Health and the holidays aren’t typically a natural fit, but Bradley Averill, a UGA Cooperative Extension Family and Consumer Sciences agent for Madison and Oglethorpe counties, is determined to change that by stepping into the holiday season with health top of mind.

Anisa M. Zvonkovic, an academic leader with a distinguished record of promoting student success and impactful research and outreach, has been named dean of the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences.

In the latter months of 2019, a novel coronavirus probably leaped from a yet-unknown animal in central China into a human. Some speculate that SARS-CoV-2 leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China. But evidence suggests that it’s far more likely that the virus was a natural “zoonotic” leap from animal to human. The resulting COVID-19 pandemic has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, including more than 23,000 Georgians, and mutated into dangerous new variants.

University of Georgia student, Nallely Lepiz-Madrigal, from Americus, Georgia, has been selected as one of six delegates to represent the United States at Bayer’s 5th bi-annual Youth Ag Summit on November 16-17.

October is Farm to School Month and this year’s theme is Livin’ La Vida Okra. Farm to School Month, coordinated by Georgia Organics in partnership with UGA Extension, highlights a different fruit or vegetable each year.

Obesity affects millions of Americans and increases the risk of stroke, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and other causes of premature death. The percentage of U.S. adults with obesity has risen steadily from 13.4% in the early 1960s to the current average of more than 42%.

As of Sept. 21, an invasive and dangerous pest, the Asian longhorned tick, has been confirmed in north Georgia. Experts are warning livestock producers and the public to be on the lookout, as the ticks can kill an animal by attaching to a host by the hundreds.

This National Suicide Prevention Month, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences alum Tamlin Hall has launched a new documentary series for middle and high schoolers, exploring anxiety, depression, bullying, human trafficking, inclusion and more.

University of Georgia Cooperative Extension’s radon testing program — a holistic program that combines radon education outreach with research, testing and mitigation — has helped optimize sampling and testing methodology for radon in water throughout the U.S. The program has influenced national standards in radon testing.