A University of Georgia degree is closer than you think.

The University of Georgia Griffin Campus, originally established as the Georgia Experiment Station in 1888, has played an integral role in the development of modern agriculture. While the campus is mostly known for its groundbreaking advancements in agricultural and environmental sciences, UGA-Griffin began offering degree-completion programs in 2005. Students at UGA-Griffin enjoy low student-to-faculty ratios, and many students are able to take advantage of on-campus work and directed research opportunities so that they can gain real-world work experience while earning their University of Georgia degree.

UGA-Griffin also hosts the Office of Continuing Education, which provides innovative lifelong learning opportunities through its programs. In addition, Continuing Ed offers youth and community outreach programs, as well as conference space for other meetings and special events.

Contact us for more information about academic programs or for other general inquiries.

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Spotlight on Campus News and Events

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Clay models track the activity of beneficial insects in turfgrass

Posted on
Friday, January 8, 2021
Photos of clay models with bite marks

Modeling clay isn’t limited to art classrooms and sculpting studios. University of Georgia researchers developed a tool to track beneficial insects in turfgrass systems using clay models. Tracking these good predators can help develop eco-friendly pest management techniques for both home lawns and commercial sod growers.

In a recently published article in Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, UGA scientists determined that beneficial predator insects will interact with and leave distinct markings on clay models that resemble their prey, in this case the larvae of turfgrass pests. This study was led by entomology doctoral candidate Fawad Khan under the guidance of Assistant Professor Shimat Joseph in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences on the UGA Griffin campus.

“We want to know who the predators are and what kind of impressions these predators will create on these clay models. Before we do anything in the field, we need to have a sense of what that looks like,” said Joseph, a turfgrass entomologist.

Though the clay model approach has been used in other disciplines to observe predator activity, Joseph and Khan found no previous use of the method in turfgrass research. This study developed clay models as a tool to aid in future research.

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Pruning tips for ornamental plants

Posted on
Friday, November 6, 2020
Photo of Bob Westerfield pruning an ornamental plant

To prune or not to prune, that is the question. Pruning is an important part of maintaining plant health and maximizing plant productivity. This is often a topic that brings fear and confusion, but pruning is, in fact, a beneficial and routine task.

Ornamental plants in the home landscape are pruned for several reasons, including maintaining a desired size or shape; promoting healthy, vigorous growth, flowering or fruiting; and removing sections damaged by insects, disease or weather. Each plant in the landscape has its own growth habit and different requirements for pruning. Some shrubs have dwarf growth habits and may never require pruning, while vigorous, large-growing shrubs may require frequent pruning. Anyone can prune, but not everyone prunes properly.

Improper pruning, or pruning at the wrong time of the year, can result in misshapen plants, reduced flowering or plants that are more likely to be damaged by insects, diseases or winter cold. Because flowering ornamentals form their flower buds at different times of year, pruning times must be adjusted accordingly.

Many spring-flowering plants such as azalea, dogwood, forsythia, redbud and rhododendron set flower buds in the fall, so pruning during the fall or winter months eliminates or decreases their spring flower display.

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Horne, Miller named 2020 Classified Employees of the Year

Posted on
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
Photo of Marie Miller, Dr. David Buntin, and Beth Horne

The University of Georgia Griffin campus recently named Beth Horne and Marie Miller as the 2020 Classified Employees of the year. The designation was made at the 31st Annual Employee Recognition Ceremony held on Tuesday, September 29.

 

Ten employees were nominated for the Classified Employee of the Year Award- Clay Bennett (Crop and Soil Sciences), Brett Byous (Entomology), Faye Chatman (Academic Programs), Jill Cunningham (Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Unit), Beth Horne (Center for Urban Agriculture), David Mann (Center for Food Safety), Marie Miller (Finance and Administration), Daniel Nordstrom (Field Research Services), Carol Picard (Plant Pathology) and Ilea Rockwell (Facilities Management Division).

 

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UGA’s wheat breeding program releases three new wheat varieties for 2020

Posted on
Thursday, October 29, 2020
Photo of Dr. Mohammed Mergoum examining wheat seedlings

Three new wheat varieties released this year by the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ wheat breeding program are the product of more than a dozen years of work by breeders on the UGA Griffin campus.

When it comes to cultivating new varieties of wheat, patience is key, as it takes an average of 10 to 14 years to breed a new variety of the grain that has been around as long as mankind. Researchers put in many years of work to see the fruits of their labor, and this year Mohamed Mergoum, the Georgia Seed Development-UGA Foundation Professor in Wheat Breeding and Genetics at the Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, and his research team are seeing the results of work begun in 2005 by wheat breeder and Professor Emeritus Jerry Johnson.

The three varieties being released this year — known as '17E8', '17E11' and '17LE16' — are all soft, red winter wheat and will be used to make flour for crackers and cookies. To determine what each wheat variety is best used for, researchers test the flour by making baked goods such as cookies or bread during the breeding process. This also allows for the product to be better marketed to both the farmers who grow the wheat and the milling and baking companies that purchase it.

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