Winter 17 - UGAGS Magazine by UGA Grad Studies

uga graduate University of Georgia Graduate School Magazine

WINTER 2017

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

— M A RY O L I V E R

WINTER 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS

2 Seth Wilson 4 Katie Pieper 8 Diego Barcellos 16 Jess Stephens 22 Kim Waters 28 Neal Lester 30 GS Lead 34 Hanna Lisa Stefansson 38 Alumni of Distinction ON THE FRONT COVER: UGA soil scientist Diego Barcellos. ©2017 by the University of Georgia. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any way without the written permission of the editor. The University of Georgia is committed to principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action.

a m e s s a g e f ro m

Suzanne Barbour, Dean Dear Friends, Greetings from Athens where we are enjoying a mild and balmy winter. While some people view the browning and then falling of leaves as a sign of decay, I’ve always found fall/winter to be the most energizing time of the year. A new crop of students has started their journey through graduate education. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting new students, intent on empowering their communities, curing infectious diseases, and protecting and sustaining our world. They join our continuing students, several of whom you will meet in this issue of the magazine. I’m sure you will be inspired by Kim Waters, a “non-traditional” student who has returned to school to pursue a doctorate in linguistics. Katie Pieper is not only an outstanding doctoral student, but was also a contestant on “Jeopardy!” Diego Barcellos is an international student, who came to UGA to pursue studies that will help him to address food insecurity both here in the U.S. and in his native Brazil. The story about Hanna Lisa Stefansson highlights her commitment to her art (musical composition and piano) and community. Jess Stephens’s work on carnivorous plants focuses on plant-prey-microbe interactions, using the power of bioinformatics and computation. In addition to these exciting stories about individual students and their research projects, this issue also features Graduate Scholars Leadership, Engagement, and Development (GS-LEAD), a National Science Foundation-supported training program. In addition to their discipline-specific training, GS-LEAD trainees develop leadership, problem-solving, communication, and collaboration skills and have the opportunity to apply these assets in a community engagement project. I hope these stories will inspire you just as much as they have inspired me. I continue to be amazed by our outstanding students, who excel in their programs and commitment to the community. Best regards, SUZANNE BARBOUR

UGA Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

SETH

S ET H W I LS O N W I N N E R O F 12 “ J E O PA R DY ! ” COM P E T I T I O N S C LO S E S O U T A B I G Y E A R F O R DAWG S BY CYNTHIA ADAMS PHOTOS PROVIDED BY JEOPARDY PRODUCTIONS, INC.

October, the news was out: Seth Wilson had won $267,000 during 13 quiz show episodes on “Jeopardy!” His record earned him fifth place in the “Jeopardy!” Hall of Fame for an impressive number of consecutive wins, securing Wilson a place in the annual Tournament of Champions. Wilson now ranks seventh for contestant earnings. News of his impressive run on the quiz show even made the Chicago Tribune twice as he continued to advance. He had been a “North Sider” resident while living in Illinois. Like Katie Pieper, on page 4, Wilson is a UGA doctoral student. His graduate work is in theater and performance. “My dissertation is on British theater in the 18th century. It did help me compete on 'Jeopardy!' Even more specifically, I was helped by the film classes that I taught. I got a couple of film and theater categories and also in British history.” Wilson will graduate in May 2018 with a PhD from UGA’s Department of Theatre and Film Studies. In a stranger-than-fiction development, he had watched

www.grad.uga.edu

fellow Bulldog Katie Pieper’s “Jeopardy!” performances just before he travelled to compete on the show this past summer. (The two graduate students have not met.) “They tell you the best way to study is to watch the show as much as possible,” said Wilson in a phone interview. “That had always been a part of my routine and it became a more important part. Her episode aired the week as I left for California.” Wilson also shared Pieper’s desire to be on “Jeopardy!” from a young age. “I remember when I was really young, four or five, my parents would watch the show every day. I was intrigued by it although I didn’t get a whole lot of questions right. I got my first question right about the Kennedy Space Center, because we had been studying it in school. I liked the feeling of getting a question right, and that set it in motion. If you are interested in quiz shows or trivia, 'Jeopardy!' is sort of the brass ring, the ultimate example of that kind of thing.” For over a week in July, Wilson taped 13 episodes that aired through October of 2016. “Jeopardy!” fired his youthful curiosity. Now his show

winnings will provide a nest egg and a rare vacation trek to Britain. But Wilson is annoyed that he couldn’t answer a pop culture “Jeopardy!” question. “Oh,” he sighs. “The final 'Jeopardy!' category was 21st Century Pop Music—a pretty big wheelhouse. The question was one concerning the Coldplay song, 'Viva la Vida.' I couldn’t believe I didn’t know.” But there was also one Wilson couldn’t believe he did know. It was one from the category “Historic Homes,” he recalls. “I had no idea what that would be about.” He paraphrases the question: “It was something like, ‘This person lived in the home of his excellency from 1939 to 1945,' and I was able to figure it out because of the years.” The answer, which popped into his head, was “a gift from the Gods,” Wilson marvels. “Haile Selassie—the king of Ethiopia displaced by Benito Mussolini—was the answer.” Wilson found his liberal arts background provided a range of exposures and served him well. Plus, he credits devoted observation of the show and the strategies of successful participants. Back to business now, Wilson is currently teaching freshman English at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas, and completing his doctoral work. He grew up in Chattanooga, TN and completed his undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt before earning a master’s at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Wilson chose Georgia’s doctoral program given a variety of factors. For one thing, his sister graduated from UGA and had a good experience.

PHOTOS PROVIDE BY JEOPARDY PRODUCTIONS, INC.

WILSON

“Georgia’s program was one that had been the most appealing to me because in addition to the scholarly work, there are students who are doing creative work. So, I’ve been able to do technical theater and different stuff which was important to me. My family have been big Georgia football fans for a 100 million years!” Post his winning run, he returned to UGA in November, 2016 with his entire family for the Georgia game with historic rivals Georgia Tech. As for decimating rivals on a game show, Wilson agrees with Pieper. Manipulating the buzzer is a difficult aspect of being a contestant. “I was talking to another contestant last night while I was doing a webcast for the ‘Jeopardy!’ contestants. The buzzer system is difficult. You can know all kinds of stuff, but if you are not the first to buzz in you don’t get any points.” How will he reward himself for his amazing winning streak? “I’m not 100 percent sure,” Wilson replies. “A lot of it will go to practical things, alleviating a lot of student debt. The bulk of it will go somewhere safe, because the academic environment is volatile. I had planned to go to England and Europe and do research for my PhD. That trip now, instead of just being research, will be a vacation. Taking a vacation will be the luxury item.” n

UGA Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

KATIE

K AT I E P I E P E R O N “ J E O PA R DY ! ” A N D A DREAM REALIZED Katie Pieper, a doctoral student in genetics, is involved with campus organizations such as UGA Women in Science and the Athens Science Café. But nothing quite compares with her turn on the game show “Jeopardy!”—when a dream came true. BY CYNTHIA ADAMS PHOTOS PROVIDED BY JEOPARDY PRODUCTIONS, INC.

doesn’t matter to Katie Pieper that she came in second on a “Jeopardy!” segment that aired this past July. She won, she says, with a genial grin and a shake of her dark brown hair. What matters, Pieper says, is that she got to check something off her bucket list. A big something. And her parents were with her, sitting in the Culver City, CA studio audience to watch as she was filmed alongside fellow contestants responding to show host Alex Trebek. (Trebek ad libs, she confides, unscripted except for the posed questions. “He is actually smart.”) Since her youth, Pieper has corralled her parents to watch a game popular among lovers of trivia and information. “I had been watching ‘Jeopardy!’ since I can remember,” she says. That is, until the last five years while a doctoral student, given she doesn’t have access to cable television in Athens.

www.grad.uga.edu

Fortunately, too, Pieper is about to check another bucket list item off: earning a doctorate in genetics. Fruit flies are the basis of her research. Pieper is, after all, a scientist, a woman with a mind for facts, and she has enjoyed trivia all her life. Fortunately, she also possesses an excellent memory. ‘I used to play Brain Quest on road trips,” Pieper says of her younger years. “I was on the Academic quiz bowl team at my school.” Games are a form of relaxation for her. “Jeopardy!”, however, was the ultimate experience. “I felt it was an experience I had to have,“ she confesses, her eyes lighting. She explains the mechanics of becoming a game show contestant. First, Pieper took the online prequalifying tests in order to become selected as a potential “Jeopardy!” contestant. “It’s something like, oh, 50 questions. If you

do well enough, they invite you in for a personal audition.” Pieper did well enough, although she says, “I actually did not prepare at all.” In the scheme of things, “Jeopardy's!” premise seemed simple enough to her. She recognized a certain pattern to the questions posed whenever Pieper watched the weekly program. “I knew what it was going to be like…I was, like, ‘I’ll go see what happens’—because the thing with Jeopardy is, the answer is usually the most obvious thing.” Long after taking the pre-qualifying online “Jeopardy!” exam, Pieper received a call to audition in June 2015. It was, unfortunately, just as she and her family were enjoying a rare vacation on Tybee Island outside Savannah, Ga. But Pieper determinedly hopped in her car and made the Atlanta audition. This was not Pieper’s first experience auditioning for the game show—she had previously attempted to make the cut for the collegiate version and it had not gone as well. “I had previously auditioned for 'College Jeopardy!', and did not feel good about it.” She recalls leaving her Ohio family for the hurried trip and finding plenty of Jeopardy hopefuls upon arrival. “There were probably 40 people auditioning in Atlanta on that Wednesday. After the audition, I felt good.” She returned to Tybee where her family awaited—and this time, Pieper felt positive about her audition performance as she reviewed the day’s events. She doesn’t recall specific questions from the audition, apart from a question about the 19th Amendment. She describes the experience. “With the audition, they have everyone in a conference room. They have a big screen and project a ‘Jeopardy!’ board.

PHOTOS PROVIDE BY JEOPARDY PRODUCTIONS, INC.

PIEPER

You do another written test and you practice questions. And then, they call people up by threes and you play a ‘Jeopardy!’ game.” Pieper realized that most importantly they sought contestants with the aplomb to compete. “They want to know that you are good at the game.” In the interim following the Atlanta audition, Pieper didn’t even watch the game show but burrowed into her graduate research. The months flew by, she explains tongue-in-check, pun intended. “The overall goal of my research with flies is to investigate how genetic conflict effects sex chromosome evolution,” she says. “Specifically, I study a selfish X-chromosome found in a North American species called Drosophila neotestacea. The selfish X promotes its own transmission to the next generation by killing the Y-bearing sperm in the testes of male flies that carry it. These males then only have daughters which also carry the selfish X. I look at how this selfish behavior has affected the molecular evolution of the X-chromosome in this species.” Almost an entire year passed before she heard anything further from the show executives concerning her audition. The call came finally on April 10th last year, as Pieper was working in a windowless lab room on campus. She learned she had made the cut—she was going to become a “Jeopardy!” contestant. “It was a little surreal,” she says. So were the terms—Pieper would have to be in California within two weeks if she was to compete. “They asked if I could come to Los Angeles April 25-26.” But there was never a question she would accept if selected—

UGA Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

“Jeopardy!” is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The original daytime version debuted on NBC in 1964 with various versions airing until 1979. The current, daily syndicated version premiered in 1984 and is still airing, making it by far the program's most successful incarnation. “Jeopardy!” was hosted by Art Fleming. Don Pardo (above middle photo) served as announcer until 1975, and John Harlan announced for the 1978–79 show. Since its inception, the daily syndicated version has featured Alex Trebek (above photo) as host and Johnny Gilbert as announcer. With 7,000 episodes aired, the daily syndicated version of “Jeopardy!” has won a record 31 Daytime Emmy Awards and is the only post-1960 game show to be honored with the Peabody Award. In 2013, the program was ranked No. 45 on TV Guide's list of the 60 greatest shows in American television history.

www.grad.uga.edu

it took her less than a second to say yes. Pieper immediately called her family and asked if her parents wanted to come and see her compete. They did. Given her lack of cable access she had to be resourceful. “I watched all the episodes I could watch on YouTube.” And, Pieper adds, “I actually did study this time.” Her boyfriend would review potential questions with her. The competitive Pieper actually relished the challenge, says she couldn’t wait for her turn on the stage. “I wasn’t super worried about it; I wasn’t nervous until Sunday night and the taping was on Monday.” She had visited some tourist sites and enjoyed a celebratory dinner on the town with her folks. Then, indigestion struck. She had an uncomfortable night’s rest before her day of taping on April 25th. Early that Monday morning, Pieper awaited the “Jeopardy!” shuttle at her hotel, which delivered her to the studio, one abutting the “Wheel of Fortune” game show studio. By 8:00 a.m. she was ready for two hours of rehearsals and prepping on the soundstage. “Walking out there onto the stage for the first time was really cool,” she says. She swiftly forgot her upset stomach. If Pieper had butterflies, they were now flying in formation. She felt oddly calm—even excited. Pieper doesn’t know if qualified contestants ever back out due to jangled nerves or stage fright. She soon learned how experienced “Jeopardy!” staffers keep the contestants busy and distracted, as they discussed buzzing-in strategies (contestants must be the first to hit a buzzer before answering a question framed as a question in the specific style that “Jeopardy!” requires) and gave rousing pep talks. Studio wranglers had instructed Pieper on what to wear in advance of the day (they were advised to bring two changes of clothing—business or business casual—in solid colors and no prints) and others readied the 15 awaiting contestants by applying makeup. “You show up prepared for taping back-to-back shows if you keep winning,” Pieper explains. There was the possibility of five shows being taped that day. The wranglers discussed camera positions, emphasized the vitally important buzzer, and covered all other details with the waiting contestants throughout the morning. “You rehearse; you play a little game of ‘Jeopardy!’ It was really fun—that’s how I would describe it.” As they were doing this, the audience began arriving and filling the seat. Pieper spied her parents. The sight of their smiling faces gave her an immediate sense of comfort. She was jitters-free and ready to compete. The crew recorded promotional commercials and announcements, and offered further counseling of the contestants.

How did a “Jeopardy!” contestant wind up studying genetics? At the University of Notre Dame, Pieper took an evolutionary biology class, enjoyed it, and became a biology major. “It was awesome. Then I took a genomics class, and that is how I got interested in genetics.” Fruit flies are the basis of her genetics research. After completing her doctorate, drosophila melanogaster

Pieper wants to work in professional grant writing and science writing.

“The contestant people come out and give you some advice; it honestly was a blur!” Thereon, Pieper describes how things suddenly moved with greater momentum. Soon, they were filming the first show of the day. She faced off with competitors Pam Platt and Jason George. Platt is a former newspaper editorial editor, and George is a business consultant. “I ended up being in the first game. I was taken by surprise…it was go, go go! I was nervous…not fearful, but full of adrenalin. My heart was racing.” As things proceeded Pieper experienced a blur of adrenalin-laced mental focus upon the questions posed. Yet, she found herself not paying close attention to the scores. “We had had categories; one was ‘facts about roads in America’. Another was ‘stuff from Connecticut’, then another was about spelling things with periodic elements—like, for example, sodium potassium—and the answer would be a combination of the abbreviation of two elements.” She nearly swept the category of “things that rhyme with red.” Then, Pieper found the category “roads scholar” difficult. It was also stressful to deal with the buzzer. When Pieper scored a bonus “Daily Double” she was elated. “I wanted to make it to 'Final Jeopardy'—that’s all I wanted. I wanted to make people proud.” As she faced the final question, known as “Final Jeopardy!”, the Shakespeare-related clue was: “This comedy whose title aims to please says, ‘I charge you, o men ... that between you and the women the play may please.’” Each of the contestants answered the question correctly— “What is ‘As You Like It’?” Pieper had very nearly won, ending in a very respectable second place, in addition to increasing her bank account with two thousand dollars of winnings!

Only afterward, re-watching her “Jeopardy!” performance, did she realize how difficult some of the categories actually were. Seeing herself on screen, and the hype leading up to the competition, seemed especially odd. On review, it was just good fun. She is no stranger to the fact that most people are too intimidated to ever consider entering a game show competition, especially a televised one. When her segment aired this past summer, she viewed it with friends in Athens, and realized how well she had performed. Pieper says she was interested in psychology when an undergraduate, and feels she gained self-knowledge thanks to the experience. She says on reflection, “I don’t think that being on ‘Jeopardy!’ is a measure of intelligence. I think there are many measures.” She adds later, “That’s what I think about IQ—that your ability to perform on a test is not a good measure of your intelligence.” In the months since her bucket list experience, Pieper talks about the value of not just being productive but enjoying life. That is her wisdom, her final answer, she says with a gentle smile. “I was really happy with how I did.” n

UGA Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

BARCELLOS

PHOTO COURTESY OF DIEGO BY CYNTHIA ADAMS

UGA DOCTORAL STUDENT DIEGO BARCELLOS is Brazilian-born and grew up on a 150-acre working farm. Now his past and future intersect as he studies soil science while the world grapples with climate change. Guided by UGA research professors, Barcellos studies two Critical Zone Observatories (or CZO) at locations in Calhoun, SC, and Luquillo, Puerto Rico, analyzing how iron minerals control soil carbon. Barcellos’s research investigates environmental conditions within these two very different locales. Research outcomes determined here are of importance to farm production worldwide, including that of Barcellos’s farmlands. The Calhoun and Luquillo sites are among 10 others known to a broad range of scientists as critical monitoring sites. In essence, the lands comprising a CZO can serve as canaries in the mine for environmental changes and their impact for our planet. These factors underlie Barcellos’s doctoral research.

iego Barcellos knew about the value of good soil from earliest memory. He came of age on a Brazilian coffee and cattle farm in João Neiva, Espirito Santo State. He produces snapshots of himself as a small-framed boy, working alongside his grandfather and siblings in the field. He is only six years old.(See p.13) Prophetically, Barcellos is turning over soil as he works. Although Barcellos is young and slight of frame, his face is determined and focused as he tills. Behind him there is a mountain and woodlands. The vegetation in the background is green and the overturned soil at his feet is rich.

www.grad.uga.edu

Soil, it so happens, would become important to his adult life and scientific career as a present-day soil scientist. Poor soil, Barcellos explains, is the bane of productive farming, with snowballing effects. Depleted soil leads to crop failure. Crop failure is of immense significance on both micro and macro levels, with great consequence for the world food supply. In the absence of rich, productive soil, it is impossible for farmers to produce successful crops and meet the world’s food needs. Barcellos is deeply invested in farming, having descended from Italian immigrants that arrived in Brazil in 1885. Now he continues in the tradition

of family farming—but in his case, as a scientist/farmer. “So, I am of the fourth generation that owns that farmland,” Barcellos says. “We have been growing coffee for more than 50 years. Before that, it was mostly cattle, hogs, and subsistence farming. My father still raises dairy cattle together with coffee.” As the family snapshot of the young boy at work in the field demonstrates, his face is a study in concentration as he hoes. “We worked at 4:00 a.m.,” he says. You can sense the heat and the fatigue of his grandfather. “I have been a work farmer,” Barcellos stresses. “And I did everything you can imagine. Growing up and

A S FA R M E R A N D S C I E N T I S T

UGA UGAGraduate Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

BARCELLOS, LEFT, WITH CHUNMEI CHEN, A POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLAR, AND AARON THOMPSON, A UGA PROFESSOR IN THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE.

seeing the difficulties of work on a farm, I was always interested. I believe to make an impact in the world and help agriculture, we need someone that has multiple skills and experiences that complement each other.” An understanding of what agriculture demands begins from the ground up—the very ground beneath Barcellos’s young feet. Now, he is literally growing his own knowledge. “Starting,” he explains, “by understanding well what farming is, and having lived this experience of working under the sun, like I did.” And then, he adds, “to have technical skills and know advanced technological ways of conducting research.” The final aspect of his challenge, Barcellos says, is not so much about mastering science as self-mastery. “Finally, to have good social skills and

www.grad.uga.edu

to be a true and humble leader. That is what I am working on...all together.” HARNESSING A CHILDHOOD ON A COFFEE FARM TO BECOME A SCIENTIST A century after the aristocrat writer Isak Dinesen dreamed of coffee farming in Nairobi, Josh Kilmer-Purcell penned a best seller, The Bucolic Plague, iterating the many ways his own dream of rural farming went awry. The NYC ad executive’s clumsy attempts to retreat from urban life and embrace bucolic bliss nearly unraveled. The book is good for a comic reveal—truth versus reality. But it is Dinesen’s rending account of coffee farming that reads truest and with heart-breaking starkness. (See page 15.) Barcellos has lived the stark realities

of a coffee and cattle farm. When he read Dinesen’s comments, he said they were beautiful and reflected his father’s and grandfather’s experiences of coffee farming. So he would have appreciated it when, during a Graduate School awards reception in late August, Graduate School Advancement Board President Lindsay Boring joked that “many a forestry student comes from a dairy background.” Boring directs the conservation, research and educational programs of the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center at Ichauway in southwest Georgia. He is a botanist interested in environmental ecology. And yet, there was seriousness in Boring’s message. “There is nothing harder than working with cattle and dairy,” Boring said afterward, sharing stories of his

A NEW AGE OF FARMING AND SCIENCE: “I want to turn my career into a mixture of the highly technical and managerial,” doctoral student Diego Barcellos explains. “I want to be a liaison between the farmer and the real world.” His interest began while coming of age on his family farm in Brazil. Barcellos is most interested in transformative research that can potentially enhance food production and help ease global food scarcity. As CBS News reported a devastating impact to the world’s coffee production due to climate changes last September, Barcellos observed, “That is pretty sad news. Definitely it will impact millions of coffee farmers around the word. Including my family and the farmers from my region, where we have been growing coffee for decades.”

youth spent on the family dairy and days that began long before sunrise. “Yet, you love the outdoors, so forestry looks appealing.” Barcellos, much like Boring, integrated similar experiences into his future plans and life work. Now, his research within two forests provides a framework for that work. He has dedicated his studies to protecting farmlands and food supplies, each threatened by unsustainable practices. Barcellos says he is driven to meet the needs of an expanding world populace as soil grows less productive. His work builds upon his master’s studies in phytoremediation, which involved both a greenhouse experiment and field work in Brazil. “I am interested in soil science, focusing in the sub-area of soil chemistry and biogeochemistry,” Barcellos explains. He considers the chemical interactions and stabilization mechanisms of soil carbon by iron oxide—which in turn, will benefit farmers. “By better understanding the mechanisms of carbon and nutrient storage by iron and aluminum oxides, we can better manage soil nutrients and improve carbon sequestration in the soils,” he explains. “Moreover, a more profound understanding of soils is essential for achieving global food security.”

The composition of soil, its productivity, and the availability of topsoil, are approaching a global tipping point. If that sounds extreme, consider this: According to Time magazine, experts reported in 2012 that the world is swiftly facing the loss of useable topsoil. The magazine reported on issues of soil erosion and degradation, stating that only about 60 years of topsoil remained—sounding a global alarm over four years ago. “Some 40 percent of soil used for agriculture around the world is classed as either degraded or seriously degraded,” the report stated, citing the World Economic Forum. The article warned that farming techniques which strip the soil of carbon have rendered it nutrient weak and depleted. This encapsulates the gist of Barcellos’s research area. Worse yet, lost soil is not being replenished, the Time’s article adds. “Even the well-maintained farming land in Europe, which may look idyllic, is being lost at unsustainable rates.” For Barcellos, there are many incentives to intercede in this scenario, and become an actively engaged, hands-on researcher when he completes his doctorate. “I want to turn my career into a mixture of high technical and manager,” he says. “I want to be a liaison between

the farmer and the real world. My ultimate goal is to be a global leader in agriculture, farming, and soils issues, such as working for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.” Barcellos has oriented his life towards this: a worthy goal will mean work. “It is like a Formula 1 racer that dedicated his life for that since early stages, like Ayrton Senna from Brazil.” Senna himself once said, “I have no idols. I admire work, dedication and competence.” ON THE TRAIL OF LOST TOPSOIL: FOLLOWING THE SEDIMENT After offers to study at four graduate institutions in 2012, Barcellos chose the University of Georgia. One afternoon between classes, Barcellos described his current research at the Calhoun CZO. He has completed field work at the Luquillo CZO, having spent April through June last year onsite. “This is the legacy of abandoned cotton farms during the Great Depression,” he explained in discussing the Calhoun site. “Studying the area erosion in South Carolina after 70 or 80 years, we’re looking at regeneration and how it affects the soil.” Calhoun lies three hours northeast of the UGA campus inside a federal

UGA Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

park. These parklands now represent what was once an enormous farm, which has long since lain fallow but has been reforested. The Calhoun CZO originated as the Calhoun Experimental Forest in 1947, becoming a CZO in 2014. Last summer, Barcellos travelled there with a group of fellow researchers on a smothering hot August day. One team is led by Aaron Thompson, a UGA professor in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Science, and another by Daniel Markewitz, UGA professor in the School of Forestry. Both professors have made significant contributions to Calhoun research. Although the researchers departed UGA at 6:00 a.m., they returned late that night following a full day of soil sampling and probe placement. Through this work, they monitor moisture levels and gather other data within the parklands once maintained by the United States Forestry Service. The site lies within a watershed, and Thompson says it was originally cleared for farming in the 1800s. Later abandoned, Calhoun was reforested in the 1940s. To understand how its hydrology is affected, Thompson says they are “tracking the lost sediment.” Colleagues from Barcellos’s lab include Thompson, who is his doctoral advisor, and Chunmei Chen, a postdoctoral scholar. They set to work without complaint despite oppressive conditions. They must first lug plastic tubs of data-collecting gear, spades, and miscellaneous equipment required for sensor placements both upland and down land inside the CZO. Yet, the arduous physical work of preparing for data collection takes place in a nondescript and isolated patch of woods. To the untrained eye, the site is not especially welcoming, with the

www.grad.uga.edu

soil crumbly and sunbaked. There is little relief from the sun, apart from the shade afforded by a canopy of pines. The researchers tuck their pant legs into their boots and hoist loads of equipment they must port into the woods. It is challenging to make out the trails leading to their sites, which is by design to discourage vandalism. The group will brave temperatures hovering in the 90s and the temperatures do not break. But then, neither does their good humor. And, beyond the heat, there are other hazards: Steep terrain makes it hard to keep your purchase. Poison ivy thrives, and numerous felled logs and dry leaves offer ample cover for snakes. There is the ever-present menace of chiggers. The chigger, Thompson jokes, is an ongoing, sometimes weekly, reality. The data-gathering probes they use monitor soil moisture and redox, which is the term for reduction and oxidation. Samples collected will be analyzed offsite, offering information concerning changes effected by factors such as erosion. The data captured, Thompson says, provides for molecular scale analysis that is in turn shared with other CZO researchers and scientists. The Calhoun workday is long, the conditions are unforgiving, and despite applications of DEET, mosquitoes buzz and bite. But Barcellos and company are upbeat and set about working. Everything Barcellos experienced as the child of a farmer, a child coming of age in a rural reality, influences him now. He has witnessed the cyclic reality of farming with all its potential failures. He is humbled and has been prepared by it. “I did everything you can imagine. Growing up and seeing the difficulties of work on a farm, I was always interested in farming,” he explains. When asked about his early education, Barcellos answers that he

is “middle class, and attended public schools.” But Barcellos allows himself a small amount of pride when adding, “My father never had to pay for my education. I was a good student. And, I wanted to give back to the farmer.” He studied agronomy in Brazilian universities before coming to Georgia for graduate work in the field of soil science. “It involves chemistry, math, biology,” Barcellos says. “It has a huge province.” He made a massive decision, having moved 4,657 miles from Brazil. However, his intention was always to use his education in order to advance the larger cause of farming. So, despite temperatures pushing ever-closer to the 100 degree point in the shade, Barcellos is optimistic, joining with work that will pay off for farmers worldwide. Tracking and preserving the world’s precious topsoil is a powerful motivation. In tracking Calhoun’s lost sediment, it is difficult to envision its past as productive farmland. Much of the topsoil has long since washed into a creek below the hillside that feeds into the Tyger River. (This, as Barcellos reminds, is the problem; most of the topsoil is being carried away.) These protected lands have been allowed to regenerate. And yet, the land remains degraded. Calhoun IS a known canary in the mine. It starkly illustrates “some of the most serious agricultural land and water degradation in North America’s five themes: Eco-hydrological Recovery; Biogeochemical Decoupling; Erosioninduced Carbon Dynamics; Human-CZ Interactions; Dynamic Persistence of Alternative States,” according to the CZO website. Barcellos crouches near plastic tubs of probes, tubing and equipment ported in by hand. “The general picture is this,” he explains. “The soil is the

PHOTO COURTESY OF DIEGO BARCELLOS

Diego Barcellos grew up on a Brazilian coffee and cattle farm in João Neiva, Espirito Santo State. He is descended from José Barcellos, who settled there in 1885. His great-great-grandfather immigrated from Italy to Brazil, during a time of agricultural decline for Italy when Brazil offered farmlands to immigrants. Above Right: Circa 1993 on the Barcellos farm, right to left: “My grandfather, Dionizio, my sister, Diana, and my cousin, Icaro. My sister and cousin were three years old. I am the tallest kid, far left, in the striped t-shirt. I was then six years old. This photo means a lot to me. It shows my grandfather teaching us, since we were very little, how to work with the farm, to give importance to our job, and to be responsible with work.”

biggest terrestrial compartment for storing carbon. In storing and releasing carbon into the atmosphere as CO2 or CH4 , you increase the global warming. It’s the loss of carbon from the soil that is a very important mechanism.” He is studying the iron minerals that have a high surface area and can chemically bind a lot of carbon in the soil. “A small amount of iron minerals can play a large role,” he explains. The scientist must return periodically to collect data and check equipment in order for him to quantify what role iron minerals will play. Graduate researchers like Barcellos can add to environmental information that may influence public policy and further scientific knowledge in the wake of climate change. What interests Barcellos more, however, is how the data can be applied to potentially devastating issues concerning soils. Soil depletion,

he explains, is an escalating problem with devastating consequence. What he learns could have aspects that matter elsewhere, even continents away. “For example, in Africa,” he says, gesturing towards the array of monitors. “This helps me understand different environments, this equipment used for measuring things in the soil.” Last October, Barcellos returned to Calhoun. He will repeat the work throughout the extreme winter months to come, as he constantly evaluates and re-checks sensors. Work that was brutally hot in summer gives way to bitter rain and cold. Barcellos trusts the data will inform more answers. He shrugs. Life on a 150-acre farm has prepared him to be patient. “It’s not that hard,” he insists. Then, he smiles convincingly. It is the same smile that Barcellos averted from the camera years earlier, standing

on Brazilian farmland. There are echoes of the earnest young boy turning the soil as he prepares himself as well. Later, Barcellos sends another snapshot of himself taken six years later, this time posing with younger cousins. Again, his chin is high and his gaze is confident and direct. Barcellos is the tallest of the three, and his dark eyes are mature beyond his years. “I was probably 12 or 13 years old,” Barcellos explains, saying the snapshot was also taken when working with the cattle. “It was probably 8:00 a.m., and I had finished milking the cows, so I was taking them to a pasture, as you can see in the photo.” His was, and remains, a hopeful smile—one ripe with promise. n For Further Reading http://criticalzone.org/national/blogs/post/ what-is-the-calhoun-critical-zone-observatory/

UGA Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

WHAT ARE CRITICAL ZONE OBSERVATORIES? The Critical Zone Observatories, known as CZO, are located

hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere can be brought into

in 10 locations. The CZO sites are Boulder Creek, Calhoun,

focus,” according to the organization’s online statement. They

Christina River Basin, Eel River, Intensively Managed

also illustrate how “mass and energy fluxes interact with life

Landscapes (IML), Jemez River Basin & Santa Catalina

and rock over geological timescales, for example, processes

Mountains, Luquillo, Reynolds Creek, Susquehanna Shale

that transform bedrock into soils, and how the same coupled

Hills, and Southern Sierra. CZO research offers insight into the

processes enact feedbacks between the Critical Zone and

Earth’s surface, beginning with the tops of trees and extending

changing climate and land use over timescales of human

into the deepest water.

decision making.”

These sites function at the catchment/watershed scale. CZOs

Source: the website for the Critical Zone Observatories http:// criticalzone.org/national/infrastructure/observatories-1national/

are cross-linked and focus upon “the interconnected chemical, physical and biological processes shaping Earth's surface.” Each CZO is site specific, designed to maximize the environment and the skills of investigators working there. These

Air

locales enable the investigators to collect hydro-geochemical

Organisms

data, and to sample the canopy, soil and bedrock within. The vegetation, soil, rock and water inside these zones yield essential information. Investigators at the CZO include members of various academic institutions and interested members of the public.

Soil Water Rock

Their research fields include: hydrology, geochemistry, geomorphology, pedology, ecology and climatology. The work at the CZO also includes educational outreach efforts to students. “CZOs are the lenses through which the rich complexity of interactions between the lithosphere, pedosphere,

www.grad.uga.edu

HTTP://CRITICALZONE.ORG/NATIONAL/ ABOUT/MEDIA-KIT-1NATIONAL/

“THERE ARE TIMES OF

O N A C O F F E E - FA R M . ”

Life on a Coffee Farm [From Out of Africa, by Isak Dinesen]

graded and sorted, by hand, and packed in sacks sewn up with

"There are times of great beauty on a coffee-farm. When the

a saddler’s needle.

plantation flowered in the beginning of the rains, it was a

Then in the end in the early morning, while it was still dark,

radiant sight, like a cloud of chalk, in the mist and the drizzling

and I was lying in bed, I heard the wagons, loaded high up

rain, over six hundred acres of land. The coffee-blossom has a

with coffee-sacks, twelve to a ton, with sixteen oxen to each

delicate slightly bitter scent, like the blackthorn blossom. When

wagon, starting on their way in to Nairobi railway station up the

the field reddened with the ripe berries, all the women and the

long factory hill, with much shouting and rattling, the drivers

children, whom they call the Totos, were called out to pick the

running beside the wagons. I was pleased to think that this was

coffee off the trees, together with the men; then the wagons

the only hill up, on their way, for the farm was a thousand feet

and carts brought it down to the factory near the river. Our

higher than the town of Nairobi. In the evening I walked out to

machinery was never quite what it should have been, but we

meet the procession that came back, the tired oxen hanging

had planned and built the factory ourselves and thought highly

their heads in front of the empty wagons, with a tired little

of it. Once the whole factory burned down and had to be built

Toto leading them, and the weary drivers trailing their whips in

up again. The big coffee-dryer turned and turned, rumbling

the dust of the road. Now we had done what we could do. The

the coffee in its iron belly with a sound like pebbles that are

coffee would be on the sea in a day or two, and we could only

washed about on the seashore. Sometimes the coffee would

hope for good luck at the big auction-sales in London."

be dry, and ready to take out of the dryer, in the middle of the

And upon having read the above, this from Diego Barcello,

night. That was a picturesque moment, with many hurricane

who has been involved with coffee growing since his birth:

lamps in the huge dark room of the factory, that was hung

“That is an awesome description of coffee farming. Although,

everywhere with cobwebs and coffee-husks, and with eager

this description was a reality something like 30 years ago in

glowing dark faces, in the light of the lamps, round the dryer;

Brazil. Since then they have modernized the coffee production

the factory, you felt, hung in the great African night like a

much more. Some parts of this description I identify with my

bright jewel in an Ethiope’s ear. Later on the coffee was hulled,

childhood, but some sounds like my father's childhood times.

UGA Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

J U ST D O N ’ T T R A P M E I N D O O R S !

T HE GRE AT OU T D OOR A DV E N T URE S OF J E SS ST E PHE N S

BY CYNTHIA ADAMS PHOTOS BY NANCY EVELYN

cientist and UGA doctoral student Jessica Stephens left her hometown of Wheaton, Illinois behind in her rear view mirror when she headed to the South for graduate studies. She didn’t look back and embraced the South heat, humidity and all. For the truth was, the lush southern landscape appealed to Stephens so much that she was more than willing to ignore the muggy weather whenever the temperatures soared. Little did Stephens know she would discover her future vocation–plant biology—and her favorite research topic—the idiosyncratic carnivorous plants in some of the muggiest places she would explore. Carnivorous plants, sufficiently strange to inspire films and plays, such as The Ruins, and Little Shop of Horrors, are known to be more abundantly concentrated in the Southeast than elsewhere in the nation. Stephens was game for whatever Mother Nature had in store from the get-go. “I grew up in a suburb of Chicago. There was practically no nature. As you drive away from the city it’s just endless cornfields…I was blown away by how many trees there are here!” And she is outdoors if not in the plant biology lab—often at work in the field studying carnivorous plants that absorb her professional hours—or else playing softball or hiking in the green mountains of northern Georgia. Stephens plays second base for the Little Kings Bruisers and played softball competitively as a Division I athlete in

www.grad.uga.edu

college. She has fond memories of spending most of the summer outdoors on the softball field as a young adult and she admits she is happiest outdoors. The great outdoors makes Stephens feel lighter, exhilarated. “I got into biology because I’m interested in the natural world…that’s where I recharge. I like to sit and enjoy nature every chance I get.” However, she found a different type of inspiration right in her kitchen at home in Chicago. “My Mom was very influential to me. I’m a first generation four-year college student,” Stephens explains. Her mother, Debra Zimmerman, returned to school to earn an associate’s degree when Stephens was in the seventh grade. This is something which Stephens discusses with the greatest of admiration: her mother worked multiple jobs having to rise early and study late into the evening. None of this was easy. Stephens recalls nights spent at the kitchen table, with mother and daughter bent over their books after dinner. “We would study together,” she says, again smiling. Her mother’s deep commitment to finish an associate’s degree struck Stephens as admirable, worthy of emulation. “My mom is one of the hardest working people I know. She really showed me what hard work can achieve.” It suffused Stephens with a sense of pride and willingness to see things through. Both her mother and grandmother are also passionate about time spent outdoors. Their gardening is also a point of pride.

UGA UGAGraduate Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

Illustrated Woman: Stephens’s tattoos highlight her love of nature, and include a hummingbird, pitcher plant and an ebony jewelwing damselfly. “That species of damselfly can be found fluttering around small creeks in wooded areas in Georgia and will always remind me of hiking around the state.” Stephens describes differences between a snap trap, like the Venus fly trap, versus a passive pitfall trap, like the pitcher plant. Stephens studies the plant-insect-microbe interactions in carnivorous pitcher plants. Both carnivorous plants are found in the southeastern United States.

“My mom and granny are big gardeners and are always outside gardening. Often times when I was little I would come out and help. They really instilled in me a sense of connection with nature.” She also spent many summers at the YMCA outdoor camps exploring nature. The examples of such strong women modeled habits that have stayed with Stephens. Stephens attended Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana as an undergraduate. There she was exposed to urban ecology research, and she ultimately worked as a field technician in Arizona and Colorado and Illinois tracking various species (including the Mt. Graham red squirrel, the white-tailed prairie dog, and turtles) before entering graduate school at Auburn University. At Auburn, she earned a master’s degree in biology. Her thesis research was “a combination of life history aspects and genetics of the pitcher plant moth across the southeastern United States Coastal Plain.” Stephens quickly came to love the biodiversity of the Southeast and felt she had found a true home. “When I went to a pitcher plant bog for the first time, I was amazed! I fell in love with the Southeast…how beautiful and diverse it is!” She also discovered how much she liked science communication, (a discovery she said that was solidified after entering the 3MT, or Three Minute Thesis, competition in the spring of 2013). “I really enjoy talking to the public about science! Their enthusiasm is infectious.”

www.grad.uga.edu

Stephens has given numerous such talks, including presentations in Tifton and Brunswick, Ga. for the Southeastern Native Plant and Wildflower Association. She hasn’t decided whether to participate in the 3MT (a strictly-timed, threeminute thesis presentation sponsored by the Graduate School) again this year. “It’s very challenging and it’s easily the hardest presentation I have ever done,” she grimaces. Then, the perennially upbeat Stephens flashes a grin. She is reaching out to help future scientists like herself. Stephens helped organize a day of science experimentation and inquiry for Girl Scouts this spring at the Georgia Botanical Gardens. The Graduate School sponsored the STEM-supportive day with a grant, which meant that 71 Daisies, Brownies and Juniors as well as 13 Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors could work with Stephens and other UGA doctoral students. “The whole event is not only for them to get a slew of badges,” Stephens explains. “But also to introduce all the girls to women scientists, science, and nature.” A National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant has allowed her to extend her dissertation project working with carnivorous species such as the pitcher plant. This grant has funded her to continue to work at the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s new site in Gainesville, Ga. with field research that expands upon her prior work examining carnivorous plant and insect interaction. “What I have found in my dissertation work is that these plants aren’t just catching any type of insect. Each species has particular traits that attract different types of prey from the

T H E C U R I O U S WO R L D O F I D I O SY N C R AT I C C A R N I VO R O U S P L A N T S

At right, Stephens volunteered with a Girl Scout Science event at the Georgia Botanical Gardens. The event, sponsored by the Graduate School last year, enabled graduate students to work with young scientists in the making. Stephens says it not only allowed for a "slew of badges" to be earned, but for the girls to meet women scientists and perform experiments.

WIKIMEDIA.ORG

environment. What I noticed while in the field is that the traps are also giving off fragrances that might also influence what prey they attract,” Stephens says. The grant enables her to improve what she is doing to extend to another trait; specifically, analyzing the smells the plants emit to attract specific prey. It also reveals a significant difference in perceptions. “Charles Darwin was actually one of the first to propose that these plants exploit insect’s attraction to various fragrances. In addition to looking at the smells that the traps emit, I am testing a hypothesis that these plants somehow avoid capturing their pollinators in their quest to capture insects as prey either through chemical signals or other mechanisms. It’s really cool; this grant has exposed me to the field of chemical ecology. The way we perceive the world is very different than how insects perceive the world.” Stephens explains how this has altered her scientific perspective. “If you think about how plants and insects have evolved to communicate to each other through chemical signals it

UGA Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

Stephens plays softball with the Little King Bruisers, a coed team in the Athens “bar league” sponsored by the Little Kings bar. The Little Bruisers have wound up their 2016 season and no matter how they finish up score-wise, she enjoyed the time spent with the team in wide-open spaces. Not even a calf muscle tear (she had to play much of the last season while wearing compression tights) could stop Stephens from the pleasure she derives in being a team player.

really changes your perception of the world. Plant smells can really convey a lot to an insect. It can communicate quality of rewards to pollinators and even attract very specific plant pollinators to visit.” Stephens is collaborating with Andre Kessler and Robert Raguso, Cornell researchers and chemical ecologists, in order to analyze her collected samples. In addition to plant-insect interactions, Stephens also does work on plant-microbe interactions. She is specifically interested in the microbe community that breaks down prey and whether that community changes with type of prey the pitcher plant eats or if the plant itself can somehow control that microbe community—similar to the human gut microbiome. “Scientists are just starting to discover how important plant-microbe interactions can be for the health of a plant,” she says. Her future will probably involve teaching as well as research, Stephens says. “I’ve had the opportunity to teach almost every semester I have been at UGA. I really love teaching and interacting with undergrads.” She is so passionate about teaching that she has included it in her research. “I’m currently doing a teaching research project with Dr. Peggy Brickman examining how graduate students use peer and faculty feedback to improve their pedagogical skills going

www.grad.uga.edu

forward. I am definitely interested in pursuing a career in academia, either through teaching or further work on plantinsect-microbe interactions or both!” She is also reconnecting with being in the great outdoors—her avocation. “I’m finishing up here in Georgia and looking forward to the next adventure!” n

For Further Study For more information on pitcher plant research: https://www.sciencedaily. com/terms/pitcher_plant.htm For more information about carnivorous plants of the Southeast: http://www.nature.org/magazine/archives/killer-instincts-1.xml http://www.nature.org/newsfeatures/se20coastal20brochure2.pdf For more information on the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s new Gainesville location: http://atlantabg.org/visit/gainesville For more information on Jess Stephens's research: http://sarracenia.uga.edu/ jdstephe/Home.html

T H E S AVAG E G A R D E N , P E T E R D ’A M ATO, A N D C A R N I VO R O U S (EVEN MURDEROUS!) PLANTS Peter D’Amato, a “savage gardener”

Carnivorous plants are identified

absorbs the nutrients made available

and science writer for 40 years, says

as flowering predators, which can

from the corpse. Most carnivorous plants

there are a fascinating number and

capture and kill in order to feed. They

will grow without consuming prey but

variation of carnivorous plants here in

not only have the ability to capture

they grow much faster and reproduce

the United States. They are often found

insects, spiders, crustaceans and

much better with nutrients derived from

in the Southeast, yet there are species

more, but digest them. The majority of

their prey.”

found up into New England and reaching

their nutritional needs (nitrogen and

across into the Pacific Northwest.

phosphorus) are gained from their prey

They add that also, there are many other

(According to Jessica Stephens, there

as they are commonly found in nutrient

are more than 650 different species

poor soils.

to be found worldwide. The Southeast

Further, carnivorous plants are known

these plants kill non-plants in an obvious,

to eat “small soil and water-living

body present way, but do not derive

Sadly, “Only five percent of our native

invertebrates and protozoans, lizards,

significant nutrition from the victim, they

carnivorous plant habitats remain in

mice, rats, and other small vertebrates,”

are considered murderous plants.”

the Southeast,” D’Amato says. Once “an

according to a website devoted to

amazing belt of habitat for carnivores,”

a 1,000-member society exclusively

These species are truly oddities of nature

D’Amato writes that they are now on the

devoted to the study of carnivorous

verge of extinction.

plants.

easily has 29 different species.)

types of plants with some features of carnivorous plants, but it is more difficult to argue they are true carnivores. "If

that fascinate children and adults alike. In fact Charles Darwin once wrote in a letter “…at this present moment, I care

“Carnivorous plants pull off this trick

more about Drosera than the origin of

using specialized leaves that act as traps.

all the species in the world.” He also felt

Many traps lure prey with bright colors,

the Venus fly trap was “one of the most

extra-floral nectaries, guide hairs, and/or

wonderful plants in the world."

leaf extensions. Once caught and killed, the prey is digested by the plant and/ or partner organisms. The plant then

5 basic trapping mechanisms found in carnivorous plants: 1. Pitfall traps (pitcher plants) trap prey in a rolled leaf that contains a pool of digestive enzymes or bacteria.

2. Flypaper traps use a sticky mucilage.

3. Snap traps utilize rapid leaf movements.

4. Bladder traps suck in prey with a bladder that generates an internal vacuum.

5. Lobster-pots, also known as eel traps, force prey to move towards a digestive organ with inward-pointing hairs.

UGA UGAGraduate Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

my grandmother was a history teacher; “she always told the stories about the Gullah and the Cherokee; what if we could listen to her voice telling those stories; that became my offering to the Gullah and the Geechee.”—Kim Waters

www.grad.uga.edu

Kim Waters: ON

SAPELO ISLAND,

a doctoral student explores an ANCIENT LANGUAGE AND CRYPTICA

BY CYNTHIA ADAMS PHOTOS BY NANCY EVELYN

im Waters settles into an interview after a wearing day. It began with an early morning ferry crossing and subsequent return to

Athens, Ga. Her journey began early in coastal Georgia at Sapelo Island, where she has been conducting field work in GullahGeechee as a linguistics scholar and UGA doctoral student. At journey’s end, Waters sips tea and reviews her field experiences there and her love of the heritage-rich cultures of African-American communities with citizenry descended from formerly enslaved people. She is getting to know more about the Gullah-Geechee culture and language, which are the backbone of her dissertation work. Waters tucks her white, chin-length hair behind her ear and grins widely in answer to how she has come to her present doctoral work. After years as a businesswoman in the corporate world where she worked variously as a

data analyst, a mathematician, a gallery manager and a watercolor artist, she has become a linguist. She has discovered she much prefers to wear linen over wool business suits. “I had to take off the corporate monkey suit,” Waters replies. Then, she leans forward, her chin tilted and blue eyes dancing, and allows herself a good laugh. A conversation with Kim Waters is much more akin to an artist interview than with a former business woman. She says she was just as intrigued by artistic work as something analytical. (For the record, she is still teaching math at the University of North Georgia even as she does field work as a doctoral candidate.) Waters is as richly imagined as a Flannery O’Connor character. Born in Gainesville GA, the family moved to Jefferson where her dad was a mortician. “The Ward Brothers opened a funeral home in Cleveland and one in Jefferson,” she explains.

Her father, also a first-responder, drove the ambulance (which was, when necessary, pressed into service as a hearse.) She grew up the oldest daughter, with her brother and younger sister living above the Jefferson funeral home in a three-room apartment above. From childhood, she learned how to answer the phone and calmly take the details of a call. Waters also learned to be unflappable at an early age. Whenever the phone rang in the funeral home, she knew what to do. “We answered the phone and learned to take directions to the scene of an accident,” she recalls. She also learned being different was perfectly okay. “They took us to school in a hearse. They had a zipper in the ceiling (of the vehicle) so my father could reach up and put the red ball on top for the ambulance. We played hide and seek in the casket room.” Waters's father was also the local Coroner. “At Christmas, we’d be opening presents and there would be

UGA Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

Top: Shown is (left to right) library manager Shuntisk Gaskins, Kim Waters and former resident Nettye Handy Evans. All are helpful to Waters's research at Sapelo. Above: Evans was born in New York City but came to Sapelo at 18 months then left for the mainland after 7th grade to continue her education. She finished high school in Norwalk, CT and taught at Pinevale High School in Valdosta, GA. She later returned to the northeast—teaching in Philadelphia and at Dover Air Force Base High School in Delaware. Evans was the first African-American teacher in the two community colleges where she taught (Delaware Technical College and Delaware State College). After retiring, she moved back south, to Brunswick, and continues to volunteer as a board member of the Hog Hammock Public Library and elsewhere, as needed.

www.grad.uga.edu

a shotgun suicide,” she recalls, shaking her head. She doesn’t avert her eyes. “I didn’t believe in ghosts when I was growing up, but since, my sensibilities have broadened.” Waters was not only learning to be an adaptive young person, she was a good student. After high school, she attended Georgia Tech. Eyes dancing merrily, she jokingly relates that she “married a rocket scientist. He graduated and got a job at General Dynamics. We had our honeymoon at Cape Canaveral.” When their marriage ended, Waters realized she was homesick and returned to Georgia from southern California. On return, she accepted a job working in the pharmacy at St. Mary’s hospital as a pharmacy tech. The job was short lived, as the hospital’s director of operations took Waters under wing and told her she needed to go to graduate school. Waters took the advice, entering the MBA program at Georgia State. She later earned another degree in health systems. Waters eventually went to work as a data analyst for a large insurance company. She was head hunted to Kaiser Permanente. The job was high on status, but low on fulfillment. She recalls those unfulfilling years. “I did competitive intelligence for them. But, at some point I started water color painting and fell in love with it.” Waters entered some paintings in a contest and won an honorable mention. “At one point I woke up one day I knew I had to leave. I was done with the corporate monkey suit. I was just done… the commuting from Gainesville could take you four hours to get there and I was working 60 hour weeks.” Waters left the monkey suit behind and put together a gallery in Buford, Ga. Then she got an offer from a Georgia artist colony looking for a financial person.

It was a step in the direction of her dreams, Waters says. “The job was in Raybun County, in ‘Million Dollar Hollow.’ I met poets writers painters sculptors… it was the most stimulating time of my life.” For Waters, the job revealed “the panoply of the human condition.” Afterward, she returned to Gainesville College to teach mathematics. Then, Waters realized she wanted more. “I decided I wanted to get a PhD at age 48.” What she knew she could not do again was what she calls “soul-numbing work.” Most people, Waters says, are living a job, not a life. “I hit on linguistics.” It likely had much to do with her grandmother, who told her wonderful stories during Waters's childhood. “My grandmother was a history teacher. She always told the stories about the Gullah and the Cherokee. I began to think, ‘What if we could listen to her voice telling those stories?’ That became my offering to the Gullah and the Geechee.” But, those who knew Waters immediately challenged her, expressing disbelief that she would change disciplines and have to start over. She laughed at all of this; after all, Waters was the same unflappable young girl that once took emergency calls and played in the casket room of the local funeral home. Perhaps she was afraid of only one thing: a life unfulfilled. After all, Waters’s father left the mortuary business to become the fire chief in Jefferson, Ga. She was, admittedly, her father’s child. “I’ve never been afraid of work,” Waters shrugs. “I’ve been working since I was 14. I always had multiple jobs while in school,” she says, and her laughter is so real that it erases any doubt. In 2010, Waters launched her

waters,s present goal is to record the voices of the Geechee living on Georgia’s Sapelo Island, in order to examine what linguistics call the melody prosody, which is essentially the tune, rhythm and sound of the Geechee language.

graduate work in linguistics. She was starting from scratch, she recalls. “I had never had a class in linguistics. For every page I would read in a textbook, I’d look up 20 words. I was learning to parse all those meanings. Nobody told me five classes was a lot, given I was teaching two math classes in Gainesville.” In order to do both, Waters knuckled down. She cut her sleep from eight hours to only four. “I would get up at 4:00 a.m. in the morning and start reading…I was an island alone.” And yet, Waters persevered. She finished her masters in 2012 and began her doctoral studies the next year. “I’m not afraid to work,” she stresses. “I wanted to be a worker bee, not a family bee. I'm just not happy unless I have 500 plates to spin and my hair on fire.” Meanwhile, as a linguist, she continually drew upon her grandmother’s voice, a voice that shared many stories. The narratives her grandmother told had planted a seed in Waters that was taking root. Her grandmother’s stories fed Waters cultural curiosity about Native American and other cultures. Waters began to do academic research working with Spanish and Cherokee people. She plunged more deeply into academics, always hungry to learn, and eventually became interested in the Geechee. She decided to record and analyze the Geechee people’s cryptica language.

(In Latin, cryptica means “covered or concealed.”) Waters was not the first there, but she was the first since electronics went digital. “The first man to record Geechee, Lorenzo Dow Turner, came down from Harvard (circa 1930) and published in 1949. Turner said there were so many reflexes of African words, there were links.” And yet, as Waters found, “the most surprising thing isn’t that there are so many different aspects to the language but the prosody.” Prosody, by definition, refers to sounds in poetry. “It is difficult for a translator to reproduce the prosody of the original,” Waters observes. As she analyzed the language, she noted the ways Geechee differed from English, and was surprised. “Nobody has looked at it since the digital age.” Deep into her dissertation, Waters’s present goal is to record the voices of the Geechee on living on Georgia’s Sapelo Island, in order to examine what linguistics call the prosodic melody, which is essentially the tune, rhythm and sound of the Geechee language. The undertaking was not a straightforward effort. Not only is Sapelo remote, it was kept remote by choice—the residents had no desire to become just another island tourist destination. Their privacy was as old as their history. The Gullah were once discrete of necessity, having descended from

former slaves who lived in coastal plain and island areas in Georgia and South Carolina. The Gullah region once encompassed the Cape Fear area on North Carolina’s coast all the way to Jacksonville in Florida. Now, the region is confined to Georgia and South Carolina. According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, “Gullah and Geechee culture on the Sea Islands of Georgia has retained ethnic traditions from West Africa since the mid-1700s. Although the islands along the southeastern U.S. coast harbor the same collective of West Africans, the name Gullah has come to be the accepted name of the islanders in South Carolina, while Geechee refers to the islanders of Georgia. Modern-day researchers designate the region stretching from Sandy Island, South Carolina, to Amelia Island, Florida, as the Gullah Coast—the locale of the culture that built some of the richest plantations in the South.” Both the people and the language they speak are called Geechee. (The Georgia communities include both “Freshwater Geechee” and “Saltwater Geechee”, a designation which references their nearness to the coast.) “In the case of the Geechee, they identify as salt water (eat salt water fish), or fresh water (fresh water fish), or outland people, who are more agrarian…based upon their diet,” explains Waters. It was also challenging to go into the field to conduct research and

UGA Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

The hauntingly scenic landscape of Sapelo Island is as beautiful as it is private. Waters feels the spirit of place and the rhythm of its language.

recordings, where Waters found that the native population had long since grown weary of curious outsiders. As Waters plunged into ethnographic field work within minority cultures, she phoned her childhood friend, Neal Lester, a professor at Arizona State, for advice. She consulted with him on how to penetrate the coastal Georgia Geechee culture. Lester has coached her to be patient and to listen. Trust requires time, he advised; she is learning this, too. Waters received similar counsel by her doctoral advisor Peggy Renwick. “She’s a gem; she’s telling me that fieldwork dissertations take a long time. ‘Build your relationships in the community.’” So Waters leans on friends like Lester for help in this as she develops relationships at Sapelo, developing a “rich contact named Cornelia Bailey.” By “rich,” Waters means meaningful. She also knows her relationship with Lester is rich with meaning. “I met him in 5th grade when we were in school together. We were friends. He was the first black PhD in English from Vanderbilt.” Waters convinced him to come to UGA for a scholarship event in September. Meantime, Waters spent all available time at Sapelo Island, working to build trust with the Gullah-Geechee. By summer’s end, she had begun to make inroads into the island culture.

www.grad.uga.edu

“I survived the summer, 120 degree heat index and all,” she emailed in August. She had finally succeeded in getting a subject recording—a feat requiring months of patient relationship building. Geechee evolved as a coded, hidden language, she adds. Innate in the language is a puzzle that allowed former slaves freedom of speech. “In Geechee, ‘his teeth are digging his grave’ translates to: ‘he’s too fat.’” Waters laughs—the analogies delight her. She also admires getting to know the inner world of the Geechee, one which is heavily veiled with a greater meaning. “The Gullah believe there are three aspects to the human condition, the corporeal, and the soul, and then the spirit…which can walk the earth. This is in the popular press, not academic—the religion of the Sea Island people and the West African who believe in root medicine.” She references Blue Root, a book. Then Waters adds, “They believe they can command these spirit people.” She grows quiet; she rose early to meet the ferry to the mainland and as the sun drops she is suddenly tired. Waters then shares a story about her brother. Her brother became a firefighter and died at a young age while in the line of duty. For years afterward, Waters believed she heard her brother’s footsteps coming into the house. There is a rhythm to everything—to

the lapping of sea water beneath a ferry, the remembrance of our loved ones and to the words chosen to describe this— and it hums beneath the surface of language. She has carried Sapelo back with her—the unmistakable spirit of place. Waters glances outside, momentarily gathering herself. Just beyond the window, a banana tree is thriving, although it shouldn’t in Georgia’s climate. Yet it does. Waters mentions that she is good with orchids, and friends bring them to her to revive on her back porch. Waters wants me to see them. Something passes across her pale eyes and she continues, saying that she will phone me later. She would like to show me her watercolors and her orchids. These, she has explained earlier, are things she has saved. “I love this,” Waters says as she gathers her things to leave, consciously shifting topic. “This is creative. I’m selling science.” “This” is also how Waters, artist, mathematician, and now scientist, who possesses a creative and curious mind, is saving herself from a life more ordinary. n

For Further Reading and Listening Return of Purple Ribbon Surgarcane on WUGA radio’s On Second Thought at http://gpbnews. org/post/return-purple-ribbon-sugarcane

i’m not afraid to work. I wanted to be “a worker bee, not a family bee. I’m just not happy unless I have 500 plates to spin and my hair on fire.”—Kim Waters

UGA UGAGraduate Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

KIM WATERS, NEAL LESTER

and How a CHILDHOOD FRIENDSHIP Intersected at GEORGIA

excited text on the

a household name, but he is almost

Collections Library (SCL), Grady

September evening

famous. Academically accomplished

College, Economic Justice Coalition

that her friend, Neal

and widely published, he no longer lives

of Athens, Georgia NAACP and Dawg

Lester, is on the UGA

in Georgia although some of his family

Gone Good BBQ co-sponsored events.

im Waters sends an

Admittedly, Neal Lester is not yet

campus for a series of lectures he will

do. Lester also has a serenity about

give. “If you see him,” she urged, “go

him, a Zen-like aura. He hadn’t even

Professor of English at ASU and

introduce yourself!”

finished calculating the tip before being

Arizona Humanities Council

Sure enough, there he was, settling

recognized and accosted and it didn’t

Distinguished Public Scholar, among

his bill in a restaurant. In the very same

flap the man. He agreeably confirmed

myriad other honors. He publishes and

place Waters had excitedly announced

that yes, he was one and the same

teaches on topics in African-American

how her childhood friend (Lester) was

Neal Lester/Friend of Kim Waters, and

literature and culture: children’s

coming to Georgia for “large scale

that yes, he was also glad that he and

literature, folklore and popular culture,

discussions about race and diversity”

Waters had reconnected as old friends.

black/white interracial intimacies in

Lester says he liked that Waters

Today, Lester is Foundation

American culture, women writers, black

was also an outsider: her father was

masculinities, the N-word, and the

the mortician. Waters lived above the

gender and race politics of hair.

funeral home. They had something in

He has published on such subjects

common, he says wryly. He was a black

as Disney representations of female

child in a newly integrated school and

characters, black masculinities, and

given where Waters lived, there weren’t

authors such as Zora Neale Hurston,

many kids who would join either of

Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, Sapphire,

them for a sleepover. He chuckles. We

and Ntozake Shange.

were different, he says, in that both

Waters was delighted that her

were kids out of the mainstream. In

pal was in town—“We met in 5th

the end, those differences made them

grade,” Waters explained. “We were

only a few weeks earlier. Lester is

power vault towards different futures.

fellow thespians, Neal was yearbook

unmistakable—exactly like the posters

And they used education as their stave.

editor our senior year and I was the

announcing his appearances in town

Founder of the award-winning

photographer. ” And Waters added

and on the UGA campus. Except,

Project Humanities initiative at

proudly in a rush of superlatives about

that evening, he is wearing a colorful

Arizona State University, Lester had a

her friend, “he was the first black PhD

Batik shirt which, combined with his

full five days of lectures as a visiting

in English from Vanderbilt.”

dreadlocks, lend an island vibe.

fellow at UGA’s Willson Center for

Of all the places you might guess

288

Linguistics Program, LSUGA, Special

Now, Lester is an acknowledged

the Humanities. UGA’s Graduate

voice for social awareness. And Waters,

the genial man is from, it would not be

School, Franklin College, the Creative

a doctoral student in linguistics with

Jefferson, Ga.

Writing Program, English Department,

an academic future in her sights,

www.grad.uga.edu

wrote the Willson Center grant and created the series of events as part of her Diversity and Inclusion Graduate (DIG) Fellowship at UGA. The 18-month fellowship requires a final project with a permanent element (Waters interviewed Lester as part of the SCL’s Oral History Project on school integration). The Willson Center grant, which funded Lester’s visit, required both campus and community outreach. Waters says she wanted to build an event around Lester, “a remarkable force in community organization.” Two kids from small-town Georgia, two outsiders, had made their way through advance degrees and demonstrated ability for great scholarship. Waters marveled at this,

Neal Lester, Founder of the award-winning Project Humanities initiative at Arizona State University, is a guest lecturer at the Diversity and Inclusion Graduate (DIG) Fellowship at UGA. Lester is an acknowledged voice for social awareness,

saying softly, “And who would have “This is unlike any other word in the

and I’m thinking about how to help raise

English language, and for some reason

awareness, to help others see through

sometimes calling Lester for ideas

people think if we change the spelling

someone else's eyes or think how it is to

on navigating field work in minority

of it, we change the meaning of it. I’m

walk in someone else's shoes.”

communities and cultures. It seemed

here to tell you that is not the case.”

thought!?” In recent years, Waters found herself

fitting that Waters had begun to consult

“I had a class of 22 students,” Waters

And then, at the end of the events, there was time to reflect upon

with him about her own journey as a

told Flagpole last September, “and

another “F-word”: Friendship. In the

linguist. He is a man who understands

there were people from all over the

final analysis, two friends who found

the power of language, she says.

world, from South Georgia and North

acceptance in each other in a time

Georgia. I realized that sometimes when

when there were reasons for distrust.

words with social consequence, Lester

people come to this school, Athens is

They had rediscovered the power

explained, there is the loaded N-word.

the biggest town they’ve ever been

of connection, and just how much it

One of his most popular lectures,

in. I understand what that small-town

mattered when as youngsters they had

“Straight Talk about the N-Word,”

mentality is, and it can be…insular. I

broken with social restrictions.

addressed a difficult topic head-on.

started to see a lack of understanding

Among the lexicon of powerful

“This is not like the ‘B-word’ or the ‘F-word,’” Lester said in his lecture.

of other perspectives in that class, and all this time I'm in the DIG fellowship,

“He’s is a wonderfully creative man,” Waters said, “He has become my griot.”

UGA Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

GRADUATE SUMMER

LEADERSHIP ACADEMY

REAL LIFE

DESIGNED FOR CHALLENGES

BY CYNTHIA ADAMS PHOTOS BY NANCY EVELYN

his past summer, 12 incoming University of Georgia doctoral students from STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) entered a summer-long academy meant to ensure their academic success. The program, Graduate Scholars Leadership, Engagement, and Development (GS LEAD) is a collaboration between the Graduate School, the College of Engineering, J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, the College of Education, the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications and the College of Veterinary Medicine. GS LEAD was designed to develop a variety of leadership abilities through problem solving and teamwork concerning

www.grad.uga.edu

real community challenges. The National Science Foundation Innovations in Graduate Research Grant funded program was designed by Julie Coffield and Meredith Welch-Devine. Coffield is associate dean of the Graduate School, and WelchDevine is director of interdisciplinary graduate studies. “The idea is not only to promote leadership within their fields but to also expose them to other career choices,” says Coffield. “Plus, this will train doctoral students in problemsolving, interdisciplinary work, leadership, communication, and engagement.” The Graduate School partnered with several academic and public service units across campus to develop GS LEAD. Fanning faculty members Brandy Walker and Janet Rechtman facilitated the Summer Academy. Within a virtual “think tank”

UGA UGAGraduate Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

GS LEAD, A THREE-YEAR LEADERSHIP PROGRAM FOR NEW DOCTORAL STUDENTS BEGAN THIS PAST SUMMER. The summer program culminated in a “Challenge” course this fall offered through the Graduate School. The Challenge course is led by Ramana M. Pidaparti, a UGA professor in the College of Engineering and the college’s associate dean for academic programs.

the students laid the groundwork for nonprofit community projects, co-identifying the issue and projects. The community projects undertaken concerned food-related problems. “I am looking to connect with communities and meet them where they are,” said Brooke Douglas, a doctoral candidate in health promotion and behavior. She discussed wishing to master the skills needed in order “to have difficult conversations.” The student challenges require the participants to assume leadership roles in project management. The two projects undertaken address foodrelated initiatives, one with the Advance Barrow County farm-to-school concept. Another concerns the Archway Community’s healthy foods for Spalding County, with the focus upon the Fairmont Community. “Each team must also draft a project goal, one clearly delineated, and take steps to implement their plan,” says Coffield, who authored the NIH grant with Welch-Devine. The teams worked during the summer course to parse out their approaches. They specified what it would change, by what date, and what indicators would be used to gauge the effected changes. Rechtman pressed the group to think big as they conceptualized the community projects. “This is a group project and think tank. Envision the best possible outcome,” she urged. “The Summer Academy has exceeded all my expectations," said Walker, a co-leader on the project. “The students have made amazing connections across campus and in communities.” It also gave the students a view to their futures. “At the start of the program, I did not see myself as a leader," said Carly Duffy, a doctoral student in integrated life sciences. "But I know I need leadership skills to achieve my career goals.” Last fall, the students entered the Grand Challenge Course led by Ramana Pidaparti, associate dean of the College of Engineering. This three-hour credit course

www.grad.uga.edu

integrates knowledge gained during the summer academy to design a prototype for a community challenge participants identified in the Summer Academy. Ikseon “Ike” Choi, from the Department of Career and Information Studies Learning, Design and Technology, is one of the co-principal investigators of the program and leads the evaluation team. The group discussed how to prevent and reduce conflict with the stakeholders in their projects. Facilitators challenged the students, asking if they viewed the community work like “another research project.” During one session, Kevin Kirsche used the concept of a community tool box in an effort to widen the discussion concerning his team project. “Why is it important to understand your community before engaging with them?” he asked. Kirsche is director of sustainability at UGA and a returning student in the ICON program. Rechtman suggested they apply critical analysis as they structured stakeholder approaches, asking, “How do you know if the information gathered is reliable?” The group discussed means of building the stakeholder’s trust and reducing conflict. This work teaches means to heighten their academic success, while applying each aspect of their capabilities to real-life problems with benefit for the greater community, says Coffield. “These are transferable skills that the students will not only use in their community projects, but will put to use in their own research project en route to a doctoral degree,” says Coffield. “The program was designed to shape a different STEM graduate with competencies we haven’t traditionally taught. These students will experience long-lasting engagement with their community and leave with a different set of abilities.” n

At right: Paige Carmichael, a UGA professor of veterinary pathology, lectured during GS Lead Sessions held last summer at the Fanning Institute.

UGA UGAGraduate Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

HANNA LISA STEFANSSON

at PLAY

in a world of Fire a Ice

www.grad.uga.edu

ICELANDIC ROOTS Sink Deeply into Georgia Clay, Informing the Art of a Macon-Born Performer.

BY CYNTHIA ADAMS PHOTOS BY NANCY EVELYN

omposer and musician Hanna Lisa Stefansson is a first-generation American from Macon, Ga., whose parents are Icelandic. She looks like the prototypically serious musician, one who can carry off a formal evening gown for a recital, then confesses those closest to her know her by the moniker, “Honsta Monsta.” She leans over with laughter before recovering and composing herself. “Most of my siblings and friends call me some version of that. I don’t know if that encapsulates a monster-like aspect of me…or what?” Wait—monster? Stefansson doesn’t mind the nickname. If anything, she enjoys the playfulness of it. She readily confesses to imagining herself working on The Muppets, or doing comedy on Saturday Night Live. “To be improvisational and quick witted,” she explains, “would be a joy.” Then, she positively twinkles with pleasure. Stefansson possesses a fondness for funk and informality. Her northern/southern hybrid background contributes to her freewheeling creativity. Stefansson is the youngest of four children. Although only two were born in the U.S., they are all Icelandic speakers—although “Honsta Monsta” has no direct translation, she cracks. It is a dubious gift from her brother, she adds. “He’s now a lawyer in Atlanta, but he plays guitar.” She comes from a family who valued music and the arts. Many of her family members were or are musicians, who played organ, violin, guitar, banjo, or accordion. “We have a distant relative who was an opera singer.” Being fanciful and open minded was encouraged—which is why innovation is a place where Stefansson is easily drawn. Her sister entered the film industry. K. H. Kim, a UGA alum and creativity expert, explains how the Stefanssons created a setting for creative expression. “Innovators’ parents are nonconformists themselves; and they encourage children to be comfortable with marginality and being an outsider.” The Stefanssons, Icelanders in the South, imported that quality along with a global view. Experiencing Iceland also fostered imaginative work, Stefansson eagerly explains. “The landscape of Iceland is

Iceland is a volcanic island located in the North Atlantic Ocean. The main island is roughly the size of Virginia. Icelandic landscapes are shaped by the forces of nature and vary from deep fjords to vast volcanic deserts, with black sand beaches, snowcapped mountains and staggering waterfalls. Iceland’s nature remains mostly unspoiled as the island is sparsely populated. Of the 320,000 citizens, two-thirds live in the capital Reykjavík. Iceland’s population is young, with close to 40% under the age of 18.

so extreme and raw; the volcanic lava and fire, the ice and glaciers and the meeting of the two. It’s very dramatic and violent.” She adds that seeing it would help one to understand the creative tensions prevalent in Icelandic folklore and their national stories. The drama of the place inspired fanciful stories and ideas. “You can see why the elves and dwarves and trolls are a belief in their mythology…if you went there, you would too,” she explains. Stefansson has spent extensive time in Iceland experiencing these raw environmental extremes that fed her imagination. Iceland is also among nations where the citizens are rated the happiest. Again, this illustrates the creative duality and resilience cited in Kim’s writings. Stefansson’s favorite childhood book happens to be one I also own and value. It is titled, Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy Book.

UGA Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

“I totally believed in fairies, trolls, and the supernatural world—and still do! So, this book was like a beautiful disaster,” she says playfully. This is hardly a mainstream title. Otherworldly and beautiful, it is straight out of the Victorians’ obsession with the fanciful and imagined. Stefansson is trained in piano, and earning a doctorate in composition with a minor in musicology. Although she isn’t trained in percussion instruments, she “loves playing the piano percussively. You can pluck the inside strings of a grand piano.” After finishing her work next year she says, “I would like to teach composition and music theory. And right now, my dream is to do surround sound for a puppet show, and for film.” “Atlanta has a center for puppetry arts, and they have an experimental puppet theater event,” which also drove her creative development. Stefansson gives an exclamation of pleasure discussing the genius of Jim Henson’s puppetry work. She mentions her desire to create “an adult puppet show,” and cites other influences such as David Bowie. “It may be on an adult theme, maybe with some smoke machines and lasers.” Her eyes widen. “I live for unique experience.” Working with an Atlanta music recording studio led Stefansson to immersion performance. “When I decided to go into music composition, I took three years off after college (in 2005) and was recording other people’s music. It was a good experience.” It confirmed she would rather make her own music and a love for “quadraphonic music, which is surround sound in a traditional setting.” Her dissertation performance this February will employ nontraditional techniques she embraces. It will not be on a traditional stage. Stefansson’s musical compositions are typically performed in a black box at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music. “It’s called the Dancz Center for New Music, says Stefansson. “My dissertation will be my first to incorporate dancers.” Iceland, said place of fire and ice, possesses a surreal landscape which Stefansson raptly describes. The extremes there are a creative touchstone for Stefansson, who frequently returns to her family’s home of Reykjavik. Her heart drops slightly each time she leaves—it is a world apart. “Iceland is more progressive. They had the first female president in the western world. Iceland’s lesbian prime minister was the world’s first openly lesbian head of government. Women have a lot more equality there,” she says. Her father, Sturla Stefansson, is a retired anesthesiologist, who did his residency at Yale. Her mother, Herdis Herbertsdottir, is a graphic designer and artist. “They came to Macon, Ga., thinking it was for a year.” Her oldest sister, Silja, was born in Iceland. Her brother, Sturla Freyr was born

www.grad.uga.edu

in Connecticut. Hanna Lisa and her sister, Lilja, were both born in Macon. In the family home, music was, and is, always playing. “I knew I wanted to be involved in music, but I didn’t know in exactly what,” she shrugs. David Bowie is often playing in Stefansson’s Athens apartment, or electronic music “that is fun and dancey.” She likes Led Zeppelin, Bjork, Stravinsky and Bartok. “The mix is interesting,” she says, when she creates a play list. “Composition people have listening parties,” she explains. “That is something that occurred in my Master’s program at Georgia State. I need to bring that back and have composers do that at Georgia! We play something we’re listening to and have something we’re experimenting with.” Music informs her spare time, when she enjoys playing on a digital piano, listening to music, or record shopping. As for her upcoming dissertation performance next spring, Stefansson says she no longer has stage fright. Once she was the shy one, but no longer. “I used to get very nervous in high school and college. I had to ‘face the music’, pun intended, to get over it.” She is rightly focused upon this culminating work, which is an electroacoustic piece. To blend electronic and acoustic music, Stefansson uses prerecorded music with live acoustic instruments, including percussion, violin, and woodwind. There will be three dancers for the 25 minute performance and she works with a choreographer to help plan costumes and lighting. “The basic concept is ritual,” she explains. “So, instead of using religion, I’m using the natural elements–earth, water, air, fire. So the arc of the piece is the individual elements represented by the dancers, who come together to create a ritual. Other aspects are undertones of the piece—such as technology influencing nature.” She is also influenced by her dreams, and it is a great pleasure when she is aware of a theme or dreamscape, Stefansson says dreamily. “If not a musician, I might have become involved in music therapy,” she says. She wears a face of contentment; a smile is about to break. “According to Ruut Veenhoven’s database of happiness, Iceland consistently ranks as one of the happiest countries in the world. In some surveys, it ranks number one,” writes Eric Weiner in Geography of Bliss. And its happiest, most musical ambassador is one named Hanna Lisa. n

Witty and Energetic, this musician has an appreciation for

t offbeat. UGA UGAGraduate Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

alumni of Distinction

EIGHT

NAMED

BY CYNTHIA ADAMS

On October 20, the UGA Graduate School honored eight graduates with the 2016 Alumni of Distinction Award. The recipients were singled out for exceptional successes in their professional careers as well as for significant service to their communities. According to Graduate School Dean Suzanne Barbour, each of the recipients are distinguished by their professional achievement at the regional, national and international levels. “Their outstanding attainments include publications, awards received, mentorship, for serving as role models in their profession, and for making contributions to their local and global communities.” In ceremonies concluding on October 21, Barbour stressed how Alumni of Distinction exemplify the UGA mission to expand the body of knowledge, and bring highest honor to the University. The recipients of the 2016 awards are:

JAMES W. ANDREWS, JR. James W. Andrews, Jr. began his career as one of the first four scientists at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. He published more than 100 scientific research papers during his 12 years there. He founded Savannah Laboratories and Environmental Services in 1980 which became the largest environmental testing laboratory in the world. Andrews was the director of research for the Cardiovascular Council and the Curtis Hames Evans County Heart Study during the 1970s and 1980s. He discovered that people who live in the high-heart disease belt of the Southeast had low blood levels of selenium, an essential nutrient, and elevated levels of cadmium, a toxic element. He currently volunteers with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens. Andrews is chair of the Master Plan

www.grad.uga.edu

Committee and president of the Friends of the Coastal Gardens. He was recently inducted into the Savannah Business Hall of Fame. His family has four generations of UGA graduates beginning with his mother in 1925.

MARTIN CHITWOOD Martin Chitwood is a senior partner of Chitwood Harley Harnes LLP in Atlanta. He is recognized as a leader in the fields of securities litigation and corporate governance reform. In 1966, Chitwood joined the U.S. Army and was assigned to the Green Berets, where he served as a commanding officer of a Special Forces A-Team. He became one of the most decorated junior officers in the Vietnam War receiving the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm from the Government of South Vietnam. The Department of the Army awarded him the Air Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, and Vietnam Jump Wings.

Andrews founded Savannah Laboratories and Environmental Services.

Chitwood is one of the most decorated junior officers in the Vietnam War.

JAMES W. ANDREWS, JR.

MARTIN CHITWOOD

Deutch held appointments at Yale University School of Medicine.

Farr assisted the FBI in development of a national chemical precursors database.

ARIEL Y. DEUTCH

JAMES K. FARR

McCallum co-founded and is consulting editor of the Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment.

R. STEVE MCCALLUM

Seals was elected chair of the American College of Cardiology Board of Governors.

A. ALLEN SEALS

Thomas was named one of Atlanta’s 25 Most Influential Women in Who’s Who in Black Atlanta.

ALVETTA P. THOMAS

MARY SALMON WALKER

Walker served as assistant director and COO for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.

UGA Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

He is a Life Fellow of the Lawyers Foundation of Georgia. Chitwood has served as director, vice president and co-chair of Securities of the National Association of Securities Consumer Law Attorneys and as director of the Committee to Support the Antitrust Laws. Chitwood also wrote and co-produced the story for “Unconquered,” a CBS movie of the week.

ARIEL Y. DEUTCH Ariel Deutch is the James G. Blakemore professor of Psychiatry and professor of Pharmacology and Program in Neuroscience at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. His research focuses on central dopamine systems and their involvement in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease, and the mechanisms of action of antipsychotic drugs. He has authored or co-authored more than 125 publications and has received continuous funding for 30 years. He previously held associcate and assistant professor appointments at Yale University School of Medicine where he completed his postdoctoral studies in neuropharmacology. Deutch currently holds positions as Chief Scientific Advisor and Chair of the National Parkinson Foundation’s Clinical and Scientific Advisory Board. He is a member of the Scientific Council of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, the Executive Committee of the World Federation of Neurology Research Group on Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, the Minority Task Force for the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and chair of the Freedman Award Committee for the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.

JAMES K. FARR James K. Farr served as principal scientist in the Office of Response and Restoration, Environmental Response Division, National Ocean Service during his time at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He provided scientific expertise in responding to hundreds of chemical and oil accidents, including the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Farr also aided the FBI in development of a national chemical precursors database, which identifies precursors to track and prevent the use of chemical substances in the illegal production of explosives, drugs, and other dangerous materials. Dr. Farr authored or co-authored more than 30 publications. He is retired from federal service but continues his work on scientific aspects of chemical reactivity and industrial safety as a consultant to the Center for Chemical Process Safety/AlChE in New York. Farr received the U.S. Department of Commerce Individual

www.grad.uga.edu

Silver Medal, U.S. Department of Commerce Team Silver Medal, NOAA National Technology Transfer Award, and NOAA National Employee of the Month award.

R. STEVE MCCALLUM R. Steve McCallum is professor of School Psychology in the department of Educational Psychology and Counseling at the University of Tennessee where he previously served as department head for 22 years. He joined the faculty at UT in 1986 and served as director of the School Psychology Program before becoming department head. He has served at the state and national level as an officer in school psychology organizations. McCallum has contributed to the field as an author and co-author of several scholarly works including books, book chapters, more than 100 journal articles, tests and conference presentations. He co-founded and is consulting editor of the Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment published by SAGE and was elected as a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. McCallum has received numerous awards from the University of Tennessee including the Chancellor’s Research and Creative Achievement Award; Dean’s Leadership and Outstanding Service Awards from the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences; Tunstall Outstanding Faculty Member from the Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling.

A. ALLEN SEALS A. Allen Seals is a clinical and interventional cardiologist with Baker and Gilmour Cardiovascular Institute in Jacksonville, Fla. where he is also managing partner and director of clinical research. Seals has been in practice for more than 25 years and focuses on specialized techniques in complex coronary angioplasty in addition to new life-saving treatments for patients with acute coronary syndrome and acute myocardial infarction. Dr. Seals has published more than 60 peer-reviewed papers in addition to presenting at cardiology meetings throughout the U.S. and Europe. In 2016, Dr. Seals was elected chair of the American College of Cardiology Board of Governors and Secretary of the Board of Trustees, the main governing body of the American College of Cardiology. He is a member of the steering committee for SMARTCare, a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation grant program, which strives to provide tools for doctors to communicate with patients about their healthcare options.

UGA graduate School Dean Suzanne Barbour (left) and Provost Pam Whitten (far right) congratulate alumni award winners Steve McCallum Alvetta P. Thomas, Mary Salmon Walker and James K. Farr. Dean Barbour observed that their considerable achievements exemplify the UGA mission, “to teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.”

Distinguished

BY T H E I R P R O F E S S I O N A L AC H I E V E M E N T AT T H E regional, national AND

international

LEVELS

ALVETTA P. THOMAS

MARY SALMON WALKER

Alvetta P. Thomas is President of Atlanta Technical College where she previously served as Vice President of Academic Affairs. She was an education specialist at the U.S. Department of Defense, teacher and curriculum specialist in the Savannah Chatham County Schools and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Alabama State University. Thomas has received honors from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. House of Representatives. She was named one of Atlanta’s 25 Most Influential Women, a “Female Powerhouse” in Who’s Who in Black Atlanta and one of Atlanta’s Top 100 Women of Influence by the Atlanta Business League. She received the Woman of Influence and Impact Award from Woman University. Thomas serves on the board of Horizons Atlanta, the Clayton County Chamber of Commerce, the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency, Metro RESA. She is a member of Civitan International, the West End Rotary Club and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America National Higher Education Access and Scholarship Task Force.

Mary Salmon Walker is an environmental consultant after serving a number of years in state government. She previously served as assistant director and COO for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources where she oversaw policy development, compliance programs and general agency operations. Walker worked to establish a legally defensible buffer around coastal salt marsh, implemented groundwater withdrawal reductions in coastal Georgia and improved the state’s certification process for new reservoirs. She also worked with South Carolina on a management strategy for the Savannah River and developed and implemented strategies to address funding challenges at the agency. She is a graduate of the Institute for Georgia Environmental Leaders and has served as a state representative on the joint EPA/State E-Enterprise for the Environment Leadership Council. Walker has also run a grief support program for children in Atlanta and works with newly arrived refugees in Dekalb County. n

UGA Graduate W I N T E R 2 017

The University of Georgia Graduate School Terrell Hall 210 South Jackson Street Athens, Georgia 30602-4401 (706) 542-1739

NONPROFIT ORG. U. S. POSTAGE

PAID

ATLANTA, GA PERMIT NO. 2295

The Graduate School at the University of Georgia has been enhancing learning environments and inspiring scholarly endeavors since its formal establishment in 1910. Through our professional development programs and funding opportunities, we promote excellence in graduate education in all disciplines. Editor/Writer Cynthia Adams inklyadams@aol.com

Design Julie Sanders jsandersdesign@gmail.com

Photo Editor Nancy Evelyn nevelyn@uga.edu

[BEN ADD FSC LOGO]

UGA Graduate Magazine has a new name and look! Now you can read more alumni stories anytime or place with the ease of a click. Our online website has been redesigned with you in mind, to make access via phone, tablet or computer even easier. UGA Graduate Magazine brings stories and images to your fingertips, offering instant contact with your alma mater at www.grad.uga.edu.

Our simplified format makes digital access a breeze. Download the ISSUU app for pagethrough reading. Follow us on: twitter.com, facebook.com, and flicker.com. Facebook “f ” Logo

CMYK / .ai

Facebook “f ” Logo

CMYK / .ai

www.grad.uga.edu The University of Georgia is committed to principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action. The University of Georgia Foundation is registered to solicit in every state and provides state-specific registration information at www.ugafoundation.org/charity.