Global Programs

On March 1st, Edward T. Kanemasu, Assistant Dean and Director of Global Programs was awarded the 2006-2007 Richard F. Reiff Internationalization Award for his service in internationalizing the UGA campus.  The award was presented by Judith Shaw, Associate Provost for International Affairs, at the OIE Faculty Recognition reception held in the Peabody Room of the Administration Building.

K.C. Das, Associate Professor, Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering has been awarded Higher Education for Development (HED) grant for a Training, Internship, Exchanges and Scholarship (TIES) partnership with the Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila, the Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, and the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León.  This USAID/Mexico award is one of five awards for TIES Phase III.  The 2 year grant titled ‘Integrated Waste Management with Energy Production for Increased Competitiveness of the Livestock Industry in Northeast Mexico’ will provide $249,410 from HED.  The project will form a partnership between UGA and three universities in northeast Mexico.  Funds will cover the exchange of faculty, training of Mexican undergraduate and graduate students at UGA (including assistantships and travel), and the conducting of educational workshops.

From April 15-18th, a UGA delegation attended ‘Zamorano Days’, an event sponsored by Zamorano University in Honduras to promote US university faculty/staff getting to know the people and campus of the school also known as Escuela Agricola Panamericana.  The UGA delegation included Wojciech Florkowski, Professor – Agricultural& Applied Economics, Juan Carlos Diaz-Perez, Assistant Professor – Horticulture, and Sarah Workman, Assistant Research Scientist.  The event was also attended by representatives from Penn State University, Purdue University, and the University of Florida.

During the visit US representatives were introduced to Zamorano’s campus, philosophy and personnel.  UGA participants were charged with looking for additional opportunities for partnering with Zamorano.  The CAES is currently pursuing the development of a spring semester study abroad program for undergraduates on the Zamorano campus.  

A view of the Zamorano Campus in Honduras.

From Left:  Margarita Calderon-Peter (BOKU), Vicki McMaken (UGA), Enrico Peterlunger (Udine), Elisabetta Vecchio (Udine), John Vreyens (University of Minnesota), Harriett Paul (FAMU)

Following the meeting in Brussels, from March 19-22, Vicki McMaken went to Italy to visit a potential site for CAES International Agriculture Internships.   The site, Tenuta di Spannocchia, is located outside of Siena in the Tuscan region.  It is a 1100-acre pastoral estate with a working organic farm that produces wine, olive oil, honey, farro, and high quality pork products (salami, prosciutto, pancetta, etc).  Spannocchia offers a farm internship program that provides hands-on farm experience as well as education in Italian language and culture.  While in Italy, Mrs. McMaken also visited the UGA Cortona campus.

Below: Spannocchia Salami

Left: Spannochia intern tending the kitchen garden

From February 9-24, Eddie McGriff, Coffee County Extension Coordinator, led an Australian farm tour for farmers and Extension specialists.  The tour was sponsored by the Coffee County Cooperative Extension and Coffee County Farm Bureau. The purpose of the trip was to see a wide variety of Australian agriculture. The tour provided the opportunity for participants to meet and visit with farmers “down under”. The Australian hosts were the Peanut Company of Australia and the Queensland Government’s Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI) which is similar to UGA’s Extension Service.

Termite mounds like this plague Australian farmers. Left to Right: Farm Manager Dennis Cook, Coffee County farmers Vernon Nolan and Troy Aldridge.

Dr. Bertrand makes a new friend.

Glenn H. Beard, County Extension Agent, Colquitt County, led a delegation of agriculturalists to Southwest China March 25 - April 7.  The delegation included Dr. Glen Harris, Extension Agronomist – Soils and Fertilizers, Dr. Ray Smith, Researcher – Southeast Agricultural Research, Inc, and Mr. Herb Young, Research and Development Coordinator – Bayer AgriScience, Inc.  The team had been working with contacts in this area of China for two years to coordinate the trip.  The main objective of the trip was to represent the UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Bayer AgriSciences, and Southeast Ag Research, Inc., build relationships with farmers in Southwest China, diagnose current production problems, evaluate current methods of production, make recommendations for possible solutions based on available pesticides, fertilizers, and equipment in the area, and initiate demonstration and research plots for Chinese farmers to observe.

Above: Dr. Beard discusses agriculture with a Chinese farmer. Below: Dr. Beard prepares a plant sample for microscopic disease diagnosis.

Dr. Stephen C. Nickerson, Department Head, was the keynote speaker at a series of conferences held in Montevideo, Uruguay; San Antonio de Areco, Argentina; and Pehuajo, Argentina from April 16-20. Dr. Nickerson was invited by the Uruguay-Argentina Grupo Agro-Veterinario to speak on the subjects of mastitis control and the production of high quality milk in dairy cows.  Mastitis is a disease of the cow's mammary gland, which negatively impacts both the quantity and quality of milk production.  Both countries have the goal of enhancing the efficient production of quality milk to enhance local consumption of dairy products as well as the export of milk and milk products, and have sought the aid of mastitis experts from the US.

Dr. Stephen C. Nickerson in Montevideo, Uruguay

Glen Rains, Associate Professor, was in Christ Church, New Zealand at Lincoln University for 10 days in March. He gave a seminar and worked with a colleague on a project to develop mathematical models of insect behavior. The title of the seminar was "Behavioral Response of a Trained Parasitoid Wasp to Chemical Stimuli".

During spring break, Dr. David Gattie, Associate Professor, Biological & Agricultural Engineering Department, led his Engineering Senior Design team on a trip to Costa Rica.  The team had been chosen to work on a community-based senior design capstone project focused in the rural community of Pocora, adjacent to the campus of EARTH University.  The community currently has limited water resources and solid waste management oversight.  The students produced a Pocora Masterplan of more than 140 pages that addresses water management from a holistic perspective, encompassing a broad range of issues linked with water quality and supply, and includes sections on community revenue, government structure, education, solid waste, sewage, drinking water, health, roads, storm water, and recreation.  The Masterplan is expected to serve as a foundation for the 08 course as well as future collaborative efforts with EARTH. 

The trip was funded by a grant from the USDA – International Science and Education program, managed by the Office of Global Programs.  Project partners, EARTH University, were instrumental in developing the community-based project involving UGA and EARTH students.

From Left:  Hillary Tanner, BAE Research Engineer; Dr. David Gattie, Assoc. Professor; Students: Kyle Webb, Ande Burke, Delia Sanchez, and Mandy Redden; Senora Chinchilla; Camillio, guide; and Eladio Chinchilla, Pocora water manager.

Pocora water distribution system under construction

Dr. Wole Akinremi of the University of Manitoba (right) shown with Rajith Mukundan, one of Dr. Radcliffe's graduate students.

Dr. Wole Akinremi of the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, spent a sabbatical on campus working with Dr. David Radcliffe, Professor, Crop and Soil Sciences Department from December 2006 to May 2007.  They are collaborating on using the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model to determine phosphorus loading to lakes in Georgia and Canada that are experiencing algal blooms.

Dr. G. Keith Douce, Professor, has been awarded A Rotary Grant for University Teachers by The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International to work and teach at the University of West Hungary, Sopron, Hungary during their Winter Semester (late January – June) 2008.  While at The University of West Hungary, Dr Douce will teach special graduate courses/seminars;  participate in an ongoing undergraduate forest entomology course; and work with and advise UWH faculty and their colleagues in the Hungarian Forest Research Institute, and work toward building and expanding collaborations between The University of West Hungary and The University of Georgia for mutual benefit to our universities, our faculty and our students.

Dr. Ferenc Lakatos, Professor and Forest Entomologist, University of West Hungary showing students some tips on forest entomology.

On April 17th and 18th, Honorable Joseph E. Sokoine, Counsellor, Political, Information, Education and Tourism of the Embassy of the Republic of Tanzania, visited the University of Georgia.  While at UGA, Hon. Sokoine met with representatives from the African Studies Institute and the Terry College of Business.  He also met with Dr. Ed Kanemasu, CAES Assistant Dean and Director of Global Programs and Dr. Jean Bertrand, CAES Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs.

Left: Hon. Joseph Sokoine meets with Lioba Moshi and representatives of the African Studies Institute.

Right: From left: Dr. Jack Houston, Hon. Joseph Sokoine, and Dr. Ed Kanemasu.