News Stories - Page 2

On a Monday morning in late June, just over two dozen middle- and high-school teachers trickled into a classroom at the University of Georgia Poultry Research Center and took their seats in groups of two and three. Hailing from public schools around the state, the teachers were preparing for Avian Academy, a highly popular three-day program for agriculture and STEM teachers hosted annually.

An 11-year-old girl changed everything for Anna Blount. Blount enrolled in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in 2001 with plans to go on to veterinary school. She loved animals and worked at a veterinary clinic while she earned her degree in biological science. But, as a college student, Blount also became a de facto parent.

Cage free. The term seems self-explanatory enough. Step inside a cage-free poultry house, and the reality is not far detached from the perception. A soft bed of wood shavings or sand litters the ground. Step carefully, as it’s likely you’ll find an egg or two scattered randomly underfoot. And there are chickens everywhere, freely roaming like a crowd at a flea market. Cage-free poultry systems—indoor aviaries that house colonies of up to thousands of birds—offer an improved level of animal welfare for egg-laying hens.

Krysta Harden, former United States Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and current president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, will be the speaker for the 2024 D.W. Brooks Lecture and Awards, an annual event hosted by the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. From her parents’ farm in Camilla, Georgia, all the way to Capitol Hill, Harden has been a strong advocate for agriculture.

Two doctoral students and two master’s students in the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences were honored with awards for outstanding research after placing in the 2024 E. Broadus Browne Research Competition. In recognition of former Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station Director Edmund Broadus Browne, the annual competition highlights some of the best graduate research from departments within the college and challenges contestants with an oral presentation.  

As the spring semester starts winding down, the University of Georgia’s annual Honors Week marks a time to celebrate exceptional performance in the classroom, in the service arena and in research, as faculty and graduate students are recognized for their contributions to scientific discovery. Celebrating its 45th year, UGA’s Research Awards banquet and ceremony, set for April 4, will pay tribute to those who have made groundbreaking strides in their respective fields through research, innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.