Kudos, October 2019

Fantastic news about faculty, staff and students inside and beyond the classroom over the last month:

Distinguished Research Professor of Geography Andy Herod was recently re-appointed by Governor Kemp to the State's Complete Count Committee for the 2020 Census, by Executive Order in September. Herod had previously been appointed to the Committee by Governor Deal

Barbara McCaskill, Professor of English and Associate Academic Director, Willson Center for Humanities & Arts, has been named the 2019 recipient of the Lorraine A. Williams Leadership Award by the Association of Black Women Historians. The national award recognizes a scholar, educator, or administrator who has "demonstrated mentoring skills, not only in teaching or related work but in providing networks that enhance the professional growth of other black women scholars and students." McCaskill was also invited to present three consecutive talks in 2020 for the Alaine LeRoy Locke Lectures at Harvard University's Hutchins Center for African and African American Research

James Leebens-Mack, professor of plant biology, is corresponding author on a new study published in the journal Nature detailing Gene sequences for more than 1,100 plant species by an international consortium of nearly 200 plant scientists. The study provides framework for one billion years of green plant evolution    

A small group of UGA art students led by professor Joseph Norman, brought a hundred-year-old Coca-Cola sign back to life in Columbus, Georgia (story and video)

Senior research associate in the department of plant biology Jonathan Gent along with collaborators at Hamilton College recently won a four-year National Science Foundation Grant for a project titled "Rebuilding a kinesin-based meiotic drive system from defined component." The $1,044,248 in awarded funding will support work to be done at both institutions

Kate Daley-Bailey, academic advisor in Franklin College of Arts and Sciences’ Romance languages department, knew from experience how crucial advisors are to a student’s success

A team of women in science from UGA created the Snapchat profile @CanIRecycleThis for students to send photos of their trash to. An artificial intelligence bot called the “Green Girl” responds to your photo and gives instructions on how to properly dispose of whatever is in the photo

Starting in spring 2020, University of Georgia students will not have to pay additional laboratory and supplementary course material fees for supplies utilized in courses that require them