the…

Inseok Song, associate professor of astronomy in the University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of physics and astronomy, has revived a grant from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Song's JWST program, "JWST Mid-IR Observations of Warm Debris Disks around Nearby M-dwarfs", will observe 19 M-type stars, the lowest mass stars that are the most common in the Universe.  "M-dwarf stars are the most common type of…

A distinguished scholar and prominent researcher with more than two decades of experience in the field of artificial intelligence, Prashant Doshi has been appointed the inaugural executive director of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence (IAI) at the University of Georgia following a national search: The Institute for Artificial Intelligence is an interdepartmental research and instructional unit jointly supported by the Office of the…

One of the 15 barrier islands on the Georgia coast, Sapelo Island in McIntosh County is the home of the last known Gullah community as well as the University of Georgia Marine Institute. In partnership with Sapelo resident Maurice Bailey, researchers from the University of Georgia Cornelia Walker Bailey Program on Land, Sea and Agriculture are testing nature-based solutions — like restoring oyster reefs. The hope is that oyster reefs can shield…

The complex and dynamic microbial communities and microbially-mediated processes that occur in the ocean help stabilize the earth's climate.  Far below the ocean's surface, along the seafloor, hydrothermal vents release heat and chemicals into the deep water that fuel vibrant, breathtaking ecosystems. The microbial communities associated with hydrothermal vents are hot spots of biological production in the deep sea. In shallow waters and…

The NOAA Office of Education has selected two University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences students, Margaret Needham and Adam "Grayson" Smith as Ernest F. Hollings undergraduate scholars for the class of 2025. Needham and Smith join 130 winners out of 820 applicants this year. The Hollings Scholarship Program provides successful undergraduate applicants with awards that include academic assistance (up to $9,500 per year…

Funded by a $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, researchers at the University of Georgia and Texas A&M are using improved detection and treatment methods to understand Chagas disease – a serious, often overlooked illness affecting both dogs and humans.  Rick Tarleton, UGA Athletic Association Distinguished Professor, will co-lead a new project focused on strategies to detect, treat and monitor treatment outcomes in…

An emerging international leader in volcanology, Franklin College faculty member Mattia Pistone serves as a principal investigator on research projects underway in Sicily, Ecuador, the Arctic poles, and the Italian Alps.  For Pistone, assistant professor of petrology and volcanology in the Department of Geology, drilling into the Earth to understand the past and future of its processes is a mission he takes seriously – and passion he shares…

Extending the reach of its talented faculty and curriculum, Franklin College is introducing three new online master's programs: Applied Data Science, Environmental Geology, and Art Education. Programs start August 2025 and will provide career advancement opportunities for busy, working individuals seeking to earn a master’s online in two years. These three new online master’s degrees join Franklin’s successful Online Master of Music Education…

The UGA Office of Transfer Services announced the winners of the 2025 Transfer Advocate Awards. Each year students nominate advisors, staff, and faculty who have made an incredible impact on the transfer student experience at UGA. The 2025 first place winner is Ryan Smith of the Franklin College Office of Student Academic Services. The winners were chosen based on student nominations that detailed how these individuals went above and beyond to…

The University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences celebrated its dedicated staff members during the 2025 Staff Appreciation Awards and Reception, held on May 21. This annual event honored staff for their outstanding contributions, commitment, passion and service to the college, recognizing both individual excellence and years of service milestones. The ceremony opened with remarks from Hollis Yates, Publications Manager and…

Michael Skibsted, a third-year Honors student from Ladera Ranch, California, majoring in ecology in the Odum School of Ecology and biology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, has earned a 2025 Udall Scholarship. The University of Georgia undergraduate is one of 55 students across the nation recognized for leadership, public service and commitment to issues related to the environment. The Udall Scholarship is awarded to sophomores and…

  Jarryd Wallace, (AB Communications Studies '19) keynote speaker as well as four-time Paralympian and two-time bronze medalist, shared lessons he learned from the tests he’s faced during UGA’s undergraduate Commencement ceremony held May 9. “That’s what trials do — they forge something in us that comfort never could. They teach us to keep going when nothing makes sense. To believe when hope feels distant. To see ourselves not by what we’…

The Franklin College Innovation Initiative is designed to guide our efforts and focus into the next era of American higher education. Dean Anna Stenport provides an outline of the three-part initiative 1) Academic Innovation, 2) Research Partnerships and Public Engagement, and 3) Student Success, in a series of interviews discussing the context of this ambitious enterprise and plans for implementation. "The Franklin College commitment to…

A session organized by UGA faculty at the Society for American Archaeology Meetings in early May discussed the ways recent innovations in radiocarbon dating are rewriting the history of Indigenous sites.  Many of these new histories are challenging conventional wisdom about Indigenous persistence, or the lack thereof, in the face of European contact, researchers reported during a session co-organized by Jennifer Birch, professor of…

Today is the day! The culmination of our students' hard work, where they put their creativity, ambitions, curiosity and leadership all together to take the all-important next step.  Congratulation to all of the 2,100+ Franklin students graduating today! And welcome to campus to the family and friends joining us on this wonderful occasion. Go Dawgs! Go Franklin! Congratulations to the many new UGA alumni – welcome to the family! Photo by…

Part 3 of 3 – Student Success Franklin College has introduced a three-part Innovation Initiative guiding its efforts and focus into the next era of American higher education. The initiative consists of three pillars designed to complement each other and work together: 1) Academic Innovation, 2) Research Partnerships and Public Engagement, and 3) Student Success. In the third of a three-part series of interviews, Franklin College Dean Anna…

New research from a team led by University of Georgia scientists from the Franklin College and the Odum School of Ecology reveals that even common plant species with a broad geographic distribution are at risk of decline based on climate change, potentially contributing to a loss in biodiversity.  Published in Science , the study integrates ecological and evolutionary approaches to model past, present and projected climatic tolerances…

The University of Georgia officially launched its chapter of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) on April 28, with 12 Franklin College faculty among the 31 founding members. The chapter will celebrate innovation and the societal impact of academic inventions at UGA.  Since its founding, NAI has promoted innovation and the societal impact of academic inventions by recognizing and empowering U.S. patent holders, supporting education and…

University of Georgia Foundation Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Gregory Robinson has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Robonison joins an illustrious list of 250 members elected in 2025, including renowned figures like CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper, actor and humanitarian Danny Glover, filmmaker Ava DuVernay and World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés. A UGA faculty member since 1995, Robinson has conducted…