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College of Public Health professor tracks tuberculosis through mobile location data RESEARCH NEWS
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UGA Symphony kicks off Thursday Scholarship Series with Sept. 5 concert Vol. 47, No. 5
August 26, 2019
www.columns.uga.edu
UGA GUIDE
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UGA offers rural students free ride to Peach State Tour
By Janis Gleason jgleason@uga.edu
Shannah Montgomery
Participants in this year’s New Faculty Tour visited the UGA Griffin Campus Food Product Innovation Center.
‘Deep and profound’
New Faculty Tour provides education and impact By Michael Terrazas
michael.terrazas@uga.edu
The trip ended where it began, with a large coach bus parked outside the Georgia Center in the August heat, a group of about 50 faculty, administrators and staff milling about with their luggage and backpacks. Except, with the UGA 2019 New Faculty Tour now complete, that’s where the similarities ended. The group that boarded the bus Aug. 5 was subdued, even quiet, few of the participants familiar with each other. When they stepped off the bus on Aug. 9, there was laughter, smiling, hugs and hearty handshakes—and a lot of plans being made. That was the impact of their five-day trek across their new home state, a whirlwind odyssey that carried the group from Athens to the mountains of North Georgia, down
through Atlanta to the sandy soils of the south, east to the Atlantic coast and then back again. Five long, jampacked days that started on the bus at 7 a.m. and ended past 9 p.m. with few breaks in between—and every minute its own reward. “On this tour, you will recognize the historical and synergistic bond that exists between the university and the citizens of this state,” President Jere W. Morehead told the group just before they departed. “You’re going to see a lot of love for UGA. It’s deep and profound.” The president was not exaggerating. At just about every stop along the way, the riders were greeted by waves of affection for their university—not just love but also excitement, gratitude and a whole lot of pride. Somewhere around Hawkinsville (population 4,589; located 50 miles south of Macon) it became difficult to remember just how many guest speakers had
punctuated their remarks with, “By the way, I went to Georgia, too. Go, Dawgs!” “It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Rachel Fusco, now the Georgia Athletic Association Professor in Health and Well-Being in the School of Social Work. “It was incredible to learn about the social, cultural and economic life of Georgia—a state I admittedly did not know much about. I was touched by the pride people had in their towns and how hard they are working to keep them vital.” In fact, it is the university’s work in partnering with these communities that provided so much inspiration. Whether they were praising the efforts of the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, the Archway Partnership or the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, or simply the steady stream of talent that emerges from UGA after each See TOUR on page 8
GRADY COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
Kim named first Dan Magill Georgia Athletic Association Professor in Sports Communications By Dayne Young dayne@uga.edu
Grady College advertising professor Jooyoung Kim has been named the first Dan Magill Georgia Athletic Association Professor in Sports Communications. The professorship honors Dan Magill, former UGA sports information director and tennis coach. “The professorship clearly signifies the care and support for longterm research excellence carried by Grady faculty,” Kim said.“I consider the professorship as an unparalleled opportunity and encouragement for further research rather than
a recognition of the works already done. The field of sports communications calls for scientific inquiries and insights to help build better Jooyoung Kim relationships among teams, players, spectators, the general public and sponsoring brands for any sporting events.” Kim’s research focuses on advertising theory and practice. He is currently focused on advertising engagement, integration effects and
consumer emotion. “I am delighted to appoint Dr. Kim the inaugural Dan Magill Georgia Athletic Association Professor in Sports Communications,” said Charles N. Davis, Grady College dean. “This professorship will augment the many exciting things that Grady is doing in the area of sports media and honors the greatest Bulldog of them all, so it means the world to me personally. An indelible memory of my deanship is getting to visit with coach Magill and tell him about this professorship, and so seeing it come to fruition is most gratifying.” See MAGILL on page 8
Many students and families in rural Georgia who live more than 25 miles from a Peach State Tour location will be able to take a free, chartered bus provided by the University of Georgia to one of the college information events planned across the state through Sept. 5. UGA’s Office of Admissions staff teams up with their counterparts from Georgia State University and Georgia Tech each year for the Peach State Tour, when the three institutions hold information sessions in 23 cities and
towns across Georgia. The free transportation provides an additional opportunity for students to attend one of these events, which are hosted within 50 miles of every Georgian. The President’s Office at UGA is providing funding for the free buses to encourage all interested students to attend a tour event and learn more about higher education opportunities in Georgia. “The University of Georgia aims to develop leaders who represent Georgia’s diverse population, including students from rural parts of our state,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “Providing free
See RURAL on page 8
GEORGIA RESEARCH ALLIANCE
Crich joins UGA faculty as GRA Eminent Scholar in Drug Design
The University of Georgia has added to its impressive roster of Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholars, as renowned chemist David Crich joined the faculty this fall with a joint appointment in the department of pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences in the College of Pharmacy and the department of chemistry in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Crich, the winner of major prizes in organic and carbohydrate chemistry, also is affiliated with UGA’s Complex Carbohydrate Research Center. GRA Eminent Scholars are acknowledged leaders in areas of science that are strategically important to the state of Georgia and its research universities. Crich is the seventh Eminent Scholar recruited
to UGA since 2015 and the 19th to date. “I am delighted that Dr. Crich has joined the University of Georgia, and I look forward David Crich to his contributions to our research enterprise and entrepreneurial endeavors,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “He will build important connections among disciplines on our campus and advance our efforts to find solutions to scientific and health-related challenges facing our world.”
See GRA on page 8
FRANKLIN COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Associate professor receives Presidential Early Career Award By Alan Flurry
aflurry@uga.edu
University of Georgia associate professor Paula Lemons is among the 2019 recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, or PECASE, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists and engineers in the early stages of their research careers and who show exceptional promise for leadership in science and technology. Established in 1996, the PECASE acknowledges the contributions scientists and engineers have made to the advancement of science, technology, education and mathematics, or STEM, education
and to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education and community outreach. The White House Paula Lemons Office of Science and Technology Policy coordinates the PECASE with participating departments and agencies. Lemons is an associate professor in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of biochemistry and molecular biology. “I am very grateful to receive See AWARD on page 8
2 Aug. 26, 2019 columns.uga.edu UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF GEORGIA
Four regional forums to be held about USG’s strategic planning effort Chancellor Steve Wrigley has extended a special invitation for faculty, staff and students to attend regional forums being held next month as part of the University System of Georgia’s 2019 strategic planning effort. The new strategic plan will set USG’s agenda for the next five years and beyond, making campus input crucial. This is a chance to weigh in on how the system will face the challenges and opportunities of public higher education in Georgia. As background, the board of regents laid the foundation for the plan in March. Over the summer, working groups that include University System office staff as well as presidents representing each of USG’s four academic sectors have gathered ideas and refined them into draft goals, which will be discussed at the forums. As the system gathers feedback from its stakeholders, both these and new goals will be firmed up to help outline strategies moving the system forward. Metrics, broken out by sector, will also be developed to measure progress toward the plan. Your attendance is encouraged at any of the following forums: • 10 a.m. on Sept. 3 at Georgia State University’s Student Center East; • 10 a.m. on Sept. 4 at Fort Valley State University’s C.W. Pettigrew Center; • 10 a.m. on Sept. 5 at Valdosta State University’s University Center; and • 5 p.m. on Sept. 11 at Dalton State College’s Gignilliat Memorial Hall. More details about each forum will be available closer to September, and among other places will be posted on the system’s homepage at www.usg.edu. Each forum is expected to last about 1.5 hours. All the forums, while open to the public, are a direct opportunity for key stakeholder groups—especially those of faculty, staff and students—to provide face-to-face feedback on the new strategic plan’s direction.
UGA LIBRARIES
2019 Lillian Smith Book Award recipients will be honored at Sept. 1 ceremony By Kaitlin Dotson kdotson@uga.edu
Virginia Eubanks, Rachel Devlin and Vanessa Siddle Walker are the 2019 recipients of the Lillian Smith Book Awards. An award ceremony honoring this year’s winners will take place at the Georgia Center for the Book at DeKalb County Public Library on Sept. 1 at 2:30 p.m. The award ceremony is open free to the public. The Southern Regional Council established the award after Smith’s death in 1966. Internationally acclaimed as author of the controversial 1944 novel Strange Fruit, she was the most outspoken white, mid-20th-century Southern writer on issues of social and racial injustice. The University of Georgia, the Georgia Center for the Book and Piedmont College join the SRC in presenting the awards. Eubanks is an associate professor of political science at the University at Albany, SUNY. Her most recent book, Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor, offers a powerful investigative look at data-based discrimination and how technology affects civil and human rights and economic equity. The book examines the impacts of data mining, policy algorithms and predictive risk models on poor and working-class people in the U.S. Automating Inequality received the 2018 McGannon Center Book Prize and was shortlisted for the Goddard Riverside Stephan Russo Book Prize for Social Justice. Devlin is an associate professor of history at Rutgers University specializing in the cultural politics of girlhood, sexuality and race in the postwar U.S. In her most recent book, A Girl Stands at the Door: The Generation of Young Women Who Desegregated America’s Schools (2018), Devlin draws on interviews and archival research to tell the stories of the many young women who stood up to enraged protesters, hostile teachers and white students every day while integrating classrooms. Walker is a professor of African American educational studies at Emory University and has studied the segregated schooling of African American children for more than 20 years. Her book The Lost Education of Horace Tate provides a harrowing account of the devoted black educators who battled Southern school segregation and inequality.
OFFICE OF RESEARCH
Obesity Initiative, Plant Center get new directors By Ashley Crain
AshleyCrain@uga.edu
New directors were appointed to two research centers in the Office of Research this summer, as Jamie Cooper (College of Family and Consumer Sciences) and C.J. Tsai (Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources) took the reins of the Obesity Initiative and The Plant Center, respectively. Taking over as of July 1, Cooper is ready to lead the Obesity Initiative to the forefront of obesity research in the U.S. “I really want the Obesity Initiative to be the face of obesity research, and when people think about obesity research, I want them to think of the University of Georgia,” said Cooper, an associate professor in FACS and a Fellow in the Obesity Society, founded in 1982 as the leading professional society focused on obesity science, treatment and prevention. Cooper, whose research encompasses a number of areas from human obesity to sports nutrition, aims to expand the Obesity Initiative’s research programs by encouraging more groups and individuals to get involved. According to her, the time to fight the obesity crisis in Georgia is now. “What’s most important is that in Georgia we recognize this is a public health concern and we want to do something about it,” Cooper said. “If researchers want to get involved, we will have opportunities for them, and we’ll
Photos by Andrew Davis Tucker
Jamie Cooper, left, and C.J. Tsai were named directors of the Obesity Initiative and The Plant Center, respectively.
try to foster as many collaborations as possible.” Tsai, a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and professor in plant biology, genetics and forestry, will transition to interim director for The Plant Center on Sept. 12, taking over from the previous director, Scott Jackson. Tsai, who was director of The Plant Center prior to Jackson from 2014 until 2017, is eager to see the continued research and innovation that stems from collaborations between faculty, students and other researchers. “The Plant Center has been a focal point for exciting interactions among graduate students, postdocs, researchers and faculty, and an incubator for
innovative research and interdisciplinary collaboration,” said Tsai. “It has a rich history of research excellence and continues to be a significant strength at UGA.” With the support of the center’s members and advisory committee, Tsai will facilitate election of a new director in the spring. “I look forward to working with Jamie and C.J. in their new roles, and to the leadership they will bring to these two important research units,” said David Lee, vice president for research. “Both of these programs have huge import for the health and economic vitality of the state of Georgia as well as the rest of the globe.”
COLLEGE OF PHARMACY
White Coat Ceremony held for new pharmacy students By Mickey Montevideo mickeym@uga.edu
The University of Georgia College of Pharmacy welcomed 136 new Doctor of Pharmacy students during its annual White Coat Ceremony held Aug. 10 at Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall in the UGA Performing Arts Center. Sponsored by The Kroger Pharmacy Co., the ceremony was highlighted with members of the Class of 2023 donning white laboratory coats, which they will wear in various capacities throughout their four-year tenure at the college. “These 136 individuals will make a mark on our college, their chosen profession and society as a whole,” said Kelly Smith, dean of the College of Pharmacy. “They will spend the next four years working diligently to prepare for the provision of patient care in such settings as community
On Aug. 10, the UGA College of Pharmacy held its annual White Coat Ceremony and welcomed 136 new Doctor of Pharmacy students.
drug stores, hospitals and health care facilities, research laboratories, government organizations and agencies, and more. We are proud they have joined our college and look forward to their accomplishments and service to others.” The ceremony, which was attended by more than 1,000 students, family members, faculty, staff, alumni and
supporters, featured remarks by Smith; Dee Dee McEwen, a 1999 pharmacy graduate and a manager for Kroger Pharmacy; and William Huang, a 2003 pharmacy graduate, president of the College of Pharmacy Alumni Board and a pharmacist for Cancer Treatment Centers of America. McEwen and Huang officially welcomed the students.
OFFICE OF RESEARCH, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Bink joins UGA to grow university’s defense portfolio By Michael Terrazas
michael.terrazas@uga.edu
Martin Bink, after 12 years of civil service with the U.S. Army Research Institute, has joined UGA as the university’s first director of defense and security collaborations, housed within the Office of Research. Bink started in his new role on July 1, and his mission is straightforward: Help lay the groundwork and forge the connections that will make UGA more competitive in securing research funding from the U.S. Department of Defense, other related agencies such as NASA, and the major private contractors that serve those agencies. UGA is looking to grow participation in research areas that intersect the interests of defense, security and space. “Defense agencies are interested in more than just weapon systems,” said Bink, who earned his Ph.D. in psychology from UGA in 1999. “They provide
significant funding for public purpose research. For example, DoD is one of the largest funders of breast cancer research. “The thing I want to communicate to UGA faculty is: DoD funds basic research, and a lot of the research that goes on in this space is not about weaponry or warfighting,” he continued. “They want brand-new ideas, brand-new innovation, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be in the defense application stage.” Currently UGA has relatively little research involvement with defenserelated agencies. According to Bink’s analysis, the university has under 40 active research projects in the defense and security space, totaling about $5.6 million in total contract value. About half of those awards are direct to UGA, with the rest coming through subcontracts, and the average award value is $144,000. “UGA’s research enterprise is expanding quickly, and we have several areas of strength that fit quite well
with the kinds of technologies and innovations that our nation is looking for,” said David Lee, vice president for research. “I welcome Dr. Marty Bink to the university, and I’m eager Martin Bink to see the relationships he’ll develop with our faculty and the inroads he’ll make with these federal agencies and civilian contractors.” Bink’s position is jointly funded by the Office of Research and the College of Engineering, with the expectation that he will spend roughly half his time working with faculty across the university. “We are excited to have Dr. Bink join us and work with our faculty to create new federal funding opportunities for UGA,” said Donald Leo, dean of the College of Engineering and UGA Foundation Professor in Engineering.
RESEARCH NEWS
columns.uga.edu Aug. 26, 2019
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Digest State Botanical Garden alliance wins national award for conservation
GREAT COMMITMENTS Andrew Davis Tucker
Christopher Whalen, the Holbrook Distinguished Professor in Global Health, discusses his research involving tuberculosis with epidemiology doctoral candidate Leonardo Martinez at a monitor in a classroom on the Health Sciences Campus.
Different cell network College of Public Health professor tracks tuberculosis through mobile location data
By Lauren Baggett lbaggett@uga.edu
Cellphones make a lot of things easier—keeping in touch with family, finding directions to the closest gas station, taking photos of everyday life. But for the University of Georgia’s Christopher Whalen, cellphones may also hold the key to tracking how tuberculosis spreads through communities in Africa. Tuberculosis is the ninth leading cause of death worldwide and the No. 1 deadliest infectious disease on the planet. Despite the arrival of a vaccine in 1921, effective treatment options since 1952 and numerous disease prevention campaigns, tuberculosis remains uncontrolled in many parts of the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Disease burden is a measurement that tries to quantify the impact of a health problem (cost, mortality, etc.). In sub-Saharan Africa, the burden of tuberculosis, or TB, is high and made worse because of the HIV epidemic. New cases of TB number in the millions each year throughout the African continent. As a physician and an epidemiologist, Whalen has dedicated his career to preventing the spread of the TB. “To make progress in curbing the
epidemic of tuberculosis, new cases must be prevented,” said Whalen, the Holbrook Distinguished Professor in Global Health and director of the Global Health Institute at UGA’s College of Public Health. The standard approach to tuberculosis control today relies on detection and treatment, but this approach doesn’t work in areas where the disease burden is high and new cases are numerous. As Whalen explained, “By the time a case is diagnosed and treated, the next generation of cases has already been newly infected.” African countries accounted for almost one out of every four new cases of TB worldwide in 2017, according to the World Health Organization. The rate is even higher in urban settings, like Uganda’s capital of Kampala. For more than 30 years, Whalen has been working with colleagues at Makerere University in Kampala to discover better ways of limiting TB’s spread. Beginning in the 1990s, Whalen and a team of Ugandan scientists performed some of the first epidemiological studies on the effect of the HIV epidemic on its sister epidemic of TB in high-burden communities. They formalized the standard public health practice of contact tracing— identifying and gathering information about any person who comes into contact with an infected patient—as a
research tool to learn how TB spreads both inside a household and within social networks. In 2018, he was awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health to map the TB transmission in Kampala using a combination of patient lab samples and cellphone records. “Everyone is carrying a cellphone,” said Whalen. “By using archived cell phone records, we can map where TB cases move and measure how much time (patients) spent in different places.” The team will integrate this data with a genomic profile of the M. tuberculosis bacteria from patient lab samples. Through genomic testing, Whalen can trace one unique tuberculosis bacterium through communities, and the cellphone data provides a timeline for where and when new patients are infected. “Our world today is an increasingly interrelated global community,” said Whalen.“The diseases that threaten one community, one place, do not respect geographical boundaries.” Whalen’s work not only changes the game for TB prevention in Uganda but also protects communities across the globe. Editor’s note: This story is part of the Great Commitments series, which focuses on cutting-edge research happening on UGA campuses. Read more about UGA’s commitment to research that changes lives at greatcommitments.uga.edu.
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
COE alumna, student win race, ethnicity award By Kathryn Kao kath1@uga.edu
Two researchers with ties to the University of Georgia’s College of Education believe that amplifying the voices of underrepresented communities is the key to collective healing during times of disaster and traumatic stress. Cristalís Capielo Rosario, an alumna of the department of counseling and human development services, and Elizabeth Bautista Cárdenas, a doctoral student in the college’s counseling psychology program, conducted a study that explores the psychological reactions of diaspora Puerto Ricans—or those living in the U.S.—who experienced secondary traumatic stress associated with the
aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017. After Hurricane Maria, media coverage—as well as most research— centered around government recovery efforts and the destruction of the island rather than the experiences of mainland Puerto Ricans who were indirectly impacted by the hurricane. To highlight narratives that were missing from the conversation, Capielo Rosario and Bautista Cárdenas interviewed diaspora Puerto Ricans in Florida and found that they experienced post-traumatic growth both at the individual and community level. While some people were worried about family members on the island, many secondary stress reactions were influenced by the political status and economic crisis in Puerto Rico. Their study aims to better equip
mental health professionals with information about secondary traumatic stress as a result of indirect exposure to a disaster, while also highlighting how Puerto Rico’s current sociopolitical status influences the way communities experience stress, coping and posttraumatic growth. In recognition of their work and promotion of diverse communities, Capielo Rosario and Bautista Cárdenas received the 2019 Outstanding Contribution to Scholarship on Race and Ethnicity Award from Division 17’s Section on Ethnic and Racial Diversity. The SRED Award, which is housed in the American Psychological Association’s Society of Counseling Psychology, honors scholarly contributions that advance the field’s knowledge of people of color, race and ethnicity or racism.
The Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance, headquartered at the State Botanical Garden, received a 2019 Environmental Excellence Award in the category of “ecosystem, habitat and wildlife” from the Federal Highway Administration for its work with the Georgia Department of Transportation. This award recognizes GDOT’s unique partnership with the GPCA for more than 20 years to restore rare plant community habitats, safeguard protected plant species and address invasive plant species across the state both on and off rights-ofway. The GPCA crafted and maintains a centralized database to collaboratively monitor priority species and a network of “botanical guardians” to monitor protected plant communities, which has resulted in successful mitigation and restoration. This biennial award recognizes leaders across the country who make outstanding contributions to environmental stewardship and partnerships above and beyond traditional transportation project outcomes. Mincy Moffett, a wildlife biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and GPCA awards chair, accepted the award on Aug. 7 from the Federal Highway Administration. State Botanical Garden Director Jenny Cruse-Sanders will attend the Aug. 27 DNR meeting, where the GPCA will be recognized.
Two UGA graduate students selected as finalists for 2020 Knauss Fellowship
Two graduate students from the University of Georgia have been selected as finalists for the 2020 John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship, sponsored by the National Sea Grant College Program. The finalists will spend one year in Washington, D.C., in marine policy-related positions in legislative and executive branches of the federal government. The finalists from Georgia are Guy Eroh and Emily Yarbrough Horton. A master’s student in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, Eroh is studying hybridization in Georgia’s black bass species and the effects of fungicidal hydrogen peroxide treatments in the hatching success of walleye eggs. He holds a bachelor’s degree in ecology from UGA. Horton is finishing her doctorate in integrative conservation and anthropology in UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. She is focusing her research on the socioecological dimensions of smallscale fisheries governance in a marine protected area in northeastern Brazil. She holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and communications from the University of South Alabama.
Engineering students place third in international design competition
A team of students from the University of Georgia College of Engineering finished among the best in the world in the 2019 ASHRAE Design Competition and Applied Engineering Challenge. Sponsored by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, the competition recognizes outstanding student design projects and encourages students to become involved in the design of energy-efficient heating and air-conditioning systems. The annual ASHRAE Student Design Competition allows teams to participate in up to three categories: HVAC design calculations, HVAC system selection and integrated sustainable building design. Keshav Bhat, Ike Emedosi, Rashaan Fowles, Hank Rittiner, Ryan Ruff and Morgan Sutter from the UGA College of Engineering placed third in the integrated sustainable building design category. The UGA team’s design included a range of sustainability features including methods to control stormwater runoff and for collecting rainwater for use on-site. The project will be shared during the 2020 ASHRAE Winter Conference Feb. 1-5 in Orlando.
PERIODICALS POSTAGE STATEMENT Columns (USPS 020-024) is published weekly during the academic year and
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4 Aug. 26, 2019 columns.uga.edu
INSTRUCTIONAL NEWS
GRADY COLLEGE
Study identifies trends, challenges facing public relations professionals The first study to examine the state of public relations in Canada and the U.S. found that building and maintaining trust is the most crucial issue facing the profession. The North American Communication Monitor, conducted by The Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations, was led by two Grady College faculty: Bryan Reber, the C. Richard Yarbrough Professor in Crisis Communication Leadership, and Juan Meng, associate professor of public relations. Reber was the lead researcher for the report, and Meng was the lead analyst. The NACM disclosed key trends and challenges facing the communication profession. The results are based on responses from 1,020 communication professionals working in different types of organizations (255 in Canada and 765 in the U.S.). The sample achieved a balanced gender split (50% men and 50% women) for accurate comparisons. The average age of participants was 46 years. The study, which joins existing Communication Monitors in Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific, explored diverse topics, including fake news and strategies to deal with it, top issues for the profession in the next three years, the role of providing information to support decision-making, leaders’ performance, and professionals’ job engagement, trust in their organization, job satisfaction, work stress, and social media skills and management knowledge. Communication professionals agree fake news has become one of the most prominent issues in public discourse. More than half of surveyed professionals (57.7%) give attention to the ongoing debate about fake news and consider it a much-debated topic in their country (68.2%). Results indicate governmental organizations across North America are particularly affected by fake news, with 20.9% being affected multiple times and 10.1% being affected once. However, despite the high levels of awareness and attention to the debate about fake news, the level of relevance of fake news to the professionals’ daily work, and their concerns about it, are generally low. When it comes to identifying potential fake news, a substantial percentage of respondents (42.6%) said their organizations mainly rely on individual competencies and experience. Few organizations have in place policies, technical systems and processes to detect and manage fake news and misinformation. The majority of surveyed professionals (71.9%) agree their top communication leader is actively involved in the organization’s decision-making (78.1%) and demonstrates a strong ethical orientation to guide actions (76.7%). However, shared decision-making power receives the lowest rating across various types of organizations. Women rate the shared decision-making power significantly lower than men. A similar perceptual gap is identified along the line of hierarchy: Top communication leaders rate shared decision-making power significantly higher than team leaders and team members. The job engagement level is relatively high: 62.8% report they are engaged in their job. More than eight in 10 of surveyed professionals know what is expected of them at work (86.0%) and are in a positive environment where fellow employees are commited to quality work (81.3%). Professionals also said they have the opportunity to do what they can do best every day (79.1%) and their opinions count at work (75.3%). However, some are frustrated by the lack of feedback about their performance on the job (24.6%) and lack of recognition for doing good work (15.4%).
Peter Frey
Karen Burg, right, leads a team that is developing new tools to help mentor students interested in learning in a research setting.
Learning best practices Researchers develop modules for mentoring undergraduates
By Alaa Ahmed
alaa.ahmed@uga.edu
A team of UGA researchers has developed a set of learning modules to provide customizable mentoring for students interested in learning how to succeed in a research setting. Called “Research Experience and Mentoring,” the online training materials (http://www.eqpoint.info/) include resources for both mentors and mentees. According to Karen Burg, Harbor Lights Chaired Professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine and the lead scientist behind the modules’ development, they were created as a broadly useful tool in helping aspiring researchers learn best practices and professional skills. Many existing training resources are either scattered across the web, are too specific to work for everyone or cannot be fused directly to research, Burg said. “It doesn’t matter if you are a chemical engineer or a pharmacy mentor, you’ll feel comfortable pulling one of these modules and being able to adapt it to your own lesson plan and research,” Burg said. The modules cover various topics such as writing standard operating procedures, experimental design, networking and communication skills. Each module comes with a set of learning outcomes and guides both for mentors
and mentees, providing a 360-degree viewpoint, according to Burg. “If you are only giving input to mentees, then you’re reliant on the mentors somehow knowing how to teach or train in a productive way,” Burg said. “You need to assist the mentees, but you also need to assist the mentors. It’s a handshake between the two.” Taylor Ng, a fifth-year biochemical engineering student who used the modules, said the experience covers topics such as interviews and writing résumés that are not usually taught in formal classes. Ng also said the modules are broad and would be helpful to students from different majors. “The modules are relatable to everyone, whether you’re a business major or a science major,” Ng said. “The topics are definitely overarching and [useful] for everybody.” The researchers first tested the REM modules during a pilot phase, with undergraduate students from different majors conducting veterinary biomedical research at UGA, as well as students of one of Burg’s own former students who is currently a faculty member at Clemson University. Feedback from students helped improve and refine the modules. For each topic, users of the REM modules will find a section on learning objectives that highlights skills the user should acquire after finishing the module. This approach links each
module to a defined list of intellectual outcomes, Burg said. In addition, the resources for mentors and mentees include detailed instructions on how to conduct the module and also provide supplementary material, such as external links, additional exercises or PowerPoint presentations and additional tips. The development of the modules was driven by Burg’s personal experience during graduate school, where she said she struggled with finding mentoring resources that she could use. “Mentoring is a skill that must be developed. It always seemed like an area where we could do better—a better job of helping people learn how to mentor,” Burg said. Burg said she hopes the modules will continue to evolve and become a community resource, where different groups refine the modules to suit their specific situations. The modules were developed as part of an NSF Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems grant that focused on 3D tissue systems. Burg highlighted the significance of funding educational components of research projects. “The grant actually funded both the technical work, as well as the module development,” Burg said. “It’s really neat that NSF saw the value of professional skills to research and creative inquiry success.”
COLLEGE OF FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES
Study suggests that daily self-weighing can prevent holiday weight gain By Cal Powell
jcpowell@uga.edu
Researchers at the University of Georgia have shown that a simple intervention—daily self-weighing—can help people avoid holiday weight gain. Participants in a 14-week UGA study who weighed themselves daily on scales that also provided graphical feedback showing their weight fluctuations managed to maintain or lose weight during and after the holiday season, while a control group gained weight. Researchers speculate that participants’ constant exposure to weight fluctuations—along with being able to see a target or goal weight line (their baseline weight)—motivated behavioral change that led to weight maintenance, or in the case of overweight subjects, weight loss. “Maybe they exercise a little bit more the next day (after seeing a weight increase) or they watch what they’re eating more carefully,” said study author Jamie Cooper, director of
UGA’s Obesity Initiative and an associate professor in the department of foods and nutrition within the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences. “The subjects self-select how they’re going to modify their behavior, which can be effective because we know that interventions are not one-size-fits-all.” After determining their baseline weight prior to the holidays, participants in an intervention group were told to try not to gain weight above that number, but with no additional instructions as to how to accomplish this goal. Participants in the control group were given no instructions. A total of 111 adults between the ages of 18 and 65 participated in the study. Michelle vanDellen, an associate professor in the UGA department of psychology and second author on the paper, said the findings support discrepancy theories of self-regulation. “People are really sensitive to discrepancies or differences between their current selves and their standard or goal,” she said. “When they see that discrepancy, it tends to lead to behavioral change. Daily self-weighing ends up doing that
for people in a really clear way.” Daily self-weighing also has been shown to be effective in preventing weight gain in college freshmen in previous research, but researchers wanted to apply it to another historically dangerous time for weight gain. With the average American reportedly gaining a pound or two a year, overeating during the holiday season has been identified as a likely contributor to small weight gains that add up over time and can lead to obesity. “Vacations and holidays are probably the two times of year people are most susceptible to weight gain in a very short period of time,” Cooper said. “The holidays can actually have a big impact on someone’s long-term health.” Cooper said future research may investigate if daily selfweighing alone is the driving force behind the behavioral changes that led to weight maintenance. The paper, “Daily self-weighing to prevent holiday-associated weight gain in adults,” can be viewed at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.22454.
UGAGUIDE
columns.uga.edu Aug. 26, 2019
For a complete listing of events, check the Master Calendar on the Web (calendar.uga.edu/). The following events are open to the public, unless otherwise specified. Dates, times and locations may change without advance notice.
EXHIBITIONS
Larger Than Life: New Deal Mural Studies. Through Sept. 8. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. gmoa@uga.edu.
Women of the WPA. Through Sept. 8. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. gmoa@uga.edu. Celebrating Heroes: American Mural Studies of the 1930s and 1940s from the Steven and Susan Hirsch Collection. Through Sept. 15. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. gmoa@uga.edu. Color, Form and Light. Through Oct. 13. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. gmoa@uga.edu. Out of the Darkness: Light in the Depths of the Sea of Cortez. Through Oct. 27. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817. hazbrown@uga.edu. The New South and The New Slavery: Convict Labor in Georgia. Through Dec. 13. Hargrett Library Gallery, special collections libraries. 706-542-6367. kdotson@uga.edu. Moon Rocks! Through Dec. 24. Russell Gallery, special collections libraries. 706-542-5788. washnock@uga.edu. Now and Then: 1979. Through Dec. 24. Russell Gallery, special collections libraries. 706-542-5788. washnock@uga.edu. Storytelling in Renaissance Maiolica. Through Jan. 5. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. gmoa@uga.edu.
MONDAY, AUG. 26 PEACH STATE LSAMP CEREMONY Opening ceremonies. 6 p.m. Reception Hall, Tate Student Center. 706-542-0058. pslsamp@uga.edu.
TUESDAY, AUG. 27 CELLULAR BIOLOGY SEMINAR “Design Principles of Cell Polarization,” Maitreyi Das, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. 11 a.m. 404A Biological Sciences Building. FACULTY PERSPECTIVES Join Akela Reason, associate professor of history, for a special talk on the exhibition Celebrating Heroes: American Mural Studies off the 1930s and 1940s from the Steven and Susan Hirsch Collection. 2 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 28 BROWN BAG LUNCH Georgina Stewart will present a lecture, “Writing as an Indigenous Method of Research” from noon-1 p.m. on Aug. 27, in 206 Aderhold Hall. She’s also agreed to give a talk in an informal setting on Aug. 28, from noon-1 p.m. in 206 Aderhold Hall. Stewart is an expert in both Maori philosophy and Maori empirical research in education. To RSVP, email coedei@uga.edu. CONSERVATION SEMINAR “Environmental Sex Determination in the Anthropocene,” Benjamin Parrott,
an assistant professor at the Savannah River Ecology Lab and UGA Odum School of Ecology. 1:25 p.m. Auditorium, ecology building. 706-542-7247. bethgav@uga.edu. LECTURE Yoram Bauman, the world’s first and only stand-up economist, will give a public lecture. 2:30 p.m. D101 Orkin Hall. 770-500-9757. puerta@uga.edu.
CED FACULTY LECTURE SERIES “Ecological Planting Design: Strategies for Southeastern Landscapes,” Brad Davis, associate professor, BLA program director. 4:30 p.m. 123 Jackson Street Building.
THURSDAY, AUG. 29 WORKSHOP Join faculty colleagues and the CTL’s new associate director for this workshop dedicated to the intentional collection of feedback on teaching, along with an exploration of how to respond effectively to that feedback. This event is part of the faculty workshop series and is open to all UGA faculty and instructors. 11 a.m. 372 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-0525. ruth.poproski@uga.edu. ECONOMICS SEMINAR SERIES Economics Seminar Series event featuring Heather Royer from the University of California, Santa Barbara. 3:30 p.m. C006 Benson Hall. roozbeh@uga.edu. LECTURE Dave Ross, president and chief executive officer of The Task Force for Global Health, visits UGA to share his insights on informatics and the future for global health. He provides strategic direction to The Task Force and oversees 15 programs focused on neglected tropical diseases, vaccines, field epidemiology and public health informatics. This lecture is hosted by the Global Health Institute at the UGA College of Public Health as a part of its annual seminar series. 4 p.m. Wright Hall. alea@uga.edu.
for all PSO-funded graduate students to meet each other, hear about the eight PSO units and participate in a personal development session. 9 a.m. Training room, J.W. Fanning Building. 706-542-6167. admathis@uga.edu.
SOCCER vs. Virginia Tech. 7 p.m. Turner Soccer Complex.
SATURDAY, AUG. 31 CROSS COUNTRY Bulldog Invitational. 8:15 a.m. UGA Golf Course. MAKE-UP TA ORIENTATION An orientation for all new graduate students with instructional responsibilities. The orientation provides an overview of policies and procedures pertinent to the TA role and an introduction to effective teaching strategies and practices. Learn about services and resources available across campus that offer support for teaching and learning. Space at this event is limited. As per TA policy, all graduate teaching and laboratory assistants are required to attend TA orientation at least once before their appointment begins. Attendance at all sessions is mandatory. 8:30 a.m. N106 Auditorium, Instructional Plaza. 706-542-1355. gradteach@uga.edu.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 1 SOCCER vs. Maryland. Noon. Turner Soccer Complex.
MONDAY, SEPT. 2 LABOR DAY HOLIDAY No classes; offices closed.
FILM SCREENING Part of the 1930s America Film Series. Featuring more than 70 works of art from this period, including notable works by Rockwell Kent, Dorothea Lange, Stuart Davis and Reginald Marsh, as well as rare footage of WPA artists at work, Enough to Live on: The Arts of the WPA tells the story of how Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal moved art in America out of the rarified atmosphere of the elite and brought it directly to the American people as an inspiration and catalyst for change and recovery in the 1930s. 2015, NR, 92 min. 7 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art.
UGA DAY AT SUNTRUST PARK The Atlanta Braves are welcoming all University of Georgia students, alumni and fans to SunTrust Park for a Labor Day game at the ballpark. Cheer alongside fellow Dawgs as the Braves take on the Blue Jays. Make sure you come see alumni Champ Bailey throwing out the first pitch and Mohamed Massaquoi leading the Chop in the first inning. In addition to your game ticket, you’ll receive a limited-edition Braves and UGA co-branded hat (that can be picked up at the guest services kiosk inside the park). Plus, $4 of every ticket package sold will go back to alumni scholarships. Stop by the Atlanta alumni chapter booth starting at 11:30 a.m. at the third base gate, across from the Delta Wing to get some UGA swag before the game. Special guests, including Massaquoi, will be in attendance at the table to say hello and take pictures. 1 p.m. SunTrust Park.
FRIDAY, AUG. 30
TUESDAY, SEPT. 3
AL-HIJRA Through Aug. 31. Islamic religious observance. PSO GRADUATE ASSISTANTSHIP ORIENTATION The 2019-2020 Public Service and Outreach Graduate Assistantship Program Orientation is an opportunity
Calendar items are taken from Columns files and from the university’s Master Calendar, maintained by Marketing & Communications. Notices are published as space permits, with priority given to items of multidisciplinary interest. The Master Calendar is available at calendar.uga.edu/.
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CELLULAR BIOLOGY SEMINAR “Atypical GPCR Signaling in Inflammation and Vascular Function,” Neil Grimsey, pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences, UGA. 11 a.m. 404A Biological Sciences Building. TOUR AT TWO Nelda Damiano, the Pierre Daura
The University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra opens its season with a concert at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 5.
UGA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA KICKS OFF NEW SEASON By Camille Hayes ceh822@uga.edu
The University of Georgia’s Symphony Orchestra, the Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s premier orchestra ensemble, will begin the new season with a performance on the newly renovated Hodgson Hall stage. Students will take their chairs to perform a challenging repertoire on Sept. 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the opening concert of the 2019-2020 Thursday Scholarship Series season. The concert will open with what has been recorded as the first “concert waltz.” The music reflects the first meeting of a boy and girl at a dance, with an opening cello solo demonstrating the boy’s polite introduction. The piece was written for piano by German composer Carl Maria von Weber and orchestrated by Hector Berlioz in 1841. Joining the UGA Symphony Orchestra on Debussy’s Nocturnes will be the women of the Hodgson Singers, directed by Daniel Bara, director of choral activities and the John D. Boyd UGA Foundation Professor of Choral Music. Debussy, considered to be the first impressionist composer, described the piece as “an experiment in the different combinations that can be obtained from one color.” The three movements reflect his varied interpretations, and the wordless female chorus in the third movement adds to the ambiance. After intermission, the orchestra will perform Russian composer Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47.” In a time of stringent intellectual censorship, the young composer faced much resistance with former pieces, but was able to make a comeback with his energetic and dramatic Fifth Symphony. “This will be a program of great musical atmosphere and colors,” said Mark Cedel, director of orchestra. “Our first work musically tells the story of a young, shy couple at a ball. Then we can musically ‘see’ soft, floating clouds in the Debussy to the bombastic and powerful music of Shostakovich.” Tickets are $20 for adults and $3 for students, and can be purchased online at pac.uga.edu, by calling 706-542-4400 or in person at the Peforming Arts Center box office, located next door to the music school. Streaming will be available at music.uga.edu/live-streaming. All proceeds from ticket sales directly support student scholarships. curator of European Art and co-curator of the exhibition, will lead a tour of Storytelling in Renaissance Maiolica. 2 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. TUESDAY TUNES The lineup includes Miller May with a jazz sextet and William Ruff with a jazz trio. 5:30 p.m. Atrium/lobby areas, Georgia Center. 706-542-6749. sarah.sorvas@georgiacenter.uga.edu. PEACH STATE LSAMP WORKSHOP Preparing for conferences. 6 p.m. 480 Tate Student Center. 706-542-0058. pslsamp@uga.edu.
TO SUBMIT A LISTING FOR THE MASTER CALENDAR AND COLUMNS Post event information first to the Master Calendar website (calendar.uga.edu/). Listings for Columns are taken from the Master Calendar 12 days before the publication date. Events not posted by then may not be printed in Columns.
Any additional information about the event may be sent directly to Columns. Email is preferred (columns@uga. edu), but materials can be mailed to Columns, Marketing & Communications, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Campus Mail 1999.
COMING UP TA CAFÉ: EFFECTIVE TEACHING PRESENTATION Sept. 4. Join TAs from across campus to discuss the fundamentals of effective teaching presentation, including appropriate preparation, verbal and nonverbal communication and effective use of visual aids. Lunch provided. Registration is helpful, but drop-ins are welcome. These events are open free to all graduate students. Supported by the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Graduate School. 12:20 p.m. 204 Boyd Graduate Research Center. 706-542-1355. gradteach@uga.edu. NEXT COLUMNS DEADLINES Aug. 28 (for Sept. 9 issue) Sept. 4 (for Sept. 16 issue) Sept. 11 (for Sept. 23 issue)
6 Aug. 26, 2019 columns.uga.edu
Rachel Roberts-Galbraith, a faculty member in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, has received the 2019 McKnight Scholar Award, which recognizes scientists in the early stages of their careers working in the field of neuroscience. An assistant professor of cellular biology, RobertsGalbraith is the first UGA faculty member to receive the award. Roberts-Galbraith’s lab studies the regeneration of the central nervous system in flatworms called planarians. Planarians can regenerate their entire brain after amputation. By studying the regeneration of neurons on a simple and basic level in nature, Roberts-Galbraith hopes to learn how to apply the same concepts to human regeneration. This research could lead to major medical advancements in treating victims of stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Over the next three years, Roberts-Galbraith will receive $75,000 per year to continue her research in these areas. The McKnight endowment seeks to support researchers working on problems that would have significant impact if solved. Katrien M. Devos, a faculty member in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has been named a Fellow of the Crop Science Society of America. The nomination and selection of Devos, a professor of crop and soil sciences, as a CSSA Fellow recognizes a career dediKatrien Devos cated to breaking new ground in understanding the genetics and evolutionary biology of crops and in the search for more resilient and sustainable crop varieties. From mapping the genomes of orphan crops, like finger and foxtail millet, to tracking the genetic evolution of agronomic and wild grasses, Devos has played an integral role in the development of a more food-secure world. The CSSA, the premier international scientific society for crop scientists and crop breeders, selects CSSA Fellows to recognize members for professional achievements and meritorious service. Only up to 0.3% of the society’s active and emeritus members may be elected as Fellows. Fellowship is the highest level of recognition offered by the society. Since the program was established, 24 UGA professors have been selected as CSSA Fellows; four of them are still active in UGA agricultural research. The CSSA will recognize Devos formally when she travels to San Antonio, Texas, for the society’s awards ceremony this fall. Joel Ringdahl, a faculty member in the College of Education, was recently named editor of Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice. The multidisciplinary journal is committed to increasing communication between behavior analysis and psychology and providing up-to-date information on current developments Joel Ringdahl in the field. Published by the American Psychological Association, Behavior Analysis is one of two publications created by the association that highlights behavior analytic content. APA is a leading scientific and professional organization with more than 118,000 members from various professions, including researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The online journal presents current experimental research and applications of behavioral analysis in ways that can improve human behavior in all its contexts. Ringdahl’s first term as editor begins in January. Kudos recognizes special contributions of staff, faculty and administrators in teaching, research and service. News items are limited to election into office of state, regional, national and international societies; major awards and prizes; and similarly notable accomplishments.
COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Dorothy Kozlowski
Marsha Davis, who became dean of the College of Public Health on July 1, has led several community-based programs throughout her career.
New dean traces interest in public health to field’s focus on community By Lauren Baggett lbaggett@uga.edu
What is public health? It’s a question Marsha Davis has heard many times over her career, and the answer is both simple and complex. “Everything is related to public health,” said Davis, who became dean of the College of Public Health on July 1. There are so many factors that can impact the public’s health.That includes the more obvious ones like being able to access healthy foods or health care, but there are less obvious, communitywide factors like the strength of the local school system and area businesses that all influence our health. That’s why much of the research and education that goes on in public health is focused on community, according to Davis. “Why I became interested in public health and stayed there was because of the community work,” she said. Davis was on a path to becoming an educational psychologist until she began a predoctoral fellowship at the University of Minnesota where she
worked on one of the first major community health promotion programs. “My plans changed quickly after that,” said Davis. “Public health became my home.” Over her career, Davis has led multiple landmark community-based programs aimed at improving the health of children and their families. While at the University of Georgia, her work has contributed to an improvement in health rankings for a number of counties and a significant economic impact for the state. Her current project, Healthier Together, exemplifies the role of collaboration and the university-community partnership. Along with UGA Cooperative Extension, the College of Family and Consumer Sciences and the College of Environment and Design, Healthier Together is working with five rural Georgia counties to enact communitywide policy and environmental changes that support healthy behaviors. One of Davis’ major goals this year is to find synergies of research within the College of Public Health and with other schools and colleges across campus.
Today’s major public health issues—maternal and child health, aging, chronic disease, health equity—can only be addressed through a multisector and multidisciplinary approach, said Davis. “Take maternal and child health, for example. We need research contributions from epidemiology, health promotion and behavior, pharmacy, medicine, social work and others to find solutions to lowering Georgia’s high maternal and infant mortality rates,” she said. Learning to collaborate and problem solve with a team will be critical skills for the next generation of public health leaders. Innovating the education experience for public health students is another priority for Davis. “We will need to instill these competencies through more project-based study, more experiential learning,” she said. Her hope is to prepare students to do the work of public health while bolstering their personal passions and purpose to make a difference. “It’s about making healthier lives possible for all people,” she said. “That is public health.”
GEORGIA MUSEUM OF ART
New curator joins Georgia Museum of Art staff By Hillary Brown
hazbrown@uga.edu
After a national search, the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia has hired Jeffrey RichmondMoll as its curator of American art, effective Aug. 5. Richmond-Moll brings broad curatorial experience to the museum from such institutions as the Princeton University Art Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the New-York Historical Society and the Delaware Art Museum, where he organized the exhibition Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Violet Oakley’s ‘Angel of Victory.’ He defended his doctoral dissertation at the University of Delaware in May and is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University. Most recently, Richmond-Moll served as curatorial research associate on the exhibition Nature’s Nation: American Art and Environment, which originated at the Princeton University Art Museum and traveled to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, and to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville,
Arkansas (where it is currently on view). The exhibition uses more than 120 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, photographs, videos and works of decorative art from the Jeffrey Colonial period Richmond-Moll to the present to examine how American artists of different traditions and backgrounds reflected and shaped environmental understanding while contributing to the development of a modern ecological consciousness. Other exhibition projects to which he has contributed include Inner Sanctum: Memory and Meaning in the Faculty Room at Nassau Hall, Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit, A Mine of Beauty: Landscapes by William Trost Richards, Making It Modern: The Folk Art Collection of Elie and Viola Nadelman and Audubon’s Aviary. William U. Eiland, director of the museum, said, “The staff and I are excited that Jeff has joined us at the
Georgia Museum of Art. His experience and interests match the strengths of our collections, and we look forward to his furthering our investigations into the history of American art and the visual culture of our nation.” A specialist in 19th- and early 20thcentury American art, Richmond-Moll has published in peer-reviewed journals including Archives of American Art Journal, MAVCOR Journal and Winterthur Portfolio and contributed essays to numerous exhibition catalogs, including on paintings by Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry, Stuart Davis, Marsden Hartley and Reginald Marsh, all of whom are represented in the collection of the Georgia Museum of Art. His research has been supported by awards and fellowships from the Henry Luce Foundation/ACLS Dissertation Fellowship in American Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library and the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, as well as the Graduate Research Essay Prize from the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art.
columns.uga.edu Aug. 26, 2019
INNOVATION DISTRICT INITIATIVE
Cookies take Summer Launch prize By Ed Morales
eduado.morales@uga.edu
A company that creates colorful, custommade iced sugar cookies for any occasion won the $5,000 top prize at UGA’s 2019 Summer Launch Program pitch competition at Studio 225 on Aug. 8. Baylee Bakes, the brainchild of fourth-year advertising major Baylee Marsh, began in September 2018 and has since sold 800 dozen cookies. Marsh started the company as “kind of an accident” and wasn’t a big baker before she launched her venture. “I started an Instagram account as my creative outlet because I made cookies for fun, and then someone emailed me and said, ‘Hey, can I order some cookies,” said Marsh, a Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication undergraduate who loves event planning. “I’ve never really baked cookies in my life, and I didn’t tell her that, but I said, ‘Yeah I can make you some cookies.’ So I did and posted them on Instagram and got so many messages that I kept receiving orders and orders every week. I said I can’t not do something about this.” In awarding her the top prize, the judges noted a key reason for her win was she already had a viable business. “It has great potential, you have proven revenue, you’re doing this, and it’s a real business,” said Terry College of Business alumnus Teak Shore, owner of Southern Lighting Source. “One of the things we were most impressed with is you’re pulling this off while you’re still in school.” Marsh never thought much about entrepreneurship before her business started, but turned to the UGA Entrepreneurship Program to further her endeavors. She participated in the program’s spring Idea Accelerator, which helped her turn a fun idea into a burgeoning business. In June, she brought in $9,000 in revenue on a product she makes a 91 percent profit margin on. “My company kept growing and growing, and it was so much I couldn’t handle it, so I came [to the Entrepreneurship Program], did the Accelerator and fell in love with it,” she said. The pitch competition, which marked the culmination of an eight-week boot camp featuring eight UGA student businesses, was full of “sharp” ideas, Shore said, adding there were businesses the judges wanted to try themselves. Ryze, a company that helps investors analyze and advance their bitcoin portfolio, took second-place honors. It was created by Terry College student Srikar Komanduri, Terry graduate John Zay and School of Public and International Affairs graduate Abhay Aluri. Paggo, which bills itself as a mobile work closet, was created by 2019 Terry College
Matt Hardy
The UGA Entrepreneurship Program held the 2019 Summer Launch competition on Aug. 8 at Studio 225 in downtown Athens. Baylee Marsh (center) was the winner of the $5,000 prize. Pictured (left to right): Ryze co-founders Srikar Komanduri, Abhay Aluri and John Say, judge Bailey Grady, Marsh, Paggo cofounders Lee Setty and Josefina Rodriguez Sturba, and judges Jim Martin, Jerry Recht, Jim Forbes and Teak Shore.
Matt Hardy
Baylee Marsh, founder of Baylee Bakes, pitches her business to a panel of judges during the 2019 Summer Launch Competition on Aug. 8 at Studio 225.
graduates Lee Setty and Josefina Rodriguez Sturba and finished in third place. “We want to thank all the teams. What a great program you are part of at the university,” Shore said. “You are doing great things. Even if you didn’t get picked here, just keep pushing. The key to entrepreneurship is being scrappy
WEEKLY READER
and keep going.” The five other businesses were: • Audiographies, created by Franklin College of Arts and Sciences student Jacob Smulian and Franklin College graduate Dhanur Sapolia, is a narrative and technical consulting firm for podcasts. • A Date to Remember, founded by 2019 Franklin graduate Aminah Matthews, is a personal date night assistant. • NewCrew, created by Terry student Kaitlin Lutz, matches electricians with subcontractors for full- and part-time jobs. • Local Comforts, founded by Terry graduate Michael Gustafson and Terry student Joe Burnett, creates hyperlocal, comfortable clothing. • I Need Express, founded by Franklin student Arianna Jones, connects people with free food to fight hunger and food inequality. The UGA Summer Launch is sponsored by the UGA Entrepreneurship Program. Its mission is to help develop the mindset of future entrepreneurs and prepare students for business leadership roles. It provides a comprehensive academic program that encompasses experiential learning and equips students with the tools and resources to pursue their own startup ventures. Studio 225 serves as a focal point for student innovation and a place for potential collaborators to meet. The Summer Launch, now in its third year, is also conducted with support from the Advanced Technology Development Center.
CYBERSIGHTS
Opposite: Poems, Philosophy & Coffee Helen Mort and Aaron Meskin Valley Press Paperback: $12.50
May Fifteen UGA employees retired on May 1, 2019. Retirees, their job classification, department and years of service are: Philip Burroughs, associate accountant, UGA Librariesgeneral operations, 25 years, 8 months; Louise Carothers, administrative associate I, psychology department, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, 33 years, 1 month; Beverly Cofer, building services worker II, Facilities Management D ivision-Services-Building Services, 43 years, 4 months; Rose Marie DeRamus, clinic manager, University Health Center, 21 years, 5 months; W inston E. Eason, county agent,C ooperative Extension-Northwest District, 24 years, 4 months; George Ensley, county agent, C ooperative Extension-Northwest District, 29 years, 10 months; Thomas G. Harris Jr., professor, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, 34 years, 4 months; Deborah S. Hembree, senior accounting technician, Gift Accounting, University of Georgia Foundation, 20 years, 6 months; Martin T. Mann, plumber, Facilities Management Division-Services-Plumbing Shop, 30 years, 5 months; R obert C. Oglesby, skilled trades worker, auxiliary dining maintenance, 10 years; Debra Rucker, senior grants coordinator, Fiscal Affairs Office, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, 35 years; John L. Stickney, professor, chemistry department, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, 33 years, 7 months; Maria Torres, research p rofessional I, Food Safety Center, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, 17 years, 6 months; Nellie A. Watkins, building services worker II, Facilities Management Division-Services-Building Services, 13 years, 2 months; and Tammy Lee Fitzpatrick, administrative specialist I, Center for Applied Genetic Technologies, 24 years, 9 months. Source: Human Resources
ABOUT COLUMNS
Book seeks to combine poetry, philosophy What happens when poetry and philosophy converge? Over coffee at Leeds’ Opposite Cafe, award-winning poet Helen Mort and Aaron Meskin, UGA faculty member, set out to explore that very question. Their caffeine-fueled discussions morphed into the intriguing concept behind this book: a cross-disciplinary creative dialogue in which the poet lets her imagination loose on philosophical texts, and the authors of the papers respond. Like all the best coffee shop conversations, the results take unexpected turns through the art of tattooing, graffiti, Belle & Sebastian, food, rock climbing and whether there’s such a thing as bad art. So pull up a chair, and join Mort, Meskin and 10 of the world’s leading philosophers of art for coffee, poetry and everything in between. Meskin began his role in July as head of the philosophy department in UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.
RETIREES
Columns is available to the community by subscription for an annual fee of $20 (second-class delivery) or $40 (first-class delivery). Faculty and staff members with a disability may call 706-542-8017 for assistance in obtaining this publication in an alternate format. Columns staff can be reached at 706-542-8017 or columns@uga.edu
Editor Juliett Dinkins
OIR website gets update, additional section
oir.uga.edu
The Office of Institutional Research website has been updated to provide more and easier access to analytical reports about the University of Georgia. The new website allows easier navigation to find institutional data for the university by topic, such as admissions, enrollment, degrees conferred, academic information, student-related information and
faculty and staff information. The biggest change is the addition of a section named “operational reports.” This section provides reports that are updated daily, such as budget status and project status cubes and reports. OIR staff will continue to add reports to the operational reports section as they become available.
Associate Editor Krista Richmond Art Director Jackie Baxter Roberts Photo Editor Dorothy Kozlowski Writer Leigh Beeson
The University of Georgia is committed to principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action. The University of Georgia is a unit of the University System of Georgia.
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commencement, the Georgia citizens and leaders who spoke to the New Faculty Tour all expressed a deep appreciation for UGA’s devotion to its state. In Hawkinsville, it was the Archway Partnership’s assistance in conducting a needs assessment that helped the community keep its regional hospital. In the hills of Dawson County, it was UGA Cooperative Extension and Small Business Development Center expertise that helped propel Georgia’s wine industry to an $80 million state economic impact. On the coast, it was Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant’s work to convince shrimpers to use turtle excluder devices in their nets that contributed to 2019’s recordbreaking year for sea turtle nests. At Pinewood Atlanta Studios, spanning 400 acres of former farmland in Fayette County, it was the UGA Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications’ participation in the Georgia Film Academy, intended to produce more screenwriters and content producers for Georgia’s $9.5 billion film industry.And in Macon, it was the work of one of 17 UGA-operated Small Business Development Center offices, which over the past five years have helped create 1,741 new businesses and more than 13,000 jobs statewide. “It’s unique, in my experience,” said Mattia Pistone, a new assistant professor of geology who hails from Italy, of UGA’s statewide impact. “Coming from Europe, [places like] ETH Zurich, University of Bristol, University of Lausanne, none of those universities have such deep community ties. They are very good institutions, but they don’t have much of a connection to their local or national communities.” Some tour riders were already participating in this impact, including Jermaine Durham, a new assistant professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences and program director for the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing. Previously he’d worked for the Housing Authority of Savannah, and on Aug. 9, Durham received a warm greeting from Malik Watson, public service associate for the Vinson Institute in Savannah, with whom he’d worked on housing projects.
The new faculty also used their time together on the bus to discuss ways to enhance UGA’s research enterprise and strengthen its global reputation. The university’s widespread state involvement was not lost on the 2019 tour’s most notable participant, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost S. Jack Hu, who participated in the entire tour alongside his new faculty colleagues. “Being a land-grant and sea-grant university, we need the state as much as the state needs us—we are tied together,” Hu said to his fellow tour participants during a reception with alumni in Atlanta. “Our outreach and service activities are everywhere in this state, and that is truly an exemplar compared with all the public universities I know of. Many of you also come from public universities, and you’ll see that UGA truly is an exemplar.” By tour’s end, what had begun as a group of strangers was transformed into something more. Many of the riders had connected on Facebook and were busy posting photos and engaging with each other online. There was a dedicated Slack group, an elected “class president” (Dee Warmath, assistant professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences) and a pledge from the provost to hold a reunion. “I promise I’ll host it, and we’ll invite everyone who went on the tour, including the faculty and staff from Public Service and Outreach who came with us,” Hu said. “The Georgia Center is under Vice President Jennifer Frum [of Public Service and Outreach], so we already have a location.” This was the 35th UGA New Faculty Tour since it began in 1977. It has been held in all but seven years. Budget constraints cancelled the tours in 1991, 2003-04 and 2009-12. About 1,500 UGA faculty members have participated in the tour since it began. The tour is coordinated by the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach and is made possible by major support from the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost. Additional sponsors include the UGA Alumni Association, UGA Foundation and a multitude of other units and supporters of the University of Georgia.
RURAL from page 1 transportation to the Peach State Tour information sessions is one of the many ways we are helping these students gain access to the outstanding education offered at UGA.” Currently the university has finalized plans with 15 rural high schools to offer the free transportation to their students, and that list will continue to grow. This initiative builds on the university’s ALL Georgia Program, launched in 2018 to support enrolled students from rural communities with a network of resources and common experiences to help them succeed and graduate from the university. In its first year, the program was made available to about 4,200 students. “More than 85% of undergraduate students at UGA are from Georgia, and the university is committed to serving students
and families all across our state,” said Patrick Winter, UGA’s associate vice president for admissions and enrollment management. “During our outreach efforts, we answer questions about UGA’s programs and application process, but we also provide information about the University System of Georgia and emphasize that with its 26 schools, there’s one that will be a good fit for everyone.” The Peach State Tour began Aug. 19 and will end on Sept. 5. With free sessions throughout the state, it offers specific opportunities for students and their parents, as well as for high school counselors, and will answer questions about academic opportunities and the application process. Last year, nearly 6,000 students, parents and counselors attended one of the statewide Peach State Tour events.
Bulletin Board Tobacco cessation program
UGA’s College of Pharmacy is helping smokers and tobacco users improve their health by offering a four-week Tobacco Cessation Program. Conducted on Tuesdays, starting Sept. 10 and running through Oct. 1, classes will be held from 5:30-7 p.m. at the college, located at 250 W. Green St. Parking is free after 5 p.m. The program will be led by Kay Brooks, an associate director in the College of Pharmacy’s Experience Programs, and trained pharmacy students. They will provide group programming and individualized coaching, while helping attendees
develop a personalized “quit” plan. In addition, each session will focus on tobacco-use issues, such as health risks, reasons to quit, cessation aids, coping with the urges to use tobacco, handling relapses and maintenance, and medication options. Class size for the tobacco cessation program is limited to 10 participants. Anyone interested in more information and registration may contact the College of Pharmacy at 706-542-3893, email monicaw@uga.edu or register online at https://tinyurl.com/y6gn55nb. Bulletin Board is limited to information that may pertain to a majority of faculty and staff members.
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Crich, a synthetic chemist who specializes in carbohydrate chemistry, is the former Schaap Professor of Organic Chemistry at Wayne State University, where he led a group working in the areas of glycochemistry, organic reactivity and antibiotic chemistry. “Moving to the University of Georgia allows me to take up all kinds of new challenges,” Crich said. “Together with my coworkers, I’ve moved from an environment where I was surrounded by other organic chemists to a place where I’m surrounded by people who are much more biomedically oriented. It’s a great match and gives me the chance to challenge myself and evolve.” Crich has made a number of seminal contributions to organic and carbohydrate chemistry, including reaction mechanisms and methods, as well as contributing significantly to the fields of free radical chemistry and peptide synthesis. He has published more than 350 papers in areas as diverse as the total synthesis of alkaloids, the catalysis of radical reactions, and improved methods for peptide synthesis. His major emphasis in recent years, however, has been on the development of new glycosylation methods, and he is especially well known for his seminal contributions to the elucidation of the principles of reactivity and selectivity. His work has been recognized with numerous national and international awards, including the 2018 International Carbohydrate Organization’s Whistler International Award in Carbohydrate Chemistry. In addition to his position at Wayne State, Crich served as director of the Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles, France’s largest state-run organic chemistry research institute at the time; Liberal Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago; and a lecturer in chemistry at University College London. “Professor Crich brings to the University of Georgia an exemplary record of research and translating discoveries into innovations that have the potential to significantly enhance human health and well-being,” said S. Jack Hu, UGA’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “His appointment as a GRA Eminent Scholar underscores this institution’s commitment to recruiting outstanding faculty members to our state.”
At UGA, Crich will continue his work in drug design, pursuing new aminoglycoside antibiotics for the treatment of ESKAPE pathogens, six bacterial pathogens commonly associated with multidrug resistance. He aims to expand into carbohydrate-based areas, developing glycomimetics—therapeutic agents that mimic carbohydrates— for use in drug design. He also plans to establish collaborations with researchers across campus who are working to address infectious diseases. “If you’re trying to work in interdisciplinary science and have an impact, then the synergy provided by collaboration is essential,” Crich said. “That’s a very valuable part of this opportunity made possible by the Georgia Research Alliance and the University of Georgia.” Crich also hopes to take advantage of UGA’s innovation ecosystem to pursue commercialization opportunities. In 2015, he and collaborators at the University of Zurich founded the biotech startup Juvabis AG to develop next-generation antibiotics for the treatment of multidrug-resistant infectious diseases. The company is taking a compound targeting multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae and other Gramnegative pathogens into phase 1 clinical trials in Europe later this year. “GRA is pleased to welcome Dr. David Crich as the new Eminent Scholar in Drug Design at the University of Georgia,” said Russell Allen, president and CEO of the Georgia Research Alliance. “David is a world-class leader in carbohydrate chemistry, and his strengths in translating science into commercial opportunities make him an excellent collaborator for UGA as well as our member institutions.” Ninety-one patents have been awarded based on research from UGA’s GRA Eminent Scholars, who generated $222.5 million in sponsored research funding from 2014 to 2018. “These scientists are among the brightest minds in their fields. Quite often, startup companies are born based on their work, which drives even more investment into our state’s economy,” said Vice President for Research David Lee. For more information on UGA’s Eminent Scholars, visit https://research.uga.edu/ gra/eminent-scholars/.
AWARD from page 1 the PECASE Award. First and foremost, I thank God and my family for their inspiration and support throughout my career. Also, I am thankful to my UGA colleagues and administrators who have been a continuous source of support during my time at UGA, Lemons said. “I also appreciate my UGA students who have inspired my research and its applications to the science classroom.” “This accolade reflects a reputation that has been a number of years in the making,” said Christopher West, professor and head of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology. “From the time that she arrived at UGA a decade ago, Dr. Lemons has carried out research with her team to better understand how undergraduate students learn and to explore best practices for implementing the findings from both her program and others in the field. “Students who enroll in her introductory classes and faculty who have the opportunity to practice her ideas have appreciated the significance of her insights,” he added. Lemons serves as director of the SEER
(Scientists Engaged in Educational Research) Center and principal investigator of the National Science Foundation-sponsored DeLTA (Department and Leadership Teams for Action) project. “My own background coming from a non-scientist family and a small liberal arts college with limited research opportunities meant I did not bring the same experiences and scientific savvy that I saw in others around me,” Lemons said. “Every semester, thousands of students enter our STEM classrooms, laboratories and programs excited about the promise of STEM, yet full of doubts about their ability to succeed. The work of the NSF in the Directorate of Education and Human Resources is largely about pinpointing the basic conditions necessary to maximize student learning and to do so in a way that works for each student who signs up. I hope my award will be an opportunity for UGA to continue rallying around the call to transform science and engineering education into a phenomenon that positively impacts all students.”
MAGILL from page 1 Magill was a staple of UGA athletics for seven decades as a student-athlete, sports information director and coach. He coached men’s tennis for 34 years, winning 13 SEC championships and two national championships. He retired as the winningest coach in NCAA Division 1 history. “Beyond impressive record books, coach Magill’s leadership and care are what really stand out,” Kim said. “As a professor teaching students majoring in advertising, I have coached many student teams for national competitions and helped them win
numerous top awards.With the coach’s legacy now associated with me, I believe I will actively embrace his coaching spirit and dedication to UGA and its students, both undergraduate and graduate.” Kim joined Grady College in 2004. He is currently the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Interactive Advertising and an associate editor of the International Journal of Advertising. He serves as the executive director of Grady College’s Business and Public Communication Fellows Program.