When the University of Georgia Bulldogs step between the hedges at Sanford Stadium, the grass on Dooley Field needs to look perfect. More importantly, though, it needs to help safeguard the health of athletes who compete on it. Gerald Henry plays a big role in the latter. The UGA Athletic Association’s endowed professor in environmental turfgrass leads a research team in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences committed to creating sports fields that look good and perform well to limit the occurrence of injuries.

More than 650 turf industry professionals, golf course superintendents and local homeowners gathered at the University of Georgia Griffin campus on Aug. 7 for the 2024 Turfgrass Research Field Day. Participants learned about turf-related issues from College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences researchers and UGA Cooperative Extension specialists from all three of the university's campuses.

Researchers have made a major discovery in the fight against soybean cyst nematode (SCN) by focusing on the genetics of the parasitic roundworms. Extensive genetic sequencing and mapping helped them identify a handful of likely genes behind the tricky pests’ ability to skirt soybean genetic resistance. Knowing how these SCN genes and soybean genes interact and evolve will help the industry identify the virulence of SCN populations so farmers can better use the genetic resistance currently available to fight the pest.

As antimicrobial resistance grows, the world faces a deadly adversary few predicted: fungus. The battle against pathogenic fungi is raging, and UGA researchers are on the frontlines. “The fungus starts to direct the ant’s behavior, telling it where to go, what to do, like a puppeteer with a marionette. And it gets worse,” Dr. Neuman begins. “The fungus needs food to live, so it begins to devour its host from within, replacing the ant’s flesh with its own. But it doesn’t let its victim die. No, it keeps its puppet alive.”

Type 2 diabetes increased by almost 20% between 2012 and 2022, according to a new study from the University of Georgia. The researchers found an increase in diabetes among all sociodemographic groups. But non-Hispanic Black people were particularly hard hit by the disease, with just under 16% of Black study participants reporting being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. More than 1 in 5 individuals aged 65 or older had the condition.

Nestled among cappuccinos and traditional espresso lattes, a unique, golden-hued beverage has grown increasingly popular on cafe menus over the past several years. Advertised as a caffeine-free, healthy coffee alternative, “golden” turmeric milk is a take on haldi doodh — a traditional Indian beverage often used as an at-home cold remedy. Now researchers at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences have developed a new method to make a plant-based, instant version of the beverage.

Jennifer Berry has always been interested in insects. As a child, she would spend time in the woods behind her house, fascinated by the multi-legged life that lived among the trees. In summers, Berry visited her grandparents’ Missouri farm, where her grandfather would take her to a buzzing tree to collect bits of honeycomb. After safely smoking out some of the bees, he would hold Berry up to see the hive and take a couple of small combs for them to enjoy. “I always wanted more,” she said.

For more than two decades, the Georgia Farm Gate Value Report has offered a comprehensive analysis of the county-level production value for commodities in Georgia’s No. 1 industry, agriculture. The reports provide essential data to farmers in the state’s 159 counties. Now the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is providing Georgia’s producers with a new tool, the Georgia Farm Gate Value 20-Year Trends.

The Rivers of Iris exhibit at the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens (CGBG) is flourishing, but the technicolor blooms aren’t the only things attracting attention. Stan Gray, volunteer iris curator at CGBG, and Brian Shamblin, an associate research scientist with the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, are growing several mystery irises at the gardens that could prove to be one of two exceptionally rare iris species: Iris rivularis or a variant of Iris hexagona.