Global Programs

From left: Dr. Kanemasu, Vice President Dunning, President Pongsak, Provost Mace, and Dean Sermkiat.

From May 8-10, UGA was pleased to host Dr. Pongsak Angkasith, President, Chiang Mai University (CMU), Thailand and Dr. Sermkiat Jomjunyong, Dean, Faculty of Engineering, CMU on the Athens campus.  During their visit the CMU delegation met with various UGA officials including Arnett Mace – Senior Vice President and Provost, Art Dunning - Vice President, Public Service & Outreach, Steve Wrigley - Director, Carl Vinson Institute of Government, and Scott Angle - Dean, College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences.   A welcome reception was held in the Peabody Board Room, hosted by Vice President Dunning and Ed Kanemasu, Assistant Dean and Director of Global Programs. Tom Adams, Director of Engineering Outreach Service, also met with the delegation and provided a tour of UGA Biofuel projects. 

Signing ceremony in Belize.

On June 25, Scott Angle, Dean, College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, was in Belize City, Belize to sign an agreement with the International Regional Organization for Plant and Animal Health (OIRSA).  The purpose of the agreement was to outline the terms of OIRSA’s use of the Distance Diagnostics through Digital Imaging (DDDI) technology developed by UGA.

From left:  Dean Angle, Joe Broder, Tunisian Ambassador, Takoi Hamrita, Bob Boehmer, and Karen Bauer.

On May 26, Dr. Takoi Hamrita, Associate Professor, Biological & Agricultural Engineering, was awarded the 2007 Ibn Khaldun Award by the Tunisian Community Center.  The annual award recognizes individuals whose achievements constitute outstanding service to the Tunisian American community.  Dr. Hamrita was the genesis of the University of Georgia – Tunisia Educational Partnership.  Considered by many as a model for international collaboration, it is a cooperative initiative that brings together four major Tunisian universities to UGA for the mutual benefit of both countries and the partnering educational institutions.  Past honorees include Dr. Mounira M. Charrad and Oussama Mellouli.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Alexia (front) in the Zamorano comedor.

From May 19 to June 2, a delegation traveled to Honduras to evaluate and improve the Distance Diagnostics through Digital Imaging (DDDI) pilot training program at Zamorano University, and to conduct DDDI training at the University of Honduras, Curla. The HED project, "Technology and Capacity Building in Rural Honduras: Education through Distance Diagnostics," is in its first year and is aimed at outreach planning and curriculum development for the farmer-training program.

The group included the project PI, Marco Fonseca - Master Gardener State Director, Rob Fowler - Honduras pilot DDDI project supporter, Jean Walter Fowler - CIIDS International Liaison, Alfredo Martinez – Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology, Kris Braman – Professor of Entomology, Lisa Ames, Homeowner Disease and Insect Diagnostician, James Morgan, Horticulture Agent, Julian Beckwith, retired CIIDS Project Manager, and Jennifer Gose, CIIDS Project Coordinator.  Two UGA - Griffin students joined the delegation.

During the visit, the delegation met the First Lady of Honduras.   International contacts were made with FHIA (Honduran Foundation for Agricultural Research), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Assistant to the First Lady of Honduras, and researchers from Standard Fruit of Honduras, DOLE. Meetings were held with representatives from USAID.

From left: Nick Evans, Clayton County; Ethan Craigue, Coffee County; Jerico Philips, Carol County; Dimple Bansal, Gwinnett County; and John Scott, Madison County.

On August 17th and 18th, a group of 4-H’ers from across the state came to the UGA campus for a weekend of intense training on global issues. While there, these youth discussed a broad range of global issues as well as the importance of understanding and respecting diverse cultures.

In addition to extensive training on global issues, participants learned how to collaborate with their county extension office, develop lesson plans, lead a group, and properly report their outreach activities.

Over the coming year, 4-H Ambassadors are required to participate in at least six learning experiences, organize at least eight educational sharing activities and submit monthly reports.

On June 12th a group of 16 leaders from 13 different African countries visited the Hoke Smith Building to learn about 4-H and Cooperative Extension. Sid Mullis, County Extension Agent from Richmond County, and Lauren Ledbetter and Jeff Buckley, State 4-H Staff members, talked to the group about the mission of the land grant university and how Cooperative Extension and 4-H help deliver knowledge and programs to the people of Georgia.

African visitors pose in front of the Hoke Smith building.

Dr. Luanne Lohr, Associate Professor, conducted a market strategy workshop for the Ganja Agribusiness Association (GABA) in Ganja, Azerbaijan from August 20 to August 29. Dr. Lohr facilitated development of an organic marketing plan for agricultural commodities and processed foods produced by the 400 members of the GABA. The workshop was attended by 25 staff and trainers for GABA and was supported by ACDI/VOCA

From left: Kerry Priest, Bridget Mixson, and Rachel McCall pointing out a Georgian delecacy.

SAUA WorkShop

Faculty members Dr. Ray Herren, Dr. Maria Navarro, Dr. Jason Peake, Dr. Brian Parr and Dr. Dennis Duncan in Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication (ALEC) Dr. David Knauft Professor of Horticulture, and Dr. Chris Morphew, Associate Professor, completed a series of workshops for faculty and administrators at the State Agrarian University of Armenia in Yerevan, Armenia in 2007 as part of a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Program for Agricultural Education in the State Agrarian University of Armenia. Partners included UGA and Texas A & M.

In June, Dr. Ignacy Misztal, Professor, taught a week long course on computing in animal breeding in Lelystadt, Netherlands. The participants were scientists and graduate students from Netherlands, Belgium, England, Denmark, Italy and
Sweden.

Dr. Misztal's class in Lelystadt.

Dr. Eial Ezak of Argentina and Dr. Nickerson at the entryway of the historic Aula of Ghen University.

Dr. Steve Nickerson, Head of Animal and Dairy Science, was a keynote speaker at the Heifer Mastitis Conference held at Aula Ghent University in Belgium June 24-26.  This congress was attended by over 230 animal scientists from 33 countries around the world, and focused on the factors involved in the management of intramammary infections in dairy heifers. Mastitis is a disease that significantly reduces milk production and quality, resulting in devastating losses to the dairy industry globally.  Dr. Nickerson gave an overview presentation titled “Heifer Mastitis: Antimicrobial Treatment”. Other presenters covered topics in genetics, reproduction, epidemiology, immunology, nutrition, and other management factors that affect or are influenced by this disease. 

To help these farmers help themselves, Sanon traveled from Africa to the University of Georgia to work with Gerrit Hoogenboom, a world-renowned expert in agrometeorology and crop modeling. "Burkina Faso is landlocked, and it's one of the poorest countries in the world," said  Hoogenboom, an agricultural engineer with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. "And 80 percent of the population there is engaged in subsistence agriculture."  Sanon is a researcher with the National Environmental and Agricultural Research Institute in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. He's using Hoogenboom's crop modeling software to develop planting options for Burkina Faso farmers.

Six-year-old Landry Sanon enjoys a dish of "to," a paste made from sorghum, millet or maize flour. Residents of Burkina Faso rely on these crops as sources of food for humans, not animals.

The CFAR-RANET workshop in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Drs. Carla Roncoli, assistant research scientist, and Gerrit Hoogenboom, professor, helped organize and attended a Stakeholder Workshop on Communication of Climate Information to Rural Communities in West Africa, held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on June 12 and 13, 2007.  The workshop was funded by USAID and NOAA and aimed to share the results of several years of research by the Climate Forecasting and Agricultural Resources (CFAR) project and to define lessons learned and future directions for research and application of climate information in the country and in the region.

Above: Costa Rican Insect zoo

Below: Insect Collecting

Above: Insect History Class and Costa Rican Children

Yao-Wen Huang (2nd from L), Chairman Ye (3rd from L), and Dean Wang (2nd from R).

Dr. Huang also traveled to Shanghai, China to give an invited presentation on "food safety and food defense" at the International Conference for Food Safety. He also conducted an Advanced HACCP Workshop for the Chinese food industry. While in China, Dr. Huang met with Dean Wang of Food Science College, President Pan and Chairman Yeh of Shanghai Fisheries University to discuss the joint instruction and research programs. He then visited the South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute in Guangzhou to work on seafood processing projects. On the return trip, Dr. Huang stopped in Taipei to give a presentation on food safety of functional foods, and to meet with DaYeh University President and faculty.

In July, Dr. Huang served as Co-organizer for the Third Global Chinese Health Food Symposium which was sponsored by the Chinese American Food Society, Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology, Taiwan Society of Health Food and Institute of Food Technologists (USA). Dr. Huang has recruited several speakers from both China and Taiwan for the event. This two-day Symposium was held in Chicago in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Institute of Food Technologists.

From August 20-24, Dr. Juan Carlos Diaz-Perez, Associate Professor, met with Dr. Francisco Mojarro and other researchers from Zacatecas, Mexico to initiate the discussions about possible collaborations of research and educational institutions from Zacatecas with the University of Georgia and the USDA in a project related to sustainable use of water of the Calera Aquifer in Zacatecas.  The participating institutions from Zacatecas included the Zacatecas Government, the INIFAP, Cotas-Calera and the Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas.

Title of the project is Strategic Project for the Sustainability of the Water of the Calera Aquifer.  The Calera Aquifer is the most important aquifer in Zacatecas.  About 290,000 people live in the area of influence of the aquifer.  Additionally, the aquifer supplies the water for the majority of the industries in the state.   The aquifer has been over-exploited for several years.  The main objective of the project is to evaluate technologies that contribute to increasing the sustainability of the Calera Aquifer.  The plan is that each of the collaborating institutions (such as, UGA) work in one or more of these eight areas.  It is not expected that all the eight areas will be covered by a single collaborating institution.

In May, Dr. Phil Brannen, Dr. Harald Scherm, and Dr. John Sherwood, members of the Plant Pathology Department, traveled with Dr. Joe Frank, Food Science Department, and Dr. David Lockwood, Horticulture Department, to review potential agricultural courses for the UGA Cortona, Italy site. University of Tennessee's Dr. Rick Johnson, Director of the Cortona facility, was their host.  Initially, collaborations were developed to plan an undergraduate course entitled Viticulture and Enology in the Mediterranean Region, which will be taught as a Maymester program.  Current plans are to offer the course yearly, with the first offering in May of 2008.  The course will concentrate on viticulture and enology practices which lead to excellent wine quality. 

Drs. Lockwood, Sherwood, Scherm, and Frank in Cortona, Italy.

From May 21- 23, Michael Czarick, Extension Engineer, attended the 10th Annual University of Georgia Tunnel Ventilation Workshop.  What started off as a workshop to educate the broiler industry in Georgia on designing summertime ventilation systems to keep birds cool during hot weather has grown into a national/international workshop. This year, participants came from 21 US states and 12 countries including: Canada, Brazil, Nicaragua, Israel, Barbados, Trinidad, Guyana, Lebanon, Scotland, Honduras, Pakistan, and Mexico. Participants included broiler and turkey growers, poultry company field representatives, poultry equipment representatives, nutritionists, veterinarians and primary breeders.  During the 2 ½ day seminar, attendees listened to lectures given by Extension specialists Michael Czarick, Brian Fairchild, and John Worley.  Gary VanWicklen, extension specialist at the University of Delaware, also spoke on the design and operation of tunnel-ventilated houses.

On September 1, 2007 Dr. Daouda Kone, a Fulbright Visiting Scholar, arrived at the University of Georgia, Coastal Plain Experiment Station in Tifton, Georgia.  Dr. Kone is from Cote d’Ivoire, a north African country, and will be studying with Drs. Alex Csinos, Greg Fonsah and Pingsheng Ji, in Tifton.  The project in Tifton will concentrate on a devastating pathogen of vegetables called Phytophthora capsici.  Dr. Kone will investigate rotational effects of Brassica crops on the biology and population dynamics of the pathogen.  Another phytopathological study will involve diseases of bananas at the Bamboo Research Farm located in Savannah, Georgia.  The project cooperators for this study are Dr's. Gerald Krewer, Richard Wallace and Greg Fonsah.

Dr. Daouda Kone in Tifton, Georgia.

From July 26-27, the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences hosted a delegation of Iranian Agricultural Scientists.  The visit was a part of a program through the USDA Graduate School titled ‘Sustainable Agriculture:  A Project for Iran’.  While on the Griffin campus, the delegation met with representatives from the Center for Urban Agriculture, FoodPIC, and the Center for Food Safety.  They also met with researchers to discuss small grain crops and remote weather sensing.  While in Athens, the delegation met with researchers to discuss topics such as biofuels, animal cloning, and visited a high-tech dairy.