Another school year has come and gone, and with this passing, a new group of Bulldogs are about to gain their titles as University of Georgia alumni. The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will hold its convocation ceremony at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 11, at The Classic Center Theatre in downtown Athens. 

Each year, millions of people are infected by Plasmodium and exposed to an even more debilitating — and often deadly — disease: malaria. Malaria is one of the deadliest diseases known to man. More than half the world’s population is at risk of contracting the disease, and those who develop relapsing infections suffer a host of associated costs.

When Rosalba Mazzotta was in the midst of her internship at a firm in the energy industry, the fourth-year biochemical engineering major took the opportunity to brush up on some of her research. She counted the number of employees of color. She also counted the number of white employees named John. They were the same. Four.

The shape of a tomato is more important than many of us realize. While some breeding programs focus on disease resistance, higher yield or drought tolerance, University of Georgia plant geneticist Esther van der Knaap and her research team are one step closer to elucidating the protein interactions that regulate the fruit shape of tomatoes.

Near the University of Georgia Griffin campus, Jordan Knapp-Wilson walks into a peach orchard equipped with a myriad of laser-equipped scanners, targets and tripods. He’ll spend the next few hours using data collection tools with the potential to change the peach industry.

While we had an early start to the growing season, it was followed by colder conditions in March that slowed things down quite a bit. Since that time, we have seen periods of very warm weather alternating with much cooler conditions. As soil temperatures rise and fall, it has been tough for farmers to know when to plant. The big player in the weather the rest of this growing season and next winter is the rapidly developing El Niño.

Georgia’s life sciences community celebrates outstanding accomplishments of individuals, companies and organizations each year at Georgia Bio’s Golden Helix Awards. This year, two University of Georgia affiliates — Georgia CTSA and Dalan Animal Health — were honored for their impacts in innovation and entrepreneurship.

Dan Suiter, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension entomologist and well-known expert in addressing the needs of pest control operators, has been named the Orkin Professor of Urban Entomology at UGA. Orkin, an industry leader in pest control services and protection, has created the endowment to help strengthen the entomology program in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

For centuries, scientists have tried to crack the mystery of a devastating ailment once called “the shaking palsy.” But Parkinson’s disease, which causes tremors, muscle stiffness and difficulty walking, remains the second most common neurodegenerative disorder in the United States after Alzheimer’s. About 1 million Americans have Parkinson’s, and more than 50,000 new cases are diagnosed annually.