Dean’s Corner, September 2024: Agrivoltaics, climate and the energy transition
Dean Mark Hunter on how the Odum School of Ecology can help address the environmental challenges created by scaling up the renewable energy transition.
Brian Watts (BS ’11) had started his career at an accounting firm when he realized that “a lot of environmental research doesn’t go anywhere, or doesn’t seem to get enacted upon.” He decided to move into policy and now works for The Pew Charitable Trusts.
This year’s Ecological Society of America’s Annual Conference will feature a number of speakers from the Odum School of Ecology, as well as speakers affiliated with other UGA schools and colleges.
Research by ecology/SREL associate professor Ben Parrott and ecology alum Emily Bertucci-Richter (PhD ’22) provides fascinating new insights into the phenomenon of epigenetic drift and how it influences aging.
Virginia Schutte (PhD ’14) is a science communicator—someone who “makes stuff for the Internet about science.” Every day is different, and she likes it that way.
Microbial ecologist Peter Groffman (PhD ’84), a graduate of the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology, has been elected the 2025 president of the Ecological Society of America, the nation’s largest organization of professional ecologists.
Ben Taylor (AB ’17, MS ’23) has always been fascinated by behavior, which made the Sasaki Lab a perfect fit for graduate work.
Powell Dentistry-The Georgia Smile Group, led by zoology alumnus Zachary Powell (BS ’94, BS ’94) and based in St. Simons Island, GA, has been named to the University of Georgia Alumni Association’s 2024 Bulldog 100, a list of the 100 fastest-growing businesses owned or led by UGA graduates.