On a stormy day in September 2009, a crew of Central Fulton Master Gardeners were nearly knee-deep in mud, installing landscaping on their first house for a partnership with Atlanta Habitat for Humanity. It was not how anyone envisioned the project kick-off. More than 14 years later, CFMG has maintained its commitment to the organization, completing its 500th Habitat project — a fitting milestone as the national Extension Master Gardener program celebrates its golden jubilee this year.

Two faculty members in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and UGA Cooperative Extension were named to the Fruit and Vegetable 40 under 40 Class of 2023. The award ceremony will be held during the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market EXPO on Tuesday, Dec. 5, at the DeVos Place Convention Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

For Dean Kopsell, newly appointed associate dean for academic affairs for the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, moving to Athens is like coming home. Currently professor and chair of the Environmental Horticulture Department at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Kopsell, a two-time UGA alumnus and devoted Georgia Bulldog fan, is eager to return to the Classic City and excited about the opportunity to serve his alma mater and the students of CAES.

Like proud parents at a recital, undergraduate students in the upper-level University of Georgia “Greenhouse Management” class fussed around the hundreds of daisies, chrysanthemums, Gasteria succulents, snapdragons, dianthus and echinacea they had cultivated for their inaugural plant sale. The October sale, like the rearing of the plants from seedling plugs donated by green industry partners, was entirely student-planned and implemented.

Early education opportunities that place students in the driver’s seat of hands-on field research can have infinite impacts, launching students on academic and career paths with immeasurable advantages. High school students interested in learning more about agricultural, food and environmental sciences are experiencing the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to grow as researchers thanks to the University of Georgia’s Young Scholars Program.

The blueberries were suffering. It was the summer of 2022, and Amelia Lyons was working at Sweet Acre Farms, a Georgia vineyard specializing in fruit wines. While Lyons was fixing the vineyard’s irrigation for a dry summer, she noticed that small, dark red spots had appeared on the blueberries. While searching for a solution, she came across a peer-reviewed paper from the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences that addressed the exact disease she was trying to treat.