News Stories - Page 36

Kevin Vogel, an assistant professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of Georgia, has received a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award from the National Science Foundation. Supported by the more than $1 million CAREER grant, Vogel and his team will spend the next five years building upon the still-limited body of research regarding the symbiotic relationship between kissing bugs and a highly specified bacterium that resides in their gut.

Georgia 4-H dedicated the Thomas F. Rodgers Administration Building at Rock Eagle 4-H Center to honor former Georgia 4-H state leader Tom Rodgers for his years of service to 4-H and University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. During his tenure as Georgia 4-H leader, Rodgers championed the renovation of the Rock Eagle 4-H Center, raising more than $2 million to secure Rock Eagle’s status as a centerpiece of Georgia 4-H.

Three University of Georgia professors from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences have been appointed to serve on Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA). Chosen by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) secretariats and external referees, Faith Critzer, Abhinav Mishra and Todd Callaway will serve among a roster of experts from 33 countries.

Plantfi, a novel system to track plant moisture, sunlight and overall houseplant health, is the winner of University of Georgia’s 2023 FABricate Entrepreneurial Initiative competition. Alex Breazu, the UGA mechanical engineering student who leads Plantfi, got the idea while on his own “plant parent” journey, during which he overwatered and killed his fair share of houseplants.

The University of Georgia has honored four faculty members with its highest accolade for teaching, the Josiah Meigs Distinguished Professorship. The Meigs Professorship underscores the university’s commitment to excellence in teaching, the value placed on student learning experiences and the central role instruction plays in the university’s mission.

An innovator in agribusiness and an exemplary public servant in Extension will be inducted into the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame on April 29 during the 67th University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Alumni Association Awards in Athens.

What began as a grassroots growers cooperative in the 1970s has become one of the Southeast’s most prestigious, member-supported nonprofit farming organizations. Having just wrapped up its 25th annual conference in Perry, Georgia, the organization continues its long-standing partnership with the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and UGA Cooperative Extension.

Each semester, the University of Georgia welcomes scholars from across the globe to promote collaborative research. The Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program awards merit-based grants to international academics who seek to further their education and participate in research projects at American universities. More than 800 international scholars come to universities in the U.S. annually, with visits ranging from three months to one year.

Supporters from every county in Georgia will have the chance to boost youth programming during the “$4 for 4-H” fundraiser for the Georgia 4-H Foundation on April 4, an online giving day that has become an annual tradition. In the spirit of friendly competition, each Georgia county asks local donors to make donations of $4 or more that day, with the goal of receiving at least four donations per county.