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Published on 05/16/19

Bodie Pennisi named Public Service and Outreach Faculty Fellow at UGA

By Sharon Dowdy

University of Georgia Department of Horticulture Professor Bodie Pennisi has been named a UGA Public Service and Outreach (PSO) Faculty Fellow for 2019-2020.

The PSO Fellowship Program provides UGA professors with an opportunity to apply their research and course curriculum to the needs of a specific PSO unit. The program creates sustained relationships between the designated unit and the Faculty Fellows’ department.

Through the fellowship, Pennisi will work with UGA’s Small Business Development Center to implement online business training designed for landscape business owners and managers.

The training will include essential topics like financials, marketing, cost estimating, employee retention and customer service.

In the future, the online training module will be used across UGA Cooperative Extension and as an online class for UGA undergraduate students. An experienced online educator, Pennisi will be using her horticulture and landscape expertise to help small businesses across Georgia.

She currently teaches three online courses at UGA — “Plant Physiology,” “Herbs, Spices, and Medicinal Plants,” and “Plants, Pollinators, and You.”

Based on the UGA Griffin campus, Pennisi coordinates a statewide program that supports the professional landscape industry. As UGA Extension’s horticulturist and landscape specialist, she also assists UGA Extension agents with landscape troubleshooting, landscape planning and local programming. She also conducts applied research focused on evaluating wildflowers and ornamental plants for attractiveness to pollinators and natural enemies, as well as other sustainable practices for outdoor and indoor landscapes.  

She serves as educational adviser to the Georgia Green Industry Association, the Urban Agriculture Council and the national nonprofit organization Green Plants for Green Buildings. She also serves on the environmental committee of the National Initiative for Consumer Horticulture, the board of directors of the Griffin Region College and Career Academy, and is a co-editor-in-chief of the journal Scientia Horticulturae.

Sharon Dowdy is a news editor with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Authors:
Sharon Dowdy
Experts/Sources:
Bodie Pennisi
Based on the UGA Griffin campus, Bodie Pennisi coordinates a statewide program that supports the professional landscape industry. She also assists UGA Extension agents with landscape troubleshooting, landscape planning and local programming, and she conducts applied research on wildflowers and ornamental plants.
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