Tags: graduate school

Paco Adajar in graphic

Franklin Ph.D. candidate finds beauty and structure in number theory

Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Ph.D. candidate Carlo Francisco Echavez Adajar, known as Paco, studies numbers most people learn in grade school and approaches them as unsolved puzzles. Adajar grew up in Metro Manila, Philippines, the oldest of three siblings in a middle-class family. He first discovered math through competitions. A turning point came in high school. “I began to see mathematics not just as a subject but as a way of…
Kaelie Masaschi

Franklin Double Dawg Kaelie Masaschi prepares to graduate, build career on understanding communication

This week, Kaelie Masaschi will graduate from UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences with a master’s degree in communication studies, focused on interpersonal, intergroup, and health communication. She planned that path early on. As a freshman, she set her sights on the Double Dawg program and followed it through.  What she found in the field of communication studies was more than public speaking or writing. It was a way to…
Emily Bremers in front of sign

Ph.D. candidate Emily Bremers pairs global health research with education

Emily Bremers grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, in a household where education shaped daily life. Both of her parents worked full time and also taught courses at a local community college. Their example set expectations early. “Education mattered, and it carried real weight,” Bremers says. When she considered graduate school, her mother reminded her she was fortunate to be paid to keep learning. That idea stayed with her and shaped her approach to her…
summer in front of plants

First-generation Franklin Ph.D. candidate extends family legacy in plant science

In Covina, California, just outside Los Angeles, education shaped Summer Blanco’s family for generations. Her great-grandfather earned a bachelor’s degree in 1940, followed by her grandmother, mother, and siblings. Raised by a Tejano mother who works in payroll processing and a Nicaraguan father employed by a major airline, Blanco grew up in a household where college was expected. Graduate school had not yet been part of that path. Now, as a Ph.…
Riley Thoen in front of tree

Ph.D. candidate Riley Thoen turns fieldwork into a mission to protect native species

Riley Thoen grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, in a family shaped by rural roots. Both parents were raised in farm country before choosing a more urban life. Thoen found a way to bridge those worlds, returning often to rural landscapes through fieldwork in plant ecology. “I was fascinated by the plant diversity in rural areas,” Thoen says. “But seeing those landscapes fragmented by agriculture sparked my interest in…
Justin in gray and red frame

2026 Franklin Ph.D. candidate explores mutations to build a more secure food future

Growing up in Sartell, Minnesota, Franklin Ph.D. candidate Justin Scherer developed an early appreciation for the natural world, shaped by his close-knit community and the surrounding landscape. What began as curiosity grew into a commitment to understanding how living systems work and how that knowledge can help address real-world challenges. After earning his B.S. in plant biology from University of Minnesota, Twin Cities in 2021, Scherer will…
Blessing in front of 2026 graphic

When people become data points: A Ph.D. candidate’s call for ethical guardrails in biotech and AI

Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Ph.D. candidate Blessing Temitope Adewuyi has built her academic journey around perseverance and faith. Raised in southwestern Nigeria, she became the first in her family to earn a college degree. In May, she will again make family history as the first to earn a Ph.D. Adewuyi’s work sits at the intersection of ethics, religion, and biomedical science. Focusing on bioethics, she examines how advances in…
Keiko Bridwell outside

Where you’re from in how you speak: Franklin Ph.D. candidate Keiko Bridwell’s research on language and place

Ph.D. candidate Keiko Bridwell’s path to commencement at UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences began with a fascination for words and grew into a study of how language shapes identity. As a Ph.D. candidate in linguistics, she focused her research on Athens and neighboring Oconee County, exploring how communities separated by a river and a county line express who they are through speech. By analyzing vowel patterns and interviewing Georgia…
students outside building

Inaugural UGA ASA DataFest 2026 showcases the next generation of data science talent

Sponsored by the American Statistical Association (ASA), the inaugural UGA ASA DataFest 2026 was held April 10–12 and hosted by the University of Georgia’s Department of Statistics in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. The event brought together a diverse group of student data scientists for a weekend of innovation, collaboration, and real-world discovery. Over 48 hours, 94 undergraduate and graduate students from the UGA, Augusta…
Three online majors represented.

UGA’s online degree programs rank among the top in the country

Once again, UGA’s online degree programs rank among the nation’s best. According to a recent U.S. News & World Report, UGA took the No. 18 spot overall, maintaining its national place in the top 20 for 10 consecutive years. Franklin College of Arts and Sciences offers four online graduate degrees, including the highly regarded M.A.Ed. in music education that has been enhancing the careers of musicians for over a decade. Three new master’s…
Subscribe to graduate school

Archive by Year