What it takes to create a successful oyster reef breakwater
Feb 2024
Jeb Byers, Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor of Ecology, recently coauthored a publicaiton on oyster reef breakwaters, a form of natural infrastructure.
UGA researchers to leverage AI, remote sensing for NASA-funded conservation project
Nov 2023
In a NASA grant project focused on levee setbacks, UGA scientists are filling a critical gap in biodiversity benefit assessment for USACE.
Parts of Clean Water Act not effective in controlling nutrient pollution
Nov 2023
Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972. It remains the guiding legislation for regulating America’s water quality. But new research from the University of Georgia suggests parts of it may not be working. The study found that Clean Water Act regulations haven’t significantly reduced the amount of nonpoint source nutrient pollution in America’s waterways.
Nutrient pollution reduces nutrient retention services of streams, new research shows
Oct 2023
Few nutrients are as fundamental to or ubiquitous in modern life as nitrogen and phosphorus. As fertilizers, they form the bedrock of our global agricultural systems—but at a cost to our waterways.
‘People are also part of this ecosystem’: Rao studies impact of hydropower on human, ecological systems
Sep 2023
When small hydroelectric projects began dotting the rivers of the Western Ghats, a strip of mountains that runs parallel to the west coast of Peninsular India, Odum and Integrative Conservation (ICON) graduate student Shishir Rao pivoted from a career in IT to study their impact.
Urban Ecology Spotlight: Tanyard Creek’s Biodiversity
Aug 2023
River Basin Center intern Gabriel Stephenson captured footage at Tanyard Creek to highlight the freshwater ecological systems right here on the UGA campus.
Inside Georgia’s oyster disease epidemic
Jul 2023
Researchers at the Odum School of Ecology are studying oyster disease in Georgia.
Are stream restoration projects working for fish? Not long-term, new research finds.
Jul 2023
The southeast is a hotspot for freshwater fish biodiversity—Georgia ranks third in the U.S. for total number of native freshwater fishes. But development threatens this diversity, and projects designed to
RBC affiliates team up to explore federal freshwater policy
May 2023
Odum’s Rosemond Lab teamed up with policy expert Emily Bell—UGA School of Public and International Affairs—and looked at trends in nutrient concentrations and policy implementation across each state to see if federal policies appeared to reduce nutrient levels in freshwater sources.
Flushed and forgotten: Study finds septic tanks may require more frequent maintenance
Apr 2023
A recent study by Ecology’s Krista Capps shows that younger septic systems—those between two and 10 years old—often exhibited hydraulic issues similar to much older systems.