The shape of a tomato is more important than many of us realize. While some breeding programs focus on disease resistance, higher yield or drought tolerance, University of Georgia plant geneticist Esther van der Knaap and her research team are one step closer to elucidating the protein interactions that regulate the fruit shape of tomatoes.

Near the University of Georgia Griffin campus, Jordan Knapp-Wilson walks into a peach orchard equipped with a myriad of laser-equipped scanners, targets and tripods. He’ll spend the next few hours using data collection tools with the potential to change the peach industry.

What began decades ago as an experiment in horticultural education is still going strong — and celebrating 50 years of public service. Offered through local Extension offices all across the country, the national Extension Master Gardener program brings together local gardeners with a passion for educating others and land-grant universities to help spread the most up-to-date research and information on gardening and horticulture.

Plantfi, a novel system to track plant moisture, sunlight and overall houseplant health, is the winner of University of Georgia’s 2023 FABricate Entrepreneurial Initiative competition. Alex Breazu, the UGA mechanical engineering student who leads Plantfi, got the idea while on his own “plant parent” journey, during which he overwatered and killed his fair share of houseplants.

What began as a grassroots growers cooperative in the 1970s has become one of the Southeast’s most prestigious, member-supported nonprofit farming organizations. Having just wrapped up its 25th annual conference in Perry, Georgia, the organization continues its long-standing partnership with the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and UGA Cooperative Extension.

The University of Georgia Rural Engagement Workshop for Academic Faculty enters its third year with 12 faculty members working in partnership with units of UGA Cooperative Extension and Public Service and Outreach for grants to help solve rural challenges. The workshop is designed to help drive community-engaged research in rural Georgia communities.