As the inaugural cohort of the Rural Scholars Program completes their first year in the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the next cohort of three scholars has been chosen.

In the decades since Keith Kelly graduated from the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences with a degree in agricultural economics, he has built a diversified slate of agricultural businesses encompassing 17 distinct brands. Now Kelly is applying his agricultural knowledge and Kelly Products Inc. to a new initiative to combine leading-edge technology with the expertise of UGA’s Department of Animal and Dairy Science.

Judges have selected 32 finalists to compete in the second and final round of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ annual Flavor of Georgia Food Product Contest. Narrowed from a field of 148 products, the finalists will compete on April 21 at The Classic Center in Athens with an award ceremony to follow.

Warming temperatures will have tegus on the move in southeast Georgia. Reporting sightings of tegus, alive or dead, is needed to keep the big, South American lizards from gaining a foothold in the state, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

The winner of the University of Georgia’s 2022 FABricate Entrepreneurial Initiative competition is a novel automated system designed to help pasture-raised egg producers increase their efficiency. Conceptualized by a team led by poultry science undergraduate student Chris Ayers and biological engineering student Jeffery Whitmire, Chiktopia is an automated chicken tractor designed to move pasture-raised chickens easily and efficiently while preserving the land and saving labor costs.

Jena Johnson, a lab manager in the Department of Entomology in UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, captures what she observes working with mosquitoes and other insects in the lab of entomology professor Michael Strand. She finds scientific and artistic meaning in her photos, which offer a glimpse at both intriguing behavioral phenomena and unexpected natural beauty.

Whether on the hunt for Sinningia speciosa or simply looking for a leafy perennial in the perfect shade of green, the annual plant sale hosted by the Trial Gardens at the University of Georgia will have plenty of options for experts and hobbyists alike. The sale will run in person from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 9, at 1030 West Green Street in Athens.

Four graduate students in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences have been honored with an E. Broadus Browne Award for Outstanding Graduate Research. Given in honor of the former director of the Georgia Agricultural Experiment Stations, the award is presented to outstanding master’s and doctorate students in CAES based on both their research and effective communication.

As millions of viewers tune in to watch the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, 10 University of Georgia student interns will be on site, working in the kitchen. The students are part of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ nascent Hospitality and Food Industry Management program.