News Stories - Page 2

Caroline Hinton wants to foster a love of learning for all students who walk through her door. As the director of experiential learning for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Hinton helps students connect with their fields of study outside of the classroom. “I find joy and excitement in getting to watch students experience different parts of agriculture and find a place in our state’s own agriculture industry,” she said.

The Congressional Agricultural Fellowship is a transformative program for students in the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, offering unique opportunities to engage with the legislative process and gain practical experience in agricultural policy. In partnership with the offices of U.S. representatives Sanford Bishop, Austin Scott, Buddy Carter and Raphael Warnock, CAES offers a prestigious 12-week summer fellowship program that provides selected students with firsthand exposure to the legislative process and the creation of agriculture policy. 

In most respects, May 6, 2022, was a typical school day for Amy Paulk Grist. Tift County High School buzzed with end-of-the-year activities. Tift County is the only high school serving Tifton, Georgia, a mostly rural community off I-75, just an hour north of the Florida border. A veteran economics teacher of more than a decade, Amy was wrapping up another successful year at the high school of nearly 2,300 students when her vision started to blur. Something wasn’t right.

You don’t expect it to be here. Not after passing subdivision after subdivision with names culled from the merging of random adjectives and natural objects: Longleaf, Brightwood, Hickory Hills. But travel far enough down Turner Church Road — a smidge north of the burgeoning Georgia town of McDonough — and the tree-lined spiderweb roads of housing developments open to vast farmland adorned with berry crops and little, red-roofed structures.

At the end of a 35-year career with the University of Georgia, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Associate Dean for Extension Laura Perry Johnson reflects on the journey that has taken her from her home on the farm to a lifetime of helping farmers. Johnson, affectionately known as “LPJ,” recently shared some of the lessons she has learned from a lifetime in agricultural education.

Kylee Jo Duberstein, the state equine specialist for University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and professor in the Department of Animal and Dairy Science, competed jumping horses at a national level for over 15 years before becoming an award-winning instructor. The UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences recently honored her with the D.W. Brooks Award for Excellence in Teaching for her exceptional work guiding students.