UGA Ag & Applied Econ

UGA Ag & Applied Econ AAE offers four undergrad majors: Ag Applied Econ, Agribusiness, Env Econ Mgmt and Hospitality Mgmt
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06/02/2026
05/15/2026

๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ ๐—”๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ด๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜‡๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜โ€™๐˜€ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฒ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜†!

Thanks to the generous support of our alumni and industry partners, we celebrated the accomplishments of 39 outstanding students across all four of our majors. These recipients exemplify academic excellence, leadership, and a commitment to serviceโ€”core values of our department and the land-grant mission. We are proud of their achievements and grateful to the donors who make this recognition possible.

In addition, Conner Connects recognized students who have demonstrated exceptional scholastic achievement. Please join us in congratulating our outstanding juniors and seniors:

โ€ข ๐—”๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€: Katie McNeese and Analyn Ingram
โ€ข ๐—”๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—น๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—”๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—˜๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜€: Lucy Ray and Anna Clifton
โ€ข ๐—˜๐—ป๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—˜๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜: Henry Bush and Haden Drake
โ€ข ๐—›๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—™๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜: Maverick Garcia and Jay Lavender

Among our phenomenal graduate students pursuing advanced degrees, we also congratulate this yearโ€™s award recipients:

โ€ข ๐—Ÿ๐˜†๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐— ๐—ฐ๐—ž๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜† (Master of Agribusiness)
โ€ข ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ธ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ท๐˜‚๐—น๐—ถ (Master of Science)
โ€ข ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ ๐—ž๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ (Ph.D.)

Congratulations to all our award winnersโ€”we are proud of you and look forward to all that lies ahead!

05/02/2026

Each semester, one of the most rewarding parts of our work in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Georgia is celebrating our graduate students as they complete and defend their final research projects.

Please join me in congratulating the following students on successfully defending their technical papers (MAB), theses (MS), and dissertations (PhD):

๐—”๐˜€๐—ต๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—š๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ผ, MAB Candidate
๐˜‹๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜š๐˜ˆ๐˜™๐˜Œ ๐˜๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ ๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜š๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ด: ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜™๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ˆ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜š๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ

๐—ฅ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฎ ๐—›๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป, MS Candidate
๐˜Œ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ž๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜—๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜‰๐˜ช๐˜ฐ-๐˜๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜—๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฌ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ: ๐˜—๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜‹๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ

๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฒ, Doctoral Candidate
๐˜๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜Œ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ด: ๐˜Œ๐˜น๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜Š๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜›๐˜ข๐˜น ๐˜Š๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ต, ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐˜‹๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜‹๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ด

๐—›๐—ฎ๐—ฒ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ข๐—ต, Doctoral Candidate
๐˜Œ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜—๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜บ ๐˜๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜Œ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜‰๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ: ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ, ๐˜ž๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ

๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ธ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ท๐˜‚๐—น๐—ถ, MS Candidate
๐˜Œ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜™๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฌ ๐˜๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜Š๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜Ž๐˜ฆ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ข ๐˜™๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜Š๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ ๐˜š๐˜บ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ด

๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ต ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ, MAB Candidate
๐˜๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜•๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜š๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ-๐˜‰๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ˆ๐˜Œ๐˜ž๐˜™ ๐˜š๐˜บ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜—๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ข ๐˜–๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜—๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ

๐—ก๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฎ ๐—ง๐—ฎ๐—ต๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป, MS Candidate
๐˜Œ๐˜ง๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜š๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜Š๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜š๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ: ๐˜›๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜œ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜Œ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜™๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜Œ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ข

๐—ง๐˜†๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ช๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป, MAB Candidate
๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜—๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜Ž๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜‰๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜—๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜“๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜Œ๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต

These projects reflect the breadth of applied economic research in our department, from health and labor markets to agricultural production, policy, and environmental sustainability. Congratulations to each of you on reaching this milestone, and best wishes as you take the next step in your careers.

The ๐Ÿฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐— ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป in the UGA Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics challenged gr...
04/22/2026

The ๐Ÿฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐— ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป in the UGA Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics challenged graduate students to present their research in just three minutes using a single slide. It is a simple format, but not an easy one.

This yearโ€™s competition highlighted the strength and relevance of our graduate research. Students tackled complex questions across agriculture, policy, and environmental systems, and translated them into clear, engaging presentations for a broad audience.

The ability to communicate research beyond academic settings is critical. Our students demonstrated not only strong analytical work, but also the ability to connect that work to real-world decisions.

Congratulations to all of our participants, and especially to this yearโ€™s award winners:

๐——๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฆ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป
1st Place: Susmitha kalli
2nd Place: Kealey Collison

๐— ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟโ€™๐˜€ ๐—ฆ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป
1st Place: Katie Harper
2nd Place: Shiksh*t Parajuli

We also recognize the strong presentations from our additional participants: Aadesh Subedi, Kuhelika Ghosh, Ryan D'Aurelio, Saurabh Sharma, and Xinyu Zeng.

Thank you to our judges - Aaron Hrozencik, Ellen McCullough, and Lusi Xie - and to our faculty for supporting this event and continuing to build a strong culture of graduate research and communication.

Agricultural economics is about more than markets. It is about understanding how people make decisions and how those dec...
04/01/2026

Agricultural economics is about more than markets. It is about understanding how people make decisions and how those decisions shape livelihoods around the world.

A new feature from the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences highlights the work of ๐—˜๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐— ๐—ฐ๐—–๐˜‚๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต and how applied economics can be used to address global challenges in agriculture and development.

McCulloughโ€™s research spans food systems transformation, agricultural productivity, and household decision-making in low income countries. From collaborating with the Ethiopian government on soil and profitability models to developing innovative methods for measuring how women allocate their time, she brings new insight into labor, productivity, and economic opportunity.

๐—ข๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ, ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น-๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฎ. Her research shows that traditional survey methods can misrepresent how households allocate time, particularly for unpaid labor. Improved measurement leads to better policy design and more effective development programs.

The feature, written by Maria Lameiras with photography by Katie Walker, does an excellent job highlighting both the innovation in McCullough's research and its real-world implications.

Read more on the ๐—–๐—”๐—˜๐—ฆ ๐—™๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜:

From studying food systems at Stanford to advising the United Nations, Ellen McCullough uses data-driven research to understand how agricultural policy, labor and household decision-making affect livelihoods worldwide, especially for women in developing countries.

Congratulations, Yangxuan, on this well-deserved recognition!
10/31/2025

Congratulations, Yangxuan, on this well-deserved recognition!

๐ŸŒŸ Congratulations are in order for Associate Professor and UGA Extension economist Yangxuan Liu!

Associate Professor Liu has been honored with the 2025 AAEA Distinguished Extension/Outreach Program Award for professionals with less than 10 years of experience from Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) for professional excellence in Extension and outreach.

โžก๏ธ Read more here: https://ugacaes.org/4hqDlJq
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UGA Ag & Applied Econ

This summer, ๐—๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ต๐˜‚๐—ฎ ๐—˜๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐—น, a graduate student in our ๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—”๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—น๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—”๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—˜๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜€, gained invalua...
10/09/2025

This summer, ๐—๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ต๐˜‚๐—ฎ ๐—˜๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐—น, a graduate student in our ๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—”๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—น๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—”๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—˜๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜€, gained invaluable hands-on experience as an Agricultural & Natural Resources intern with UGA Extension in Dougherty County.

Working alongside County ANR Agent ๐—ฉ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ ๐—•๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜ (๐— ๐—”๐—•, ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฏ), Joshua contributed to applied agricultural research and delivered timely Extension programs to local growers, gardeners, and youth. His work spanned laying out pecan fungicide and cotton varietal trials, assisting with drone and precision agriculture workshops, calibrating sprayers with farmers, and engaging in 4-H and Master Gardener programs.

We are proud of Joshuaโ€™s initiative and professionalism throughout his internship. Experiences like this embody UGA Extensionโ€™s philosophy of โ€œlearning by doingโ€ and prepare the next generation of agricultural leaders.

Read more about Joshuaโ€™s summer internship here:

My summer internship with the UGA Extension has been a very exciting experience for me that combined applied agricultural research with dissemination of the timely crop and garden management recommendations to the local growers and gardeners. As a Agricultural & Natural Resources (ANR) summer intern...

In south Georgia, agriculture is more than an industry. It is a way of life passed down through generations. The UGA Col...
09/12/2025

In south Georgia, agriculture is more than an industry. It is a way of life passed down through generations. The UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UGA-Tifton has long supported that legacy by offering students from rural communities a top-tier education close to home.

Few families embody this better than the Hancocks. ๐—š๐˜‚๐˜† ๐—›๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ธ, now an agricultural data scientist and Extension specialist in the ๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—”๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—น๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—”๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—˜๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜€, first came to UGA through the Young Scholars Internship Program. His path was shaped by mentors at UGA-Tifton and by experiences in federal agricultural policy as a Congressional Agricultural Fellow.

His brother Ben Hancock also began as a Young Scholar, mentored by ๐——๐—ฟ. ๐—˜๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ด๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ด ๐—™๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ต, professor of agricultural and applied economics. That mentorship set him on a journey that ultimately led to law school and his current career as an attorney in Tifton.

The Hancock brothersโ€™ stories reflect how UGA-Tifton opens doors to diverse opportunities, from agricultural research and Extension to law and agribusiness, while keeping students rooted in the communities they serve.

Read the full story here:

At UGA-Tifton, students build agricultural careers in rural Georgia

Cut flowers are no longer reserved for special occasions. They are now part of everyday life, from the grocery aisle to ...
09/11/2025

Cut flowers are no longer reserved for special occasions. They are now part of everyday life, from the grocery aisle to the gas station. New research from the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, led by agricultural economist ๐—•๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—–๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น and horticulturist ๐—๐˜‚๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น, explores how and why Americans buy flowers.

A nationally representative study of 8,500 consumers identified ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฏ ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€, ranging from Valentineโ€™s Day traditionalists to everyday self-purchasers. Beyond spending habits, the research shows that flowers offer clear emotional benefits, boosting mood, reducing stress, and improving morale.

The story, written by ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜€ with photography by ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐— ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฆ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต, provides valuable insights for growers, retailers, and marketers on how to connect with customers and expand opportunities in the U.S. floral industry.

Read more on the ๐—–๐—”๐—˜๐—ฆ ๐—™๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜:

University of Georgia researchers found that Americans are buying flowers more often in everyday places like grocery and convenience stores, with distinct consumer groups and emotional benefits shaping a growing market for both imported roses and locally grown seasonal blooms.

08/25/2025

Representing the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at UGA, 15 of our graduate students attended the 2025 Agricultural and Applied Economics Association annual meetings in Denver, Colorado.

They showcased their research, competed in the Extension case study competition, built new professional connections, and, of course, had some fun along the way.

Please join us in congratulating ๐— ๐—ฑ ๐—”๐—น ๐—”๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป, ๐—ก๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ ๐—•๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—ป, ๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฎ ๐—–๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜†, ๐—ฌ๐˜‚๐—ป ๐—™๐—ฎ๐—ป, ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ ๐—š๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐˜๐—ฎ, ๐—๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ด๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—๐—ผ, ๐—›๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ, ๐—›๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ก๐—ฎ๐—บ, ๐—›๐—ฎ๐—ฒ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ข๐—ต, ๐——๐—ถ๐—ธ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ฃ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—น, ๐—•๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฅ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป, ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ, ๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐˜†๐—ฎ๐—บ ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ, ๐—ฌ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ช๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ด, and ๐—ซ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜†๐˜‚ ๐—ญ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ด for representing UGA AAEC with excellence and sharing their innovative research!

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