2024 UGA Global Food Security Forum
September 16, 2024
Dr. Soraya Leal-Bertioli, Namrata Maharjan, Ama Essandoh, and Milli Avosa attended the 2024 UGA Global Food Security Forum – hosted by the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences. Dr. Soraya presented an invited talk and Namrata presented a poster. This forum had delegates from 11 different countries and focused on extension outreach and building collaborations to better global food security.
1st place FFAR Fellow 2024 Lightning Talk Competition
July 30, 2024
Congratulations to Samuele Lamon who won the first place at the 2024 FFAR Fellow Lightning Talk Competition.
1st and 2nd oral presentation winners at 56th American Peanut Research and Education Society meeting
July 11, 2024
Congratulations to Emile Barnes (fist from left) and Alexi Dong (second from left) who won the first and second place respectively at the Joe Sugg Ph.D. oral presentation competition at the 56th American Peanut Research and Education Society meeting in Oklahoma City, OK.
Visit from MARS-Wriggley delegation
June 21, 2024
MARS-Wriggley delegation visited the UGA Wild Peanut Lab (Athens, GA)
3rd Place Graduate Student Paper at the 2024 Georgia Association of Plant Pathologists
May 29, 2024
Alexi Dong, a doctoral student in the Department of Plant Pathology, was awarded third place in the graduate student oral presentation competition at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Georgia Association of Plant Pathologists (GAPP)
2023 Plant Pathology Graduate Student Publication Award
May 29, 2024
Yun-Ching “Wendy” Tsai, a post-doc in the Department of Plant Pathology, was awarded the 2023 Graduate Student Publication of the year award 2024 Annual Meeting of the Georgia Association of Plant Pathologists (GAPP)
2024 Faculty Research Excellence Award
March 29, 2024
Soraya Leal-Bertioli, senior research scientist and PI of the UGA Wild Peanut Lab, has been selected for the 2024 Non-Tenure Track Faculty Research Excellence Award.
The Economist: Letters to the editor
March 21, 2024
David Bertioli, GRA/GSD Distinguished Investigator & PI at the UGA Wild Peanut Lab, corresponds with The Economist. Read full article here
2023-24 Peggy Ozias-Akins Leadership in Science Scholarship Award
January, 2024
Samuele Lamon, a doctoral student in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has been selected for the 2023-24 Peggy Ozias-Akins Leadership in Science Scholarship Award. Link
Wild about peanuts – using crop wild relatives to improve today’s crops
September 22, 2022
Some crop breeders at the University of Georgia Wild Peanut Lab released a new disease-resistant variety of peanut thanks to help from the crop wild relative. Read full article here
Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Peanut African Groundnut Breeders Workshop in Saly, Senegal
September 3-5, 2022
David Bertioli and Soraya Leal-Bertioli participated to Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Peanut Workshop. The Lab was established in 2018 thanks to the cooperation of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the University of Georgia.
UGA CAES News & Events – CAES student selected for FFAR Fellows program
August 25, 2022
Samuele Lamon, a doctoral student in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has been selected for the 2022-25 cohort of the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research Fellows program. Read full article here
UGA CAES News & Events – Peanut innovation projects under way in Uganda
July 3, 2019
Scientists, students and advisors working on Peanut Innovation Lab projects in Uganda met in late May for a launch meeting in Kampala to celebrate the start of work and share questions and insight about the direction of projects. Read full article here
UGA CAES News & Events – UGA peanut researchers win accolades for international impact
July 18, 2019
Peanut researchers from the University of Georgia met with hundreds of peanut scientist from around the world to discuss the international impact of peanut research and to recognize top researchers. Read full article here
UGA CAES Media NewswireBreeding – Powerful Traits into Peanut Varieties
July 3, 2019
Peanut’s oldest known relatives held some secret defenses in their genes when South American farmers first crossed the two wild species around 8,000 years ago to create the modern peanut. Read full article here
The NY Times – Grow Faster, Grow Stronger: Speed-Breeding Crops to Feed the Future
June 17, 2019
Plant breeders are fast-tracking genetic improvements in food crops to keep pace with global warming and a growing human population. Read full article here
USDA (ARS) – Peanut Genome Sequenced with Unprecedented Accuracy
May 1, 2019
Led by University of Georgia researcher David Bertioli, the effort is a continuation of the “International Peanut Genome Initiative” and involve scientists from four ARS laboratories and other partner organizations in the United States, Argentina, Brazil, China and India. Read full article here
Science Daily – Peanut Genome Sequenced with Unprecedented Accuracy
May 1, 2019
Scientists undertook this large project to better understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underpin the peanut plant’s growth and development, as well as the expression of desirable traits. Read full article here
Growing Georgia – UGA Researchers help to identify “the Mother of Peanut”
May 1, 2019
Researchers working as part of the International Peanut Genome Initiative have previously pinpointed one of the peanut’s two wild ancestors and shown that the peanut is a living legacy of some of the earliest human agricultural societies in South America. Read full article here
PHYS ORG – Peanut Genome Sequenced with Unprecedented Accuracy
May 1, 2019
Led by University of Georgia researcher David Bertioli, the effort is a continuation of the “International Peanut Genome Initiative” and involve scientists from four ARS laboratories and other partner organizations in the United States, Argentina, Brazil, China and India. Read full article here
UGA Today – UGA Researchers help identify “the Mother of Peanut”
May 1, 2019
Working to understand the genetics of peanut disease resistance and yield, researchers led by scientists at the University of Georgia have uncovered the peanut’s unlikely and complicated evolution. Read full article here
Seed Today – University of Georgia crop geneticists receive grants to aid in production
Aug 16, 2018
The USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded University of Georgia (UGA), Athens, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) plant breeders almost $1 million in grants this fiscal year to produce improved cotton and peanut varieties. These plant breeders have been tapped to make Georgia’s most profitable row crops more sustainable and productive. Read full article here
UGA Awarded $935K to Breed Softer Cotton, More Resilient Peanuts
Jul 24, 2018
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) plant breeders almost $1 million in grants this fiscal year to produce improved cotton and peanut varieties. Read full article here
The Red & Black
Feb 18, 2018
Scientist of the week: Soraya Bertioli’s peanut research leads to lower production cost, less insecticides. Read full article here
UGA Today – Peanut genetic expert joins CAES as first Distinguished Investigator
Jul 17, 2017
David Bertioli, a world-class expert in the genetics and genomics of peanut species, will join the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences as a professor and the university’s first Georgia Research Alliance Distinguished Investigator. Read full article here
Georgia Research Alliance
Jun 1, 2017
MEDIA NEWSWIRE – Partnership between UGA and Georgia Research Alliance brings new peanut genetics expert to Georgia. Read full article here
Nature – Decoding the ancestors of peanut
Apr 5, 2016
Cultivated peanut has a large, complex genome, so obtaining its entire sequence is challenging. Denovo assemblies of two diploid ancestor genomes provide high-quality reference sequences for decoding allotetraploid peanut genomes, and will become valuable resources for breeding and evolutionary studies. Read full article here
Genes of Ancestral Peanuts May Help Feed the World
Mar 28, 2016
Researchers have sequenced the genome of peanuts and its ancient cousins, which could lead to disease and drought-resistant varieties. Read full article here
Scientists use peanut ancestors to sequence the legume’s genome
Mar 23, 2016
By analyzing the DNA of two wild ancestor species of the modern peanut, scientists have been able to chart the popular legume’s genetic history and to help improve its yield and nutrition in the future. Read full article here
Researchers trace peanut crop back to its Bolivian roots
Feb 22, 2016
Athens, Ga. – Researchers at the University of Georgia, working with the International Peanut Genome Initiative, have discovered that a wild plant from Bolivia is a “living relic” of the prehistoric origins of the cultivated peanut species. Read full article here
Daily Mail – Tracing the birthplace of the peanut
Feb 22, 2016
“Living relic” plant reveals the popular snack originated in ancient Bolivia. Read full article here
Peanut genome is sequenced
Feb 22, 2016
Mapping was done with two ancestral species; information can help in the search for more resistant varieties. Read full article here (portuguese)
Utilization of wild species for broadening the genetic diversity of peanut
Feb 9, 2016
Plant Breeding and Genetics Seminar. Cornell University. February 9, 2016. Watch video here
The peanut genome – making a better peanut
Jul 8, 2014
A group of scientists representing nine countries have sequenced the peanut genome. What does that mean for peanut producers. Read full article here
AOCS – Peanut Genome Sequenced
Jun, 2014
The International Peanut Genome Initiative (IPGI) – a multinational group of crop geneticists who have been working with The Peanut Foundation – announced on April 2, 2014, that they have successfully sequenced the peanut (groundnut) genome. Read full article here