Tags: Human Nature

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New techniques for diagnosing respiratory abnormalities

Just last week, UGA hosted a symposium on Research Experiences for Undergraduates, a program that brought promising young researchers to campus for ten weeks this summer to work with and be mentored by some of our best faculty members. The theme of the first day's presentations was computational biology, and if you're curious about research pursuits within that confluence of disciplines, a new study demonstrates what it is quite well: Though it…

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When thieving weeds attack

An international group of scientists that includes assistant professor of genetics Dave Nelson has discovered how parasitic plants, which steal their nutrients from another living plant, evolved the ability to detect and attack their hosts. Their findings were  published recently in the journal Science: As plant roots grow, they release hormones called strigolactones into the soil. This is a signal that normally helps fungi form a…


Symposium Highlights Undergraduate Research

Later this month, a symposium will highlight the research of 10 undergraduate students from across the country who have been participating in a 10-week Research Experiences for Undergraduates program funded by the National Science Foundation. Boasting from programs as prestigious as MIT and University of California, Berkeley, the students will present their research in nanotechnology and biomedicine Friday, July 31 beginning at 8 a.m. at the…

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Informatics Initiative

You can read about the Information Age on almost any page, on practically any day. More data has been created in the last fifteen years than in all previous human history. What does this mean for science? For research? For scholarship? Quite a byte(!), it turns out. Managing, storing and making this data accessible is a Herculean task that is growing by the day. It is arguably one of the greatest next-challenges of civilization, not to mention…

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Hunker Down with Housing

Yes, move-in day is only a few short weeks away, and our friends at University Housing are looking for volunteers to streamline the move-in process for students and their families. University Housing will welcome all new and returning students to Athens on Tuesday, August 11, and Wednesday, August 12, during Hunker Down with Housing. Volunteers from the community, students and all university staff are invited to help welcome approximately 8,000…

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Weather-related accidents and conditions

Great demonstration at the geography building yesterday, and our colleague Jessica Luton shares the story: The UGA Geography building lawn looked more like a setup for a child’s birthday party or a carnival than a research project Thursday afternoon as students gathered around a red and yellow bounce house. The students, who are both undergraduate and graduate students studying atmospheric science, are taking a summer geography class meant to…

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To Fight A Parasite

Very big news out of cellular biology and the Striepen lab in the fight against a parasite known as a major cause of suffering throughout the developing world: Researchers at the University of Georgia have developed new tools to study and genetically manipulate cryptosporidium, a microscopic parasite that causes the diarrheal disease cryptosporidiosis. Their discoveries, published in the journal Nature, will ultimately help researchers in…

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UGA in LA

Our California-based alums, and we have a lot of them, are in the spotlight this week as the university holds alumni events in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Today, it's LA: Alumni, friends and parents are invited to join President Morehead and others including faculty and staff from Franklin at a reception at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, details at the link. Should be fun. And the S.F. on Thursday. The Arch stretches across the country,…

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Social Media and Informal Learning

An interesting new study highlighted on the CHE blog, Wired Campus, expands on the expanding reality of the impacts of social media on informed discussions within and beyond the classroom: In a paper released on Monday, Christine Greenhow, an assistant professor of education at Michigan State University, argues that using informal social-media settings to carry on debates about science can help students refine their argumentative skills,…

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Amazing student: Colton Fowlkes

We talk often (and hear even more) about high school students' involvement in a range of activities beyond the classroom, and how this can make them more attractive applicants in the selective college admissions process. But what about after they are admitted and become university students? Are extra-curricular activites still important? Is having fun while you're making a difference important? Double-major in psychology and biology Colton…

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WUGA TV

The sale of WUGA-TV to Marquee Broadcasting is scheduled to be completed on July 1, and we would be remiss not to note the end of this mini-epoch in university broadcasting. Since 2012, WUGA-TV existed as a local PBS affiliate in Athens, owned by UGA and whatever may have been its initial puropse or the original motivations behind the endeavor, the Franklin College became a significant contributor to the station. It broadcast, in every sense of…

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Buffer Zones Needed

Interesting findings from Warnell School researchers that could have much broader implications (than just the sites mentioned) - natural wilderness areas need the protection of buffer zones: Coveted for their beauty, these wilderness areas draw innumerable outdoor enthusiasts eager for a taste of primitive nature. But University of Georgia researchers say these federally protected nature areas have a problem: Their boundaries have become prime…

UGA North campus with trees
A Welcoming Environment

The speed with which the Confederate flag has fallen below the line of acceptability in a single week is inspiring. That symbol is not just being talked about - it is being taken down. As a part of this swirl of events in motion, predicated on the murderous rampage in Charleston one week ago, how will the conversation to make our campuses more inviting, welcoming and diverse - especially here in the South - continue to progress? Other…

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Pew Scholar in biomedical sciences

Congratulations to Bob Schmitz, assistant professor of genetics, who was recently named a Pew scholar in the biomedical sciences by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Schmitz, an assistant professor of genetics in UGA's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, joins the ranks of more than 600 outstanding scientists who have been selected as Pew scholars in the 30 years since the program's inception and whose careers have been dedicated to bold scientific…

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On truth

Astute piece in the Chronicle Review about the opportunism of disputing the truth that actually grew out of the academy: It’s not just garden-variety ignorance that periodically appears in public-opinion polls that makes us cringe or laugh. A 2009 survey by the California Academy of Sciences found that only 53 percent of American adults knew how long it takes for Earth to revolve around the sun. Only 59 percent knew that the earliest…

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Industrial Espionage: A brief history

History professor Stephen Mihm uses his Bloomberg column to offer a heuristic for those who might get the vapors about recent "unscrupulous dealings in the global economy": before getting into high dudgeon mode, the U.S., and for that matter, almost every Western nation, might wish to remember their own, no-holds-barred campaigns to swipe industrial secrets. In fact, one of the first cases involved the theft of industrial secrets from China. In…

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National Humanities Alliance

When a university's humanities programs are strong, as they are at UGA, we don't hear much about the threats to instruction and research in its many disciplines. But that humanites strength on our campus comes from a supportive community that fosters collaboration at critical junctures - both physical and in time - that makes innovative faculty and student initiatives a reality. In other words, we recognize the importance of having the Willson…

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Staff Appreciation and Awards

UGA and Franklin College staff are the people who make our campus work in every way imaginable and this week, staff will be the focus of events to show how much they are appreciated. First up is our Franklin College Staff Appreciation Reception this afternoon at 3 p.m. at the MLC, an annual event that includes the presentition of staff excellence awards and recognition of years of service for longtime employees. Then on Friday, the University…

stadium with fireworks
Commencement 2015

Amazing. Today is the day - the culmination of so many individual, familial and collective efforts. It's why all the buildings are here and the reason we need a word for 'campus.' The desks and chairs, the technology and the books, the assembly of learning and the skill to share it all present together in the diplomas that will be handed out this evening in that edifice normally reserved for contests of will and strength. Today and this evening…

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Chemists trap molecular species of silicon oxides

In an inspiring breakthrough, chemistry researchers have stablized one of the most abundant silicon oxides in the universe: Using a technique they developed in 2008, the UGA team succeeded in isolating silicon oxide fragments for the first time, at room temperature, by trapping them between stabilizing organic bases. "In the 2008 discovery, we were able to stabilize the disilicon molecule, which previously could only be studied at extremely low…

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Franklin faculty in the media

Faculty representing thirteen different departments within the Franklin College were quoted and thier work referenced across a wide variety of international media. A sampling of the terrific public engagement by our experts: Five things to know about tornadoes – Front-page feature in today’s Athens Banner-Herald quotes associate professor of geography John Knox UGA researchers growing trees faster and easier to turn into fuel, reports the Athens…

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Kudos, April - May

Tremendous accomplishments by Franklin faculty of late, as noted below. But we share our our top item with great pride and no small measure of sadness as the Franklin College bids farewell and good luck to one of our great colleagues, Linda Bachman, as she begins an important new job at UGA: Assistant dean Linda Bachman has been named director of university experiential learning. Her appointment is effective May 1 in the Office of the Vice…

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Experiential Learning

The University continues to tweak the undergraduate experience toward broader preparation for the variety of next steps after graduation: [UGA] has taken a significant step toward ensuring that all of its students engage in the kinds of hands-on experiences that enhance learning and position them for success after graduation. All undergraduate students will be required to engage in experiential learning-through opportunities that include…

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2015 Creative Teaching Awards

Creative teaching is not just something professors do, but it's about who they are, where they come from, the vision they have for students, plus a host of other attributes to intuitive scholarship in the classroom. This year, UGA recognizes four great ones, including two from the Franklin College: Richard Menke and Montgomery Wolf, in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and Brock Woodson and Siddharth Savadatti…


21st Coley Lecture

UGA and the Franklin College welcomes Juana María Rodríguez, professor of gender and women's studies at the University of California, Berkeley, to campus to deliver the 21st annual Andrea Carson Coley Lecture on April 10 at 12:30 p.m. in the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. Rodríguez's lecture, "Sexual Affects: Visualizing Pleasure, Troubling Politics" will follow a reception honoring the Coley family at 11:30 a.m…
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