Tags: research

photo of scientists in lab with mask, gloves, pipette
Graduate students adapt to new lab protocols

With new protocols in place to safeguard against COVID-19, most University of Georgia graduate students have safely returned to their work in labs and field settings. Continuing their important research has been a positive development, but the changes have required adjustments. Those adaptations have varied immensely, depending on the students’ areas of study: “We conduct lab meetings predominantly over Zoom,” she said. “We sign up to use…

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Cognitive disorders linked to severe COVID-19 risk

Dementia and other cognitive disorders now appear to be risk factorsfor developing severe COVID-19, according to research from the University of Georgia. The findings highlight the need for special care for populations with these preexisting conditions during the pandemic. In a blind study, the researchers analyzed data from nearly 1,000 diseases and two specific genes to compare the health profiles of COVID-19 patients with those testing…

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Building better teams through psychology

Dorothy Carter spends her days developing strategies that can help astronauts prepare for missions to Mars, assist military leaders in maximizing their troops’ performance, and coach corporate leaders to optimize organizational plans. It’s not what she thought she would be doing in the early 2000s when she was a professional dancer for a ballet company in Ohio. But, her long-range future was limited, she realized then. “There was no real…

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Drawdown Georgia

Inspired by Project Drawdown, Georgia is building a movement to accelerate progress towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions. It’s called Drawdown Georgia, and it launched October 17 statewide. Over 18 months, a team of the state’s best researchers and scientists from UGA, Georgia Tech and Emory University took a deep dive into the data to determine what it’s possible to achieve within the Drawdown framework, leveraging our state’s…

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Focus on the Faculty: Sally Walker

Sally E. Walker, the inaugural Shellebarger Professor in Geology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, gives students field research experiences through which they propose hypotheses, collect and analyze data, and communicate their findings: What are your favorite courses and why? My favorite courses concern connections: how evolution of life on Earth affected geological and atmospheric processes and vice versa. The naturalist John Muir…

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UGA-led project focused on understanding the complexity of droughts

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Program Office’s Modeling, Analysis, Predictions, and Projections (MAPP) Program, in collaboration with the National Integrated Drought Information system (NIDIS) program has announcing 11 new 3-year projects that aim to advance our capability to more integrally characterize and anticipate U.S. droughts in the context of hydroclimatic…

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Psychology research links conflict resolution, long-term health

Money, jobs, children—all common topics of arguments in relationships. Previous research has shown that how couples work through disagreements on serious topics can often predict the success of their relationships. But a recent study from the University of Georgia found that the way couples approach conflict is associated with a key biomarker of physical health. “The links between relationships and health are quite strong,” said Richard…

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Saunt named finalist for National Book Award

***Update***  Saunt named a finalist on Oct. 6. Final announcement 11/18 Claudio Saunt’s book, Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory, has been named to the 2020 longlist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction. “It’s a great honor to be one of the 10 authors selected for the National Book Award longlist. The category is nonfiction, not just history, and it is really…

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Dawgs in Space

UPDATE: Launch re-scheduled for 9:16 EST Oct. 2 – A Franklin College-student-led effort to get the University of Georgia’s first research satellite into space is ready for launch. The small satellite SPOC, short for Spectral Ocean Color, is due for takeoff at 9:38 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1. That's tonight: The satellite will be on board an Antares rocket set to launch from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia…

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The health risks of poverty, racial discrimination

Longitudinal research studies – information about individuals gathered over time – help scientists understand the impacts of endemic phenomena by developing correlations that can be otherwise difficult to trace, despite the chronic negative effects on the population. Growing up in poverty and experiencing racial discrimination affect physical health and the UGA Center for Family Research has been leading longterm…

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Noted and Quoted, September 2020

Elections and hurricanes led the media coverage featuring Franklin faculty expertise during September. A sample of the many recent stories in print, on the air and screen: Mathematicians open a new front on an ancient number problem – mathematics professor Paul Pollack quoted by Quanta Magazine, Wired Flooding, blackouts in the wake of Laura – Marshall Shepherd, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor …

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Kudos, September 2020

Congratulations to our many colleagues on recent accolades and achievements, inspiring our work with their excellence in teaching, research and outreach: Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory by Claudio Saunt, Richard B. Russell Professor in American History, was named to the nonfiction Longlist for the 2020 National Book Award Three University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and…

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Separating weather forecasts from pain

Millions of Americans suffer from pain-inducing conditions such as fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. New research from the University of Georgia shows significant association between warm, tropical air masses and emergency room visits for these conditions. But not in the way we might think: The new research by Christopher Elcik, lecturer of geography and atmospheric sciences in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences,…

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Georgia Groundbreakers: Valentine Nzengung

Early research in explosives remediation to clean soil contaminated with perchlorate, an oxygen-adding compound used in the manufacture of solid rocket fuel, created a path for Valentine Nzengung, professor in the department of geology, to become one of UGA's most visionary inventors and a true Georgia Groundbreaker: He has spent countless hours in his laboratory studying the properties of some of humanity’s most dangerous…

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Liu receives NIH Career Award

The National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health recently granted a Career Award to Jiaying Liu, assistant professor in the department of communication studies. Career Awards are given to researchers to allow time for intensive development and training in biomedical, behavioral and clinical sciences. The five-year, near $1 million grant will allow Liu to gain additional training in functional magnetic…

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Peña, Bensasson, awarded Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study

Plant Biology Doctoral Student Jacqueline Joye Peña and her advisor Assistant Professor Douda Bensasson received the Gilliam Graduate Fellowship Grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The award provides Peña the opportunity to travel to important scientific conferences and meetings in her field, professional development workshops, and a competitive stipend in addition to allowance for diversity and inclusion activities at the…

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The color of food deserts: dollar store locations track real estate redlining practices

New research from the University of Georgia shows significant association between proximity to dollar stores and patterns of racial segregation in major U.S. metropolitan areas. Though the patterns vary across retail chains, the research shows racial classification to be a key predictor of store location. The new research by Jerry Shannon, associate professor of geography in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, was published August 27…

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Two professors elected to NAI

The National Academy of Inventors has named two Franklin College faculty members to the 2020 class of NAI Senior Members. Richard Meagher, Distinguished Research Professor of Genetics, and Ronald Orlando, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, and chemistry, are the first UGA researchers to receive the senior membership distinction. They join a new class of 38 prolific inventors representing 24 research universities along…

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A million little rings

Doctoral student uses dendrochronology—the study of tree rings—to explore the ancient environment, constructing a 5,177-year chronology of the Georgia coast, the longest in eastern North America: Kat Napora didn’t plan to study trees. The UGA grad student originally worked on shell middens, or ancient trash piles. She’d planned to continue researching them in Ireland, but a tip from a colleague led her to a site…

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Kudos, August 2020

Congratulations to the many Franklin College faculty, students, and alumni on awards, grants, fellowships and other recognition of scholarly activity we learned about over the summer. A sampling of recent accolades for our terrific colleagues: Lisa A. Fusillo, professor of dance in the Franklin College, has been selected by The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi—the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor…

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New Research Reveals Effect of Global Warming on Greenland Ice Melt, Consequences for Sea Level Rise

New analysis of almost 30 years’ worth of scientific data on the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet predicts global sea level rise of at least 10 centimetres by the end of the 21st Century, per global warming trends. The estimates, which scientists warn are “conservative” given the powerful effects of changes in weather systems and possible ways of accelerating ice loss, are broadly consistent with recent predictions reported by…

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The toll of video fatigue

Something most everyone can relate to in our extended, present moment – Zoom Fatigue – has entered the lexicon to capture the emotional exhaustion, anxiousness, and worry that may accompany the high volume of virtual meetings. Kristen Shockley, associate professor of psychology, unpacks the HR impacts and how professionals can help in a new article: Understanding the physical and psychological factors behind video…

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Momany selected as MSA Fellow

University of Georgia faculty member Michelle Momany has been selected as a Fellow of the Mycological Society of America. Momany, professor of Plant Biology and associate dean in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, was announced as an MSA Fellow at the organization’s first-ever virtual meeting in mid-July. The Mycological Society of America Fellow Award is granted to an outstanding member of the society for extended service and…

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$23M NSF grant accelerates glycomaterials research

Glycomaterials are produced by every living organism. They contain chains of sugars, called glycans, that have critical roles in health and disease. Of the four building blocks of life — glycans, proteins, lipids and nucleic acids — glycans are the most complex and most challenging to understand. The tool set for understanding these glycans, so crucial to life itself, lags far behind those available for understanding DNA, RNA and proteins.…

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Physical basis of language comprehension

With an assist from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, researchers are getting a better handle on where and how the brain assembles individual words into full sentences when a person listens to a story being read. In a new study, an international team of researchers, including a UGA cognitive scientist, report that a computational model based on the concept of "phrase structure” most closely matches functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)…
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