Peter G. Chiarelli has been awarded an Agriculture and Food Research Initiative predoctoral fellowship from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture for his research on Georgia-caught cannonball jellyfish. Chiarelli is spearheading efforts to create a domestic market for collagen peptide powders derived from cannonball jellyfish.

When the coronavirus pandemic first began in 2020, there was much that officials did not know about the virus and how to combat it. One area of concern was how to disinfect surfaces that were contaminated with SARS-CoV-2. Institutions such as schools and daycares especially needed to know how to clean high-touch surfaces to reduce the risk of infection.

Will Harris still works the same land in Bluffton, Georgia, that his great-grandfather first tended in 1866, but he will leave a very different operation to his children and grandchildren than the one he began working on as a child. A nationally recognized figure in the regenerative farming movement, Harris has transformed his family’s holdings from a traditional farming and cattle operation into a model for regenerative practices.

Georgia 4-H celebrated top 4-H’ers from around the state during the 80th annual 4-H State Congress in Atlanta July 18 to 21. State Congress features the state-level Project Achievement and Leadership in Action contests as well as recognition of youth development professionals, supporters and public officials for their contributions to the success of 4-H in Georgia.

Georgia’s steadily growing wine industry has a new advocate with the hire of a new University of Georgia Cooperative Extension viticulture specialist to support the more than 85 vineyards throughout the state. Sarah Lowder joined the Department of Horticulture in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences this spring as the state viticulturist, a position dedicated to providing the best methods for the cultivation and harvest of wine grapes in Georgia.

With the heat dome holding tight over the South and sliding east over Georgia, it is more important than ever to remember the basics of mosquito prevention. Most mosquito species — and there are 63 in Georgia — tend to thrive when it gets hot. The increased temperatures promote mosquito development to their fastest rates of the season.

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.

For Zilfina Rubio Ames, blueberry research begins after the plant is bred and in the ground. An assistant professor of horticulture in the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and a small-fruit specialist with UGA Cooperative Extension, Rubio Ames endeavors to better understand blueberry plant physiology and how it can be manipulated to increase production efficiency.