Georgia’s geographic diversity — from beaches and swamps to mountains and flatlands —makes the state an attractive place to live, but each region is vulnerable to weather-related emergencies year-round. When disasters strike, navigating the milieu of steps to recover and rebuild can be difficult. With a presence in all 159 Georgia counties, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension is uniquely positioned to help communities prepare for and rebound from calamity.

Without direct intervention, food systems could be the largest contributor to environmental pollution by mid-century. This warning — and more importantly, the research efforts in place to make change — were highlighted in Edward Buckler’s keynote address at the 2023 D.W. Brooks Lecture and Awards. “Right now our food system is costing us more than the value we are getting out of it. This is something we need to fundamentally address,“ said Buckler, a research geneticist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service.

Uttam Saha, member of the University of Georgia Radon Team and program coordinator of the UGA Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratories, said that while indoor air has traditionally been the focus of radon testing, another, lesser-understood route of exposure to radon is through household water — primarily when it is supplied by a private well.

As the world grapples with how to reduce its carbon footprint, it’s clear there’s no silver bullet solution for climate change. It will take a multifaceted approach to scale back fossil fuel usage and find more sustainable alternatives. Several UGA researchers are working on promising pathways like bioenergy and bioproducts, forms of renewable energy and materials that could curb carbon emissions.

A dozen 4-H’ers from around Georgia were the first explorers to experience Georgia 4-H’s newest summer program — Natural Resources Exploration Camp — and learn about wildlife, forestry, fisheries and other natural resources from University of Georgia faculty.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences have confirmed the discovery of a yellow-legged hornet in Georgia for the first time. This is the first detection of live yellow-legged hornets in the open United States.

The Great Southeast Pollinator Census, which will be held Aug. 18 and 19 this year, received a commendation from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in advance of the annual event’s fifth anniversary. The governor honored the contributions of the citizen-science project to the continued health of pollinators in the region.

Intrigued by her work with urban environments and the pollinators that inhabit them, the organizers of TEDxAtlanta invited entomology head Kris Braman to share the results of a recent study she and her team published on urban bee populations. The TEDx talk, hosted at Georgia State University's Rialto Center for the Arts in May, contributed to a forum designed to inspire and ignite the curiosity of listeners all over the globe.

Georgia cotton growers are starting the 2023 season with a boost from near-record-breaking yields last year. The United States Department of Agriculture released final yield data in late May, confirming the second-highest yields on record, as forecasted by University of Georgia cotton experts in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.