During this time of social distancing, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension staff across the state have come together to offer Georgia 4-H programming in an online format. A collection of Southwest District Extension staff has created 4-H New Adventures in Learning Distantly (NAIL'D It) to offer free educational and entertaining virtual lessons to the public.

Learn how seven faculty members tackled distance learning.

When COVID-19 was identified, Malak Esseili stopped taking her children along on trips to the grocery store and she told her sisters to start wearing scarves as makeshift masks while in public. As an assistant professor of food virology at the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety in Griffin, Esseili studied the emerging viral pathogen SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19).

Would you like to enclose your backyard so that you can enjoy your coffee on the patio without your neighbor’s security camera spotting your pajamas? Maybe you want to screen out your view of the neighbor’s yard art collection? Is your house buffeted by wind that you want to block? A hedge may be in order.

University of Georgia Associate Professor Alexa Lamm has earned the 2020 Borlaug CAST Communication Award from the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST). The award is presented annually for outstanding achievement by a scientist, engineer, technologist or other professional working in the agricultural, environmental or food sectors for contributing to the advancement of science in the public policy arena.

The Trial Gardens at the University of Georgia will hold its annual plant sale in a virtual format this year. The sale will be open for online orders from 1 a.m. Wednesday, May 13, through 10 a.m. Friday, May 15, and plant pickup will be on Saturday, May 16, and Monday, May 18.

A team including University of Georgia researchers has for the first time documented the regrowth of surgically removed pathways in the lymphatic system, a network of vessels designed to pump away inflammatory fluids and defend the body against infection.

Farmers and food processors take routine steps to reduce the likelihood of foodborne pathogens, like Salmonella and E. coli, contacting our food and causing illness. The procedures that our food industry takes on a daily basis are also effective in reducing the chances that the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 will come in contact with the food we eat.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected much of daily life for Americans, but a few minutes spent completing the 2020 U.S. Census now will make a big impact in the coming decade.