Jennifer Jo Thompson's work is situated at the intersection of science, health and food systems. A researcher in the University of Georgia Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Thompson uses her background in medical anthropology to engage with policy and social justice to improve sustainability in agriculture and food systems. Learn more about her journey to academia and ongoing projects to build sustainable food systems in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

On a Monday morning in late June, just over two dozen middle- and high-school teachers trickled into a classroom at the University of Georgia Poultry Research Center and took their seats in groups of two and three. Hailing from public schools around the state, the teachers were preparing for Avian Academy, a highly popular three-day program for agriculture and STEM teachers hosted annually.

On a fine day at the University of Georgia Heritage Apple Orchard, you can see the fringing peaks of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest rising around like a hedgerow, guarding against whatever forces might encroach. When Stephen Mihm looks over the tops of the 275-odd dwarf apple trees that constitute the orchard, he sees more than a pretty view of the Appalachian foothills. He sees clear into Georgia’s past.

An 11-year-old girl changed everything for Anna Blount. Blount enrolled in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in 2001 with plans to go on to veterinary school. She loved animals and worked at a veterinary clinic while she earned her degree in biological science. But, as a college student, Blount also became a de facto parent.

Fall weather means fall gardening, and several groups at the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will be offering the fruits of their labors at ornamental plant sales across campus this semester. On Friday, Oct. 18, the Trial Gardens at University of Georgia will hold its annual Fall Houseplant Sale, and on Wednesday, Nov. 20, greenhouse management students will offer their ornamental plant sale at the South Milledge Greenhouse Complex.

On a farm in southwest Georgia, the rising sun is just beginning to shine upon acres of lush fall crops growing in neat rows. Migrant workers are hunched over, quickly picking the dew-covered leafy greens destined for grocery stores throughout the country. At the end of a hard day, they head home to a shared house that has been provided to them for the duration of their employment. The next morning, they will wake and return to the fields for another day of work in the elements and finish with a shared evening in the communal housing.

Today, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper, in coordination with Governor Brian P. Kemp, the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), and the Georgia Forestry Commission, announced the preliminary estimate of Hurricane Helene’s economic impact on Georgia agriculture is $6.46 billion.

Can the brain heal itself after a traumatic injury? Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent a promising treatment that could help the brain self-repair, and University of Georgia researchers have received a $3.7 million award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to study MSCs’ potential for treatment of traumatic brain injury, or TBI.

Cage free. The term seems self-explanatory enough. Step inside a cage-free poultry house, and the reality is not far detached from the perception. A soft bed of wood shavings or sand litters the ground. Step carefully, as it’s likely you’ll find an egg or two scattered randomly underfoot. And there are chickens everywhere, freely roaming like a crowd at a flea market. Cage-free poultry systems—indoor aviaries that house colonies of up to thousands of birds—offer an improved level of animal welfare for egg-laying hens.