UGA ��Դ�ɼ�� News

Georgia dairy industry looks to UGA for growth, innovation and sustainability

slquinlan — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 17:37:02 +0000

In 2023 alone, Georgia’s dairy industry contributed nearly $4 billion to the state economy, fueled by 85,000 dairy cows spread across the state’s more than 70 dairy farms. And while other states in the Southeast have seen attrition in dairy production, Georgia’s dairy production continues to grow.

“We’re kind of like the shining star, if you will, of the Southeast,” said��, associate professor in the ��Դ�ɼ��’s��.

Still, the state’s tight-knit dairy industry envisions even more growth, from a proposed revamp of the��to innovative products and technology to monitor and support cow health and production.

They’re all initiatives to answer ambitious questions: “How can we grow dairy in the state of Georgia to an extent where we’re known nationally as a preeminent dairy state?” Bohlen asked. “How can we become a state that is known for dairy, from the university to processors and farmers?”

A dairy dream

Central to these goals is investment. A coalition of industry partners, producers and university researchers envisions a state-of-the-art milk processing, research and training facility that would support sustainable dairy growth, spur further investment in the state and teach the next generation of dairy farmers.

The proposed facility would involve a $15 million, multiyear transformation of the UGA Teaching Dairy. Plans for the modernized space include robotic milking parlors with integrated milk-handling systems, dry cow barns, calf barns with automated feeders, feed mills and bunker silos. The facility would also support cutting-edge research and experiential learning for future dairy farmers and large-animal veterinarians alike, helping to develop the workforce and advance research in animal health, nutrition and precision agriculture.

Keeping it local

Industry and academia have partnered to bring a new processing plant to Georgia because so few currently exist in the state. This means producers can end up shipping their milk long distances for processing — and incurring the associated costs.

At the beginning of 2025, Georgia had only two processing facilities — one in Atlanta and another in Lawrenceville. By the end of the year, Walmart opened a new 300,000-square-foot milk processing facility in Valdosta, which processes and bottles milk for distribution across more than 650 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in the Southeast. The $350 million investment sources its milk from local dairy farmers, giving the large farms across the southern half of the state a closer option for processing.

“We need to make milk local, and we need to process it locally,” said Bohlen. “That is our big goal.”

Tim Camp, co-owner and operator of T&W Dairy in Putnam County, Georgia, calculates total yield in the truck load tank behind him. Camp and his father bought the farm in 1992 when there were 68 dairies — now there are only four left.

A fluid market

Georgia is a fluid milk region, which means most of the milk produced in the state ends up in gallon and half-gallon jugs in grocery stores. However, milk also has a lower price point than other dairy products, and year-over-year consumer trends show that fluid milk consumption is decreasing.

“Hopefully some recent things might change some of that. We’re always hopeful,” Bohlen said, “but it’s been declining.”

Whole milk consumption, though, is on the rise, as well as other higher protein milk and dairy options. In a fluid milk region like Georgia, both are opportunities to innovate into new product categories and create new inroads for customers and sales.
“We need to really make products that people want,” said Adam Graft, owner of Leatherbrook Holsteins near Americus, who earned his bachelor’s degree in animal health from CAES in 1997, followed by a doctor of veterinary medicine from UGA in 2000. “A lot of milk gets sold in the gallon jug, but there are a lot of people who like sports shakes and ultra-filtered products. We need to be conscientious of consumer demand.”

A Coca-Cola Co.-owned product, fairlife® unlocked a new product category by developing a higher protein, lower sugar, lower lactose milk that appeals to people trying to avoid lactose or boost protein in their diet, said UGA��(FoodPIC) Director��.

Jim Gratzek, director of FoodPIC, helps entrepreneurs develop new food products.

At FoodPIC, Gratzek, who earned a doctorate in food science from CAES in 1994, helps food companies develop and launch new products. One of his recent projects is “milk fizzies,” a concept that combines lactose-reduced milk with carbonated fruit juice to capitalize on the popularity of high-protein, low-lactose milk products, but it also benefits Georgia’s fruit farmers: The milk fizzies use juice from wasted blueberries, peaches and citrus from Georgia farms, creating new opportunities for both industries.

Dairy farmers themselves are also coming up with inventive ways to market and sell their products — and make stronger connections with their local communities. In northeast Georgia, the Russell family is renovating an old Piggly Wiggly into a creamery that will process and bottle milk from the family’s nearby 250-cow farm. The Northeast Georgia Creamery in Dillard will process 2% and whole milk, as well as buttermilk, cream and flavored milks like banana and orange creamsicle.

The small-scale, value-added concept is the brainchild of Colin Russell, who saw the farm and creamery as a way to better control quality from end to end and support the farm’s future growth. “It was really discouraging to be a price-taker, so I was more interested in being able to maybe set a price for our milk based on what we think the value of it is and what the customers say the value is, versus selling it to a larger co-op that tells you what your price is.”

The creamery is set to open this summer, coinciding with farm tours to draw agritourism visitors, promote the health benefits and versatility of milk, and bridge the gap between consumers and producers, said Colin’s father, C.A. Russell, a 1985 CAES graduate in dairy science.

“I don’t know if we’ll change anybody’s mind, but hopefully they’ll have a better understanding and appreciation for what it takes to do all of this,” he said. “We’re going to try to be as transparent as we can about what we do and how we do it. We care for our cows, and we care for our land, and we want to care for our community.

Cows at T&W Dairy queue for milking.

The sustainable way

Caring for cows and the land is a priority for many progressive farmers in the state. It’s also just good business, said Leatherbrook Holsteins’ Graft.

To be successful in the dairy business, you have to take really, really good care of your cows,” he said. “That’s the bottom line.”

At Graft’s farm outside of Americus, his 8,000 cows meander through sand-bedded, free-stall barns equipped with misters, fans and soaker lines for hot, steamy days. The farm uses robotic milkers so cows can milk on their own schedule, and a third-party digester system recycles methane into renewable natural gas. A manure separator system separates water from waste, with the solids serving as fertilizer for the farm’s wheat, corn and Bermuda grass crops.

“You try to integrate things. You try to be as efficient as possible, and that helps profitability, but really it helps your sustainability too,” he said. “You’re trying to utilize the resources you’ve got.”

Many of those resources include precision agriculture tools like real-time health and activity sensors worn as collars around a cow’s neck. These sensors and the data they unlock can lead to better animal welfare, health and, ultimately, production. At UGA’s��, researchers including Associate Professor��and Assistant Professor��investigate ways to use advanced technology to address common farm issues.

“The main goal is to create practical tools that help producers make better daily management decisions,” Alves said.

One area of particular interest for Tao and Alves is heat stress, a significant issue in the Southeast that can lead to lower productivity, lower milk quality and higher risk for mastitis, an infection of the mammary gland. Their research aims to better understand how heat stress affects both calf and cow health and productivity, as well as how it can be monitored at the individual level, Alves said.

Eventually, Alves hopes these tools can help producers predict and even prevent problems.

“When that happens, data will not only inform what producers do today,” he said, “but also help shape the cows of tomorrow.”

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The beautiful game was always about community. UGA researchers are trying to keep it that way

lcorcino — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 19:27:22 +0000

Welch Suggs has fond memories growing up in competitive athletics.

He played soccer as a kid but moved on to cross-country and track and field from middle school to college. He made all-state teams, ran for the Division III Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, and won conference titles.

“I was never fast enough to be considered national class, but I had this amazing experience that really did form me as a person,” he said, noting the sportsmanship, perseverance, hard work, and experiences of victory and defeat, identity and community. “It was this incredibly idealistic experience.”

One, he says, that can be somewhat fleeting in today’s increasingly commodified world of athletics.

Now the parent of a young soccer player, Suggs watches his son’s experience through a bifurcated lens. On one hand, he sees many of the same benefits—new friendships and a diversity of interaction he may not have otherwise had. On the other, he acknowledges the sport’s inescapably transactional nature. Despite the constant presence of great coaches and positive experiences, Suggs can’t help but feel that his son’s participation has been decidedly different from his own.

Unsurprisingly, it has crystallized some of Suggs’ own research interests.

An associate professor in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and associate director of the Carmical Sports Media Institute, Suggs studies the intersection of education, sports, and policy. Building on a decade as a journalist for publications including Sports Business Journal and The Chronicle of Higher Education, his research unpacks the symbiotic relationship between U.S. athletics and academic institutions through explorations of Title IX, club sports, and more.

With the World Cup kicking off across North America last week, the spotlight shines brighter on those issues in the form of soccer. Suggs, and researchers like him at UGA, are asking these questions: How does soccer benefit from and even help form the foundations of community—and how do market forces threaten to undermine it?

Fostering community through sports

Suggs stumbled upon this question as a graduate student at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He had just come to the state’s flagship university, which sported an enrollment over 20,000, from tiny Rhodes College, about the size of a large high school. Even in 1996, Suggs was blown away by the size of the athletics enterprise on a college campus.

“A lot of people’s mental health depended on how the football team did on Saturday,” he said. “And this was a mediocre team in a second-tier conference. It’s a question I’ve been asking now for 30 years: Why do we do sports in this educational context both at the high school and collegiate levels?”

The United States stands alone in developing athletes through its schools. Within that system is a sizable disconnect between each level of competition—from youth clubs and high schools to colleges and universities, all the way up to professional and national teams.

“None of these clubs talk to each other or work together,” Suggs said.

It’s a different experience than those that shaped the vast majority of (non-American) World Cup players. In England, for example, a child playing youth soccer outside of Manchester might play for their town team and get picked up by another regional team somewhere within the tiered league structure. If skilled enough, they may eventually be noticed by a professional club like Manchester City or Manchester United, enter the club’s academy, and progress through that system.

Associate Professor Welch Suggs studies the intersection of education, sports, and policy. Building on a decade as a journalist for publications including Sports Business Journal and The Chronicle of Higher Education, his research unpacks the symbiotic relationship between U.S. athletics and academic institutions through explorations of Title IX, club sports, and more. (Photo by Lauren Kimmel)

Filling a market demand for its own elite pathways, Georgia club soccer has exploded as an industry over the past three decades, explored recently in a paper co-authored by May graduate Gabriella Etienne.

“That elite pathway, which started at Atlanta private schools and spread outward from there, set a template that we’ve seen repeated with lacrosse and rowing and other sports,” said Suggs, who is writing a book on the topic for ��Դ�ɼ�� Press due to publish in 2027. “Economically advantaged schools were able to start these teams as a way of helping their kids get access to other colleges.”

Interest in soccer spawned an expansive, albeit expensive, youth sports economy starting in Buckhead, DeKalb County, and other parts of metro Atlanta. But there’s another angle to the conversation that Suggs is examining in his book. Two generations later, shifting demographics in the state have resulted in new communities around the sport.

“In places like Dalton and Gainesville, home to many Hispanic immigrants, they’ve brought their own cultures that is very different from those other programs,” Suggs said. “That’s what is most fascinating to me when I look around the state. … [At an Atlanta United game] you are surrounded by every part of Georgia—East Atlanta hipsters, young professionals from the metro area, immigrants from across the state.

“It made me realize that soccer has formed the foundations of this new broad, inclusive community.”

Soccer and politics

For Cas Mudde, community isn’t just a biproduct of the sport. It’s part of its DNA.

The Stanley Wade Shelton UGA Foundation Professor of International Affairs and Distinguished ��Դ�ɼ�� Professor in the School of Public and International Affairs, Mudde lived his youth in Eindhoven, the Dutch city best known as the birthplace of electronics company Philips. There, the local team, appropriately named the Philips Sport Vereniging, or PSV, was founded by local workers of the company. Over time, Eindhoven’s residents weren’t just fans of the club—they were the reason it functioned.

“The team is the team of the town, not a franchise to be moved,” Mudde said. “My team cannot be anywhere else but Eindhoven. It doesn’t make any sense. It represents the town, and the people feel that.”

Mudde brought that deep connection with him when he moved to the United States nearly two decades ago. He is now what people in the soccer community call a “groundhopper,” someone who goes to as many different grounds (stadiums) as possible. His total tally reached 550 when he attended a match in Tampa Bay earlier this spring.

School of Public and International Affairs Professor Cas Mudde. (Photo courtesy of Cas Mudde)

“For me, soccer has always been community,” said Mudde, who became a fan of the Portland Timbers Major League Soccer (MLS) team while working at the University of Oregon.

As someone who spends most of his time researching difficult topics like political extremism, the sport is a welcome escape—one he found he shared with many of his students. Many, after learning of his fandom, would stay after class to talk about English Premier League results or the MLS. There, Mudde noticed most Americans experience soccer—and athletics, in general—in a very different way than fans in Europe or Latin America.

“It’s entertainment as a product,” he said. “So, I wanted to teach them about soccer as a community and part of society.”

Mudde began teaching a class called “Soccer and Politics” four years ago, in which he outlines a few key points to his students: One, sports and politics are always connected (“It’s a myth that sports can be apolitical,” he said); and, two, that soccer reflects society as a whole.

“On one hand, I use soccer to teach about politics. But on the other, I teach how politics affects soccer,” he said. “When people think about keeping politics out of sports, it’s often about taking a knee [during the national anthem] or something, right? But within the conversation about the World Cup, there are conversations about ticket prices and the commodification of athletics, about re-selling tickets and local norms about transit, parking, and all the other goods sold in tandem with the event.

“There’s always an interaction between the two—it can be used for good or bad, and that’s what the course is about.”

Telling the story

��In the Carmical Sports Media Institute, students are learning about more than just theoretical connections between sports and politics. They’re experiencing it through a handful of experiential programs that put students where the news breaks.

For the World Cup this summer, 24 students will divide their efforts between four locations—Miami, Monterrey, Mexico City, and Vancouver/Seattle—working on direct assignment for either USA Today or the Associated Press. Carmical director Vicki Michaelis and Grady faculty Carlo Finlay, Mark Johnson, and Sam Jones will advise students at their respective locations.

It’s the kind of experience Michaelis envisioned when she transitioned her career from sports media to academia in 2012, arriving as the institute’s inaugural director after a career that spanned the Palm Beach Post, Denver Post, and USA Today.

��

Carmical Sports Media Institute Director Vicki Michaelis, along with three other Grady College faculty, are leading 24 students through real-world experience covering four World Cup locations for USA Today or the Associated Press.(Photo by Chamberlain Smith)

“When I decided to make this shift, it wasn’t because I wanted to leave what I was doing or what journalism was becoming,” she said. “Instead, I was looking at it and saying, OK—the industry is going to belong to people who adapt. I can go and actually affect that by being the person who is helping them. And as much as they learn from me, I learn from them.”

The World Cup assignment is one of several real-world opportunities Carmical students have had. They’ve worked as credentialed media at the 2016 and 2018 Olympic Games, the 2016 Paralympic Games, and the 2023 Women’s World Cup, among others. As part of their experience, they receive assignments from editors at USA Today or the Associated Press, working on deadline to produce news on matches, training, viral moments, breaking news like injuries, and more.

“This is real media coverage,” Michaelis said. “The moment something happens, they’re sitting in the press box having to write and file immediately so these outlets can stay in front of the story.”

Michaelis called it “ripping off the Band-Aid with a safety net.” She’s been in those environments before, and she knows how challenging they can be for new reporters. On her office wall hangs a picture from the 2008 Olympics. On the right is the lanky frame of legendary swimmer Michael Phelps. On the left is Michaelis, surrounded by a scrum of competing reporters.

Carmical program coordinator Dayne Young. (Photo by Andrew Davis Tucker)

“That’s what a mix zone looks like,” she said. “If you walk into that and you’ve never been there before, and you’re the only person there for your media outlet—whew. That can be rough.”

Carmical makes it a point to offer a variety of these types of experiences as often as possible. , where students run social accounts for local high school sports teams. The student is embedded with a team, plans content, and covers the program as the promotional account of record.

“It’s everything,” Young said in a story published last spring. “There is nothing we could teach them in a classroom that’s better than getting out there and interacting.”

A cultural nexus point

That’s what Suggs plans to do during the World Cup matches in Atlanta. While the students are scattered throughout North America covering the news, he plans to find a few local watch parties to experience the atmosphere from a different angle.

He isn’t convinced that there is going to a cultural rush in the United States centered around the sport—at least not like there was after the 1994 men’s World Cup and, again, in 1999 when U.S. star Brandi Chastain created one of the most iconic photos in sports history. Soccer is firmly entrenched here now, unlike in the 1990s.

A women’s soccer match in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games is played at Sanford Stadium. (Photo by Rick O'Quinn)

But he is interested to learn whether, in the face of many barriers to entry at the matches themselves (price, travel, etc.), these nation-specific watch parties can become their own cultural nexus points, bringing communities together to experience a different aspect of the atmosphere even if they aren’t traveling to the events themselves.

“Soccer has a longer history in Georgia than most people know about,” Suggs said. “It took off in 1907, when Irish immigrants to the city formed the original Atlanta FC. It’s stayed around the city in pockets through world wars, expanded in the 1950s with high schools and, later, the Atlanta Chiefs.

“Soccer as a proxy for immigration and communities coming together from different places is a cultural touchstone that forms an identity that continues to evolve today.”

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What causes hydroplaning? And how can you prevent it?

slquinlan — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 20:10:28 +0000

As summer approaches, you might be planning a road trip. A recent��from the ��Դ�ɼ�� explores how you can stay safe while driving in the rain.

Vehicles can hydroplane when water gathers on a road, resulting in tires losing their grip.

UGA researchers used both a computer and a live simulation of tires on a wet road to explore the different factors that contribute to hydroplaning. Speed and water thickness both increased the chance of hydroplaning, but the risk fell once the water was about 10 millimeters deep.

The Federal Highway Administration estimates that wet pavement and severe weather contribute to around 500,000 injuries and 6,000 deaths each year.

“This is a very important safety issue,” said��, corresponding author of the study and a professor in the UGA��. “If we have a good understanding about what the contributing factors are, then we can improve them, either through the design of pavements or the vehicle design, helping to save lives.”

Water depth on roads contributes to hydroplaning risk — to a point

The researchers used field tests to simulate rainy conditions on a road. Tires were placed in a mechanism that allowed the researchers to adjust tire speed and add water onto the pavement. The researchers then placed sensors along the track. As the tires moved through the water-soaked pavement, those sensors measured the forces that contribute to hydroplaning.

At first, as water depth increased, the risk of hydroplaning went up. However, once the water reached about 10 millimeters deep, the risk of hydroplaning steadily fell. This could be because thinner layers of water are harder for your tires to break through, making it more difficult for them to stay on the road.

For deeper water, the risk of hydroplaning is highest when your tires first hit the wet pavement because it’s before your tires can disperse the water. As the water is pushed away by the tires, the risk of hydroplaning goes down.

Higher speeds likely contribute to hydroplaning risk

Speed was also one the most impactful risk factors when the road surface conditions were the same between tests, the researchers said. As tires move faster, the water on the track puts more pressure on them, lifting them off the road.

“It’s very similar to an airplane. You reach a certain speed, and the vehicle lifts,” Wang said.

The tread patterns of the tires, tire pressure, surface texture of the road and whether water can drain from the road also play a role in hydroplaning risk, the researchers said.

Slower speed, car maintenance can prevent hydroplaning

Driving slower in rainy weather can drastically reduce the risk of hydroplaning, the researchers said. Replacing worn tires is also critical.

A good surface texture of the road and infrastructure changes could also help keep drivers safer. Georgia, for example, is among the best in applying a thin surface layer of pavement onto highways that allows water to drain through the asphalt rather than pooling on roads.

“Speed is something that drivers can control. The pavement texture and raining thickness you cannot control,” Wang said. “Human factors affect safety. That’s something we should all be concerned about.”

This��was published in Applied Sciences and co-authored by Wentao Wang, Xiangrui Han, Hua Rong and Yinghao Miao.

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UGA student team wins award in NASA competition

slquinlan — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 17:37:33 +0000

A team of students from the ��Դ�ɼ�� College of Engineering took home a top award from NASA’s 2026 Gateways to Blue Skies Forum, a student competition related to aircraft maintenance.

The team was honored with the “Future Game-Changer” recognition,��.

NASA’s��competition invites collegiate teams to conceptualize innovative systems and practices that would advance commercial aircraft maintenance, repair and operations. This year’s theme, RepAir: Advancing Aircraft Maintenance, challenged teams to develop novel solutions for improved safety, efficiency and resilience in aviation maintenance by 2035.

The UGA team – mechanical engineering students Jerry Gonzalez, Owen Nesbit, Ishaan Patel and Quinn Rodier – presented QuaSAR: Quantum Sensing Aerial Reporting, a drone-based quantum inspection system for commercial aircraft. Advised by College of Engineering faculty members Kevin Wu and Ramana Pidaparti, the team was one of only eight finalists selected from across the country. They earned a $9,000 prize after presenting before a panel of NASA and industry judges at the 2026 Gateways to Blue Skies Forum, held on May 18 and 19 at NASA’s Langley ��Դ�ɼ�� Center in Hampton, Virginia.

“The team delivered an outstanding presentation of their disruptive concept, standing completely apart from the competition,” said Pidaparti. “I am incredibly proud of their dedication and this remarkable achievement in winning the Future Game-Changer award at the NASA Blue Skies Competition.”

QuaSAR proposes a more proactive approach to identifying early warning signs of aircraft defects using quantum sensors. Currently, maintenance methods rely on labor-intensive, reactive inspections, a process further strained by an expanding global fleet and a shortage of certified maintenance technicians. QuaSAR would generate real-time magnetic field maps to reveal material stress before visible damage appears, facilitating a more responsive, dynamic maintenance strategy.

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Study finds natural infrastructure delivers returns up to 8:1

slquinlan — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 18:14:37 +0000

Athens, Georgia – When decision-makers consider whether to invest in nature-based infrastructure, they often don’t have the full financial picture. A new ��Դ�ɼ�� study aims to change that. ��Դ�ɼ��ers at UGA’s Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS), in partnership with the Walton Family Foundation, developed a more comprehensive method for calculating the true costs and benefits of natural infrastructure solutions. The model was applied to two real-world sites—a levee on the Missouri River and beaver dam analogs throughout the Colorado River Basin—and found the returns were striking.

For the Missouri River levee setback, every $1 invested generated more than $3 in benefits, with a projected 50-year return of $369.4 million. For the beaver dam analogs—devices that mimic the function of natural beaver dams—every $1 invested returned $8 in benefits, with ecosystem services adding up to a net benefit of nearly $400,000.

“This study illustrates that accounting for ecosystem services can be a game changer when deciding on the economic feasibility of nature-based solutions,” said Susana Ferreira, Professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics and IRIS affiliate. “We use benefit-cost analysis the way it’s meant to be used—to measure all the costs and benefits a project generates.”

The key to those numbers: counting what traditional analyses leave out. Conventional benefit-cost analyses often fail to account for the services that natural features provide—clean air and water, flood reduction, habitat, and recreation. By incorporating those ecosystem services into their calculations, the researchers were able to show what natural infrastructure is actually worth.

Added IRIS co-director and project lead Brock Woodson: “Accurate accounting shows that natural systems are not only cost-effective—in many cases, they should be the preferred course of action.”

In the case of the levee setback assessment, the setback in the study represented less than 20 miles of the more than 20,000 miles of existing levees (<1%) in the Mississippi Basin. This research demonstrates how NBS on relatively small scales can have a huge impact–and how accelerating adoption based on small wins will have even bigger impacts. Extending levee setbacks to 25% of the basin would translate into more than $10 billion in benefits.”

“Working with the power of nature is the best way to ultimately produce cleaner water, reduce flooding, expand recreation opportunities, and ensure our communities are more resilient,” said Moira Mcdonald, Director of the Environment Program for the Walton Family Foundation. “This research has the potential to accelerate adoption of natural solutions in communities across the country.”

Learn more about the��.
Access the full report��.

ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEMS

The Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS) is working toward a more resilient future by using interdisciplinary research to discover innovative ways to combine natural and conventional infrastructure.

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Which GLP-1 medication is most effective for weight loss?

slquinlan — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 12:59:15 +0000

GLP-1 medications are marketed to help you lose weight, but one may be better at it than the rest, according to a ��from the ��Դ�ɼ��.

Tirzepatide, better known as Zepbound for weight loss and Mounjaro for treatment of type 2 diabetes, helped patients lose more than 20% of their starting body weight across the reviewed studies.

Semaglutide (marketed under the brand name Wegovy) and liraglutide (Saxenda) did lead to weight loss, but it was significantly less at 15% and 8%, respectively.

The review is the first to compare efficacy of the three FDA-approved GLP-1 medications in non-diabetic patients using the drugs for weight loss.

“We were interested in finding which drug gives the most weight loss and doesn’t have higher rates of side effects like nausea and gastrointestinal problems. Tirzepatide seems to be the better option,” said��, corresponding author of the review and a doctoral student in the UGA��.

Tirzepatide’s dual mechanism of action that may help maximize weight loss

Chances are someone you know is taking a GLP-1 medication.

Short for glucagon-like peptide-1, GLP-1s are highly effective FDA-approved medications that treat type 2 diabetes. Increasingly, they’re being used by more people to lose weight.

��Դ�ɼ�� one in every eight Americans is currently taking a GLP-1, according to a recent poll from KFF, formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation. And one in five have taken the medication in the past.

“Some people call these ‘miracle drugs’ because the weight loss effect is real,” said��, co-author of the paper and an assistant professor in the UGA College of Pharmacy. “But what some people don’t understand is that when they stop taking the medication, they may gain all that weight back.” (The current study did not evaluate weight gain after the discontinuation of GLP-1 medications.)

GLP-1 medications act as a pharmaceutical version of a natural hormone in the gut, lowering blood sugar, keeping you feeling fuller longer and slowing down digestion.

But where brand names like Wegovy and Saxenda are solely focused on mimicking GLP-1 receptors, tirzepatide targets both GLP-1 receptors and another gut hormone known as GIP.

That may make all the difference for people looking to maximize weight loss, the researchers said.

Liraglutide least effective

The researchers analyzed the results of 15 randomized controlled Phase 3 clinical trials, comprising more than 14,000 patients.

Participants saw the largest weight reduction when prescribed the maximum dose of tirzepatide (between 10 and 15 milligrams).

Liraglutide proved the least effective of the three drugs. It also requires daily injections compared to the weekly dosing schedule of tirzepatide and semaglutide medications.

At the time of the review, the FDA had not yet approved the Wegovy pill, an oral version of the GLP-1 medication that is now available in 25 mg pills.

However, the researchers did a sensitivity analysis of a 50 mg version and found that it was not as effective as tirzepatide in non-diabetic patients looking to lose weight. It was “almost as good as the injectable semaglutide,” though, Gokhale said.

Published by Obesity,��originated as part of the College of Pharmacy’s systematic reviews and meta-analysis course. Doctor of Pharmacy candidate Michael Lim was first author of the publication, and Akwasi Akosah, a doctoral candidate in UGA’s pharmaceutical health services outcomes and policy program, co-authored the paper.

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New Wormsloe Fellows Pursue ��Դ�ɼ�� on Bats, Magnolias on Georgia’s Coast

slquinlan — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 14:58:19 +0000

Bats and magnolia trees, birds and bees are the focus of ecological research projects in the works along Georgia’s coastline.

Two doctoral students are joining the slate of researchers delving into the flora and fauna of one of the most ecologically and historically significant sites along Georgia’s coast, becoming the newest members of the Wormsloe Fellows program, administered by the ��Դ�ɼ�� Libraries.

With funding from the UGA Graduate School and the Wormsloe Foundation, the fellowship will allow Piper Cole and Marisa Mizzoni to pursue field work at the��, a libraries facility on the Isle of Hope dedicated to experiential learning related to ecology, cultural history, and historical land use.

Cole will study pollination ecology of the Southern Magnolia, investigating native tree stands on the property to uncover differences in the floral signals and insect communities. Mizzoni is researching the impacts of contaminants like heavy metals and pesticides on the ecology and health of bats. For both topics, the researchers say their work on the Wormsloe property could provide groundwork for future environmental policy that could allow the species to thrive.

“Wormsloe represents a pristine, non-polluted environment where bats are continually active during winter months due to warmer temperatures,” said Mizzoni, who is pursuing her doctorate in the Odum School of Ecology. “My hope for this project is to understand how contaminants seasonally interact with bat health in wild populations to better inform conservation management and environmental policy.”

Cole, an entomology student in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, will explore the interaction of beetles and honeybees with trees at the site. “This project will provide a thorough understanding of the pollination and signaling of a heavily cultivated, ancient plant lineage,” she said. “Understanding the pollination ecology of native Magnolia at this site will aid in protecting these species outside of Wormsloe, as this research will build a baseline for what healthy, native Magnolia habitat in the southeastern U.S. looks like.”

Cole and Mizzoni join three other doctoral students conducting important ecological studies at the Center for ��Դ�ɼ�� and Education at Wormsloe. The three students who will continue their Wormsloe Fellowships are:

Daniel Gilley, Odum School of Ecology, whose research involves the foraging patterns of honeybees
Diane Klement, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, whose work is uncovering factors in the life cycle of the Painted Bunting, a declining migratory songbird species
Taylor Pearson, College of Veterinary Medicine, who is researching the prevalence and diversity of tick species and tick-borne pathogens along the Georgia coastline

“I am delighted to welcome the newest Wormsloe Fellows, Piper Cole and Marisa Mizzoni, to the Center for ��Դ�ɼ�� and Education at Wormsloe,” said Mary Socci, director of the Center for ��Դ�ɼ�� and Education at Wormsloe. “They join a cohort of researchers who are expanding our understanding of coastal ecology and generating valuable data on the impact of human-driven changes to the environment. I look forward to seeing the results of their studies.”

For more information about the Center for ��Դ�ɼ�� and Education at Wormsloe and the Wormsloe Fellowship, visit��.

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More than monuments: Christian Langer uncovers the Egypt that time forgot

lcorcino — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:30:58 +0000

Christian Langer has been fascinated with ancient Egypt since he was 3 years old. His parents read to him all manner of books cultural and scientific, and as time went on, he became captivated by stories of millennia-old pharaohs and mummies.

So when he decided to study Egyptology in college, it was a shock for him to learn there was much more to the Land of Pyramids than, well, pyramids.

“I think people don’t have an understanding that all these topics like Tutankhamun, gold, tombs, temples, pyramids, etc.—that is only a tiny fraction of what Egyptologists are doing,” said Langer, an assistant professor in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Department of Classics. “It’s less about the consumption or discussion of these grand discoveries and grand monuments and, really, largely painstakingly learning how to translate Egyptian sources.”

Langer’s research focuses on the effects of forced migration and deportation in ancient Egypt during the late Bronze Age, expanding beyond monuments and the elite to focus instead on the lives of people history often leaves out.

A stereotypical introduction

Langer grew up in Germany, where much of the history taught in schools focused on some of the darker parts of the country’s history: World War II, the Cold War, and the like.

He had a great interest in global history, however, particularly stories of ancient people who built societies and structures that still stand today.

“My voyage starts pretty much in the stereotypical way. As a kid, I had an early exposure to ancient Egyptian themes or ancient Egyptian contents in pop culture and animated series, like ‘,’ for instance, which frequently visited ancient Egyptian aesthetics in one way or another,” he said.

When Langer went to college, he set out to be a lawyer, but that didn’t satisfy him intellectually. So, he began to look back at what drew his interest when he was in school.

“The University of Marburg in central Germany just so happened to still have an Egyptological institute, and that’s how it all started,” Langer said. “I started studying Egyptology, and I stuck with it.”

One of the first things Langer learned was that the field is less about exploring ancient ruins and more about learning a new language and writing system. The Egyptians kept very detailed records, so knowledge of ancient language and writing systems is vital to study. The complexity of the language, Langer reasoned, is why many students are intimidated by the field.

As his studies continued, Langer was surprised to learn how much of ancient Egypt was still unknown.

“There is very little we know for certain,” he said. “And so much left to explore.”

Uncovering lost voices

One of Langer’s central projects examines a side of ancient Egypt that rarely appears in popular imagination: the state’s use of forced migration, and the role deported people played in building Egyptian power.

When Langer entered the field, little research had been done on Egypt’s forced migration practices during the Late Bronze Age, which coincided with Egypt’s New Kingdom. Between the years 1500 and 1000 B.C.E., Egypt expanded southward into a region then known as Nubia, as well as along the Mediterranean coast toward the Levant.

“This expansion is accompanied by the forced removal or deportation of people from these locations back into Egypt,” he said. “These people were put in service of Egyptian temples, where they worked in agriculture, crafts, textile production, cattle herding, and other physically demanding labor.”

While many people imagine Egyptology is about finding lost tombs and relics, much of Langer's work involves translating Egyptian sources. In this picture from 2014, Langer gets a close-up look at ruins in Tanis, Egypt, located in the Eastern Nile Delta. (Photo provided by Langer)

Some also became slaves to Egypt’s elite, who put them to work on their private estates or sold them. Langer emphasizes that this was not incidental, but structurally important to Egypt’s growing empire. The neighboring societies were weakened by these expansions and deportations, while Egypt became wealthier and even more powerful.

This project was especially important to Langer for two reasons. First, few scholars had examined forced migration in ancient history beyond the Assyrian Empire’s deportations after 1000 B.C.E. In fact, Langer’s research proved that the systematic practice of forced migration was much older than that.

His other goal was to recover the voices of these forced migrants, three millennia later.

“These are people largely left out of the story,” he said. “The affected people, the deportees, servants, slaves, however you want to call them, are invisible. They have no voice of their own, and you need to reconstruct it indirectly.”

This reflects Langer’s broader argument that most popular understandings of ancient Egypt focus only on elites. Imperial records and other documents tended to be kept for the elite; because of this, only the perspective of Egypt’s ruling class has endured.

“These temples had vast landholdings where deportees and other workers were cultivating the fields, harvesting orchards, taking care of cattle, or preparing textiles,” he said. “A papyrus dated around 1150 B.C.E. listed temple landholdings and donations across the country that added up to a workforce of more than 100,000.”

A global research perspective

Langer frames himself as a researcher shaped by four different academic systems.

He earned his doctorate from Freie Universität Berlin but spent a year studying at University College London’s Institute of Archaeology.

Later, he moved to Beijing, China, to work as a postdoctoral fellow at Peking University’s School of Arts. In 2024, Langer found a new home in Franklin College’s classics department.

“Your perspective on a research subject depends on your point of view,” he said. “Your approach might also differ depending on the academic system you’re moving in. Not every academic system is equally interested in the same research problems.”

Langer��trained in��four��different��countries’ academic systems, giving him a very global perspective while approaching his subject. In this��2025 photo, Langer analyzes a relic at the University College London’s Petrie Museum of Egyptology. (Photo courtesy of Langer)

These international experiences have given Langer a more “global understanding of research questions,” he said. While studying in London, he found many of the researchers there approached Egyptology with a more theoretical perspective, while Germany let the “source material speak for itself.” In China, scholars often approached the material through questions about China’s own history.

Langer would like to broaden the field of Egyptology, examining ancient Egypt through a more global lens. One advantage of the U.S. academic system, he said, is that Egyptology is already embedded in fields like history and classics.

To this end, his latest research project revolves around the adoption of the originally Egyptian form of the obelisk in modern China. Rather than treating the obelisk as a static ancient symbol, Langer is interested in how it has been adapted and transformed in modern China, while also comparing it to how it is viewed in more Western cultures.

“If you look at Washington D.C., you have the Washington Monument. It’s a modern obelisk, the biggest obelisk on earth, and serves as a memorial for George Washington,” he said. “While in China, these obelisks take on a different role as martyrs’ monuments, where they are tied to darker subject matter, such as war and violence. They became especially popular in the 19^th and 20^th centuries to signify the collapse of the monarchy in China, civil war, or Japanese invasion during World War II.

“What keeps me going,” he said, “is this untapped potential to develop new perspectives and branch out, to make things, I hope, more meaningful in a way that helps create an Egyptology that reflects the very global nature of the early 21st century.”

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Heat could pose threat to World Cup workers

slquinlan — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 13:55:59 +0000

heat could pose a danger to workers at the upcoming FIFA World Cup, according to a��from the ��Դ�ɼ��.

In an analysis of 30 years of weather data from venue host cities, researchers from UGA’s��found that many jobs at the event exceeded recommended heat exposure and alert limits, putting workers at risk for heat-related health problems such as heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

While some regions and positions are more vulnerable than others, any job involving the outdoors during the months of the matches in June and July should tread with caution. This was especially the case for workers not used to the climate of the games’ many host cities or those doing intense work, the study found.

“All sorts of people in various jobs like security, hospitality, delivery and maintenance are needed to support the events, and it’s really important to think about their safety and their health so that the games can continue successfully,” said, lead author of the study and a professor in Franklin College’s. “If these workers get overheated, not only is their health at risk — which we don’t want — but it will impact their ability to do their jobs.”

The researchers advise that FIFA and host cities, which include Atlanta, should consider these factors and make heat-focused safety plans focused on worker breaks and hydration during the event.

Southern host cities pose greatest climate risk, especially for out-of-towners

��Դ�ɼ��ers evaluated historical weather conditions in the 16 World Cup host cities, as well as a specific heat stress measurement: wet-bulb globe temperatures. Wet-bulb globe temperatures account for air temperature, humidity, radiant heat and wind speed, providing a clearer indication of potential health risks beyond just the number on a thermometer.

“Part of the reason it’s so uncomfortable in Georgia in the summer, for instance, is that it’s 90 degrees, which is hot, but the humidity makes it really miserable. Accounting for all those things can give you a better sense about the kind of heat stress that people might feel,” Grundstein said.

Southern cities that host events this year present particularly serious heat hazards to workers. These cities have many hours where environmental conditions pass established heat safety thresholds.

All sorts of people … are needed to support the events, and it’s really important to think about their safety and their health so that the games can continue successfully.

Andrew Grundstein, Franklin College of Arts & Sciences

Exceeding the heat safety threshold means that the body’s temperature may rise, leading to health issues like heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

In Houston and Miami, two of the tournament’s host cities, heat safety thresholds for heavy work with limited rest breaks can be reached 12 hours per day.

For the workers, a few degrees can make a lot of difference. Non-local volunteers and contract workers who were not used to host city weather were more likely to hit the exceeded safety threshold more quickly, the study found.

“Say someone from up north heads down to Houston in the middle of the summer, and they’re not used to the heat. They would face more heat risks because they weren’t adjusted to those conditions,” he said. “These workers would need accommodations like more rest breaks and lighter work to stay safe in the heat.”

Just because a city does not typically have high wet-bulb globe temperatures doesn’t mean it couldn’t experience dangerous levels of heat. Seattle, for example, was part of a catastrophic heat wave in 2021.

“Knowing about average weather conditions can be helpful for planning, but you need to know the range of conditions too,” Grundstein said. “Seattle is climatologically pretty mild, but we now know that it can experience extreme heat too. Organizers really need to anticipate that and plan for contingencies.”

Even low-activity, shaded positions present heat risk

Workers who remained consistently outdoors in non-shaded areas, such as construction and maintenance workers, parking attendants, security guards and even mascots, were more likely to exceed the safety threshold than those who stayed in the shade.

These positions involved moderate to heavy activity levels and could only be safely performed for 15 minutes each hour before the safety threshold was met, the study found.

“If it’s hot outside, obviously it’s going to feel hot, but if you’re standing in the sun versus the shade, that’s really important,” Grundstein said. “If you’re exerting yourself, your body is generating a lot of extra heat, so it’s going to push you over the safety threshold more quickly than someone sitting in the shade doing much more limited activity.”

The researchers found shade can cut wet bulb globe temperatures by 2 to 3 degrees. This can have a meaningful effect on safe working conditions. In Houston, for instance, shade would add several extra hours during the day where workers could safely do work at moderate activity levels.

Outdoor workers are going to be at increased risk. How … is going to depend on factors like the nature of their job, whether they are acclimatized to the heat and how many breaks they have.

Andrew Grundstein

But even those working in less labor-intensive jobs, such as concessions or hospitality, require breaks to combat the heat. An hour of working these positions still saw workers hit the safe heat limit.

The safe duration for each activity was even lower for workers who weren’t acclimated to local weather patterns.

A robust medical response is important for heat-related emergencies, but a proactive approach to keeping workers safe is ideal, the researchers said. That means flexible scheduling, mandatory breaks and ample access to water and shade.

“We know Atlanta is going to be hot and humid in the summer, so outdoor workers are going to be at increased risk,” Grundstein said. “How much increased risk is going to depend on factors like the nature of their job, whether they are acclimatized to the heat and how many breaks they have.”

This study was published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, and was co-authored by Margaret Morrissey-Basler, Rebecca Stearns and Sebastien Racinais.

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Engineering associate professor applies research to real life

slquinlan — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 18:18:04 +0000

Growing up in Orlando, Florida, hurricanes were a regular part of Matt Bilskie’s childhood. Today, he’s working to better understand and reduce their impact.

An associate professor in the ��Դ�ɼ�� College of Engineering and leader of the Coastal Ocean Analysis and Simulation Team, Bilskie’s research focuses on the dynamic interactions between natural systems and the built environment. His work aims to determine how nature-based solutions can reduce flood risks and strengthen long-term resilience.

Bilskie’s career path took shape during his undergraduate studies at the University of Central Florida, where he conducted research on tides and storm surge flooding through the Coastal Hydroscience Analysis, Modeling & Predictive Simulations Laboratory. Before joining UGA’s faculty in 2020, he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from UCF and his doctorate in civil engineering followed by four years as a research scientist at Louisiana State University.

Reflecting on his decision to come to UGA, Bilskie said, “It was just like a match made in heaven.” He was drawn to the university’s collaborative culture, diverse academic disciplines and shared research focus.

“I also always wanted to live in Georgia because I was a huge Braves fan growing up,” he added with a smile.

Through his work with the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems, Bilskie regularly collaborates with colleagues across campus.

“The collaborative atmosphere here is fantastic,” he said.

From left, graduate students Ebrahim Hamidian Jahromi, Lina Cardenas, Aditya Gupta, faculty member Matthew Bilskie, and graduate student Saeid Nezhad inspect land surveying equipment. (Photo by Dorothy Kozlowski/UGA)

In partnership with colleagues at UGA and Duke University, Bilskie recently helped launch the Center for Innovation in Risk, Catastrophes and Decisions. This initiative focuses on insurance innovation and large-scale climate risk mitigation, bringing together leaders from the insurance and climate data industries.

Another current project involves improving natural infrastructure and resource management at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island. The effort addresses habitat degradation and shoreline erosion affecting the island’s nature system with impacts to the military mission.

“What’s exciting about this project is how comprehensive it is,” Bilskie said. “We’re pushing boundaries in everything from research to implementation, working with the installation, private engineering firms and state, federal and local agencies. We’re also able to monitor conditions before and after construction to make sure the solutions are working as intended.”

Bilskie’s research plays a central role in his teaching. This past semester, he taught a catastrophe modeling course focused on hazards such as floods and wildfires and how they affect people and property.

“One of my students shared that she secured a summer internship at an insurance company because of what she learned in the class,” he said.

Outside the lab, classroom and field, Bilskie enjoys spending time with family and working in his yard. “I really, really love turfgrass,” he said. “My lawn is like a golf course.”

But at the university, Bilskie emphasized the importance of the people who make his work possible. “It’s important to acknowledge that none of this would be possible without our incredible research staff and students, both current and former.”

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New Wormsloe Fellows Pursue ��Դ�ɼ�� on Bats, Magnolias on Georgia’s Coast