News from the Chronicles - April 2022

photo of water with plants in the foreground, shore in the distance
National Academies Gulf of Mexico report

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine says that assessing the success of the nation’s largest ecological restoration investment effort will require continued improvements in data collection and synthesis and coordination across the Gulf of Mexico region. The April 2010 Deepwater Horizon platform explosion and oil spill seriously damaged Gulf of Mexico ecosystems from Texas to Florida…

graphic of Benjamin Franklin, surrounded by hearts
Benjamin Franklin, modern American

With a new PBS biographical documentary (premiering tonight), a new book on his philanthropic efforts, and an upcoming Apple TV series based on his life, Benjamin Franklin is again – and still – in the spotlight.  Recognizing his skills, perseverance, wisdom and work ethic, we remember many of the reasons we revere him as an American founder as well as the namesake of one of the finest College of Arts and Science anywhere: Why has the…

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Lewis, Shannon among 2022 Meigs Professors

Five University of Georgia faculty members have been named Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professors, the university’s highest recognition for excellence in instruction. “Meigs Professors are an elite group of faculty members at an institution that places a great value on outstanding instruction,” said S. Jack Hu, the university’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “I congratulate the recipients of this significant honor…

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Chemistry student takes unlikely path to Ph.D.

Five years ago, Brianna Garcia was getting up at 3 a.m. to report to her job as a corrections officer at a women’s county jail in California. Today she’s several thousand miles away and getting up later while writing her dissertation in chemistry. The distance between the two experiences is not as wide as one might think, according to Garcia, who will graduate with a Ph.D. in May. “I don’t think anyone who has known my past would ever…

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UGA team develops faster, cheaper COVID tests

A University of Georgia nanotechnology research group entered the race to develop a rapid test for COVID-19 in August 2020, running experiments on a new sensor for an American manufacturing company. The group, led by Yiping Zhao and Ralph Tripp, tested nanotechnology-based optical sensors designed for COVID-19 detection and saw the potential for their home-grown technology. In March 2022, the group filed a patent application and published…

photo of man on boat with arms in water, day
New study: Microbial metabolites in the marine carbon cycle

A new study led UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor in the department of marine sciences and member of the National Academy of Sciences Mary Ann Moran describes the current 'state of the art' of studying microbial metabolites, and sets out some new approaches for further investigation. The new paper was published last week in the journal Nature Microbiology: One-quarter of photosynthesis-derived carbon on Earth rapidly cycles through a set of…

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Yang awarded business history book prize

Timothy Yang, associate professor in the department of history, was awarded the 2022 Hagley Prize for the best book in business history. Yang won for his book "A Medicated Empire: The Pharmaceutical Industry and Modern Japan" (Cornell University Press, 2021), which explores the history of Japan's pharmaceutical industry in the early twentieth century through a close account of Hoshi Pharmaceuticals, one of East Asia's most influential…

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Dutton wins Three Minute Thesis competition

The University of Georgia Graduate School hosted the 11th annual Three Minute Thesis competition in a virtual ceremony on April 6. Better known by the acronym 3MT, the competition requires contestants to explain their thesis or dissertation topic and its significance in three minutes or less using only a single static presentation slide. This year’s grand prize winner was Leah Dutton, a doctoral student in the Hugh Hodgson School…

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UGA’s Saunt awarded 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship

Claudio Saunt, Regents’ Professor and Russell Professor of American History in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded a 2022 Fellowship by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Saunt is one of 180 artists, writers, scholars, and scientists honored across 51 fields. Guggenheim Fellowships are intended for individuals who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or…

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Karinshak named 2022 Goldwater Scholar

University of Georgia Honors student Elise Karinshak is among 417 undergraduates across the nation to be recognized as 2022 Barry Goldwater Scholars, earning the highest undergraduate award of its type for the fields of mathematics, engineering and the natural sciences. Karinshak, from Lawrenceville, is a third-year Foundation Fellow majoring in data science in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and marketing in the Terry College of…

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