News Stories - Page 5

In the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, students are exposed to new ideas, concepts and methods in classrooms and labs every day. The Ratcliffe Scholars Program, part of the college’s experiential learning programming, supports undergraduate students as they deepen their understanding of their chosen fields through internships, study abroad programs and other immersive learning experiences.

Clustered around a surgical table, students carefully perform procedures on their patients, carefully monitoring every vital sign to ensure a successful outcome. This may sound like a scene from a medical school or residency, but it describes the experiences of undergraduate students in “Avian Surgical Techniques,” a course offered by the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

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.