Browse Sustainable Stories - Page 3

As demand for organic food continues to rise, organic agriculture has attracted both longtime producers and new farmers into the industry. University of Georgia researchers are working on a new study meant to develop best practices for transitioning farmers starting out with land that has been used for grazing or has lain fallow.

University of Georgia alumnus Zachary Brendel gives new life to discarded things. You can see it throughout the streets of downtown Athens — from an old tire store that glows with reimagined life as Creature Comforts brewery or an audio recording school operating at full tilt within a converted shoe store. Both are revitalization projects completed by Athens-based Character Built Construction, which was co-founded by Brendel.

Recent data shows that the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences produced the third-most plant-breeding Ph.D. graduates between 2015 and 2020. With over 80% of alumni employed at public or private institutions, the plant breeding, genetics and genomics Ph.D. program also ranked highly for its graduate employment rate.

As solar farms pop up across the U.S., researchers at the University of Georgia are working to improve the biodiversity on solar sites as part of a larger, multidisciplinary research program designed to support both sustainable energy and ecosystem health.

The citizens of South Carolina will be joining the Great Georgia Pollinator Census for the August 2022 count, expanding the reach of the pioneering project in the Southeast. University of Georgia Cooperative Extension launched the Great Georgia Pollinator Census in 2019 as a citizen science research project inviting Georgians from across the state to document pollinator populations.

Peter Zimmerli, Consul General of Switzerland in Atlanta, implored attendees to expand their thinking regarding technology and sustainability at the opening of the recent Cleantech Symposium at the University of Georgia. “Imagine a world where all humankind has access to sufficient food assured by sustainable agriculture. Imagine a world where we have technology that addresses these needs,” Zimmerli said.

On April 20, the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the UGA Office of Sustainability, the Consulate General of Switzerland and the Swiss Business Hub in Atlanta will host the 2022 Cleantech Symposium to pose a critical question, “Can Tech Save the World?”

The muddy waters of what is considered “sustainable” are clearing up with the implementation of a new calculator that gives agricultural producers a reliable method to quantify a farm's sustainability.

When Angelos Deltsidis isn’t in the lab or in the field, he can usually be found on the road or trail, putting in miles on a long run through nature. But his runs aren’t simply spent enjoying the greenery—he is also focusing on what the plants produce, how they do it and gathering research ideas. He is finding inspiration.

For most row crop producers in Georgia, corn, cotton and peanut are planted in the spring and harvested in late fall. After harvest, the ground is left relatively bare, with the residue of the harvested crop the only organic material left on the ground. This is where cover crops come in.