Spray drones with pinpoint accuracy, produce-picking robots, autonomous systems to monitor broiler chicken health, and artificial intelligence to predict yield before the buds have faded from the trees — these are some of the solutions integrative precision agriculture promises an industry that is embracing the power of technology to address both age-old and emerging challenges.

When Rosalba Mazzotta was in the midst of her internship at a firm in the energy industry, the fourth-year biochemical engineering major took the opportunity to brush up on some of her research. She counted the number of employees of color. She also counted the number of white employees named John. They were the same. Four.

Four graduate students in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences have been honored with an E. Broadus Browne Award for Outstanding Graduate Research. Given in honor of the former director of the Georgia Agricultural Experiment Stations, the award is presented to outstanding CAES master’s and doctoral students recognized for both their research and effective communication.

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.

Emily Edelman’s acceptance to the University of Georgia was a dream come true. “If you grew up in Georgia like I did, you know UGA is where everyone wants to go. It’s on everyone’s list,” Edelman said. “And when I got in, I also got into my dream program — poultry science.”

The University of Georgia ranks No. 2 among U.S. universities for number of commercial products to market based on its research, according to an annual survey conducted by AUTM. It is the ninth straight year UGA has ranked among the nation’s top five in this metric and seventh straight year among the top two.