Winner Profiles

Senior Research Scientist – Dr. Timothy Grey

Dr. Grey directs the UGA weed science research program at the Tifton Campus. This program coordinates multiple research projects in weed science and is considered one of the foremost programs in the world. This program has focused on herbicide use and dissipation in vegetables and row crops, herbicide resistant weeds, agronomic and alternative crop production systems, as well as fruit and nut production. Weed science is diverse, encompassing herbicide chemistry, plant physiology, weed shifts and weed resistance. Dr. Grey conducts research in these areas in collaboration with UGA, USDA/ARS, other university’s scientists, graduate students, research technicians and staff, as well as state clientele, and industry representatives. Georgia is one of the leading agronomic producers in the United States with numerous crops. Row and vegetable crop production are often planted in rotation due to Georgia’s temperate climates and diverse topography. Thus, integration of crops in rotations is essential for production. Herbicides are a key component of crop success, but can also be detrimental if proper stewardship is not followed. Given the diversity of crops produced and the multitude of herbicide products available, Dr. Grey has conducted research that has provided information so that growers can adapt knowledge about what they are using for weed control that will help them have successful production.

Dr. Grey’s current research focuses on research that integrates weed management in peanut, cotton, small grains, vegetables, pecan, blueberry, and specialty crops grown in the southeastern coastal plain, herbicide chemistry and activity with respect to soils, the use of plastic mulches, and repeated pesticide applications over time. That work will continue to help determine the best production practices that correspond to the dissipation of each pesticide for Georgia and Florida producers in various cropping systems. Dr. Grey has previously published validated methods used in quantifying herbicide wash-off from plastic mulch in vegetable production. Additionally, Dr. Grey has published previous research evaluating peanut seed vigor using the thermal gradient table, which is still used to develop the current methods for experiments using the tables. Dr. Grey is one of the only scientists and leading researcher in radioactive herbicide labeling (C14), conducting and publishing numerous research trials in this area. Dr. Grey’s research continues to be a pillar in weed science research for growers in Georgia, the Coastal Plain region, and all over the United States.

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Senior Extension Scientist – Dr. Claudia Dunkley

Dr. Dunkley has served as extension poultry scientist at the University of Georgia for 14 years. Her program has focused on sustainable poultry methods and has been well recognized by major players in the industry for her contributions to poultry production technology, particularly as it relates to conditions in south Georgia. Her state, national and international recognition are the result of the strong program that she has developed.

Dr. Dunkley plans meeting across the state for poultry industry in the south eastern US. She is the coordinator of the Deep South Poultry Conference which is held annually in Tifton, GA. This meeting draws attendees from the middle to southern Georgia, and from neighboring state, Florida, Alabama and the Carolinas. She collaborates with the industry partners, Claxton Farms, Sanderson Farms, Perdue Farms, Tyson, Equity, International Poultry Breeders and Pilgrims Farms to put on a stellar meeting each year. Since 2015, she has received approximately $50,000 in sponsorship funding from about 22 state, national and international sponsors in addition to revenue obtained from registration. Dr. Dunkley is also the Co-coordinator of the Georgia Layer conference, which is held annually for the commercial layer producers in the state and neighboring states. As a part of the extension committee in the Poultry Science department, Dr. Dunkley has been involved in the planning of the Georgia International Poultry Short Course. The course is an intensive 4-day workshop held in Athens, Georgia. As a part of the planning committee. The attendees participate in. This program has an international impact as attendees have come from up to twenty-five different countries.

Because of the work that Dr. Dunkley has been conducting in relation to greenhouse gas emissions from poultry production houses, she has been called upon to by national and international companies to offer insights/ advice or conduct greenhouse gas emission evaluation of company operations. In response to customer demands for a more environmentally and welfare friendly production of meat birds, a national poultry company PECO was one such company that was evaluating their company’s response to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As the world moves away from the conventional caged housing systems to non-caged systems, Dr. Dunkley has dedicated time serving this segment of the industry, working/consulting with producers in these alternative systems and also with producers who are still currently use cages. She has consulted with commercial producers in the state as they convert from caged systems to more welfare friendly aviary systems. She was invited to Jamaica to conduct consultation workshops with producers from the Jamaica Layer Association.

Dr. Dunkley continues to fill the gap, meeting the need of educating the small flock producers and being a source for the organic and pastured flock producers. Small and backyard flock production, pastured poultry and organic poultry production are areas that continues to grow rapidly in Georgia and around the United States. As a result, Dr. Dunkley is actively engaged in finding solutions for these producers especially in areas of biosecurity and flock management and welfare. She has consulted with pastured poultry producers, to find solutions to reduce bird loss through ground and aerial predators. She has responded to the needs of backyard flock owners not only from the state of Georgia but also from other states and internationally. Dr. Dunkley has worked with other members of the Poultry Science Department, to present educational programs on backyard flock production to county agents at the biennial Extension Winter School and more recently on Webinars. She has given a number of backyard/small flock presentations to attendees at the annual Sunbelt Expo held in Moultrie, Georgia, where she coordinates the Poultry Program each year.

Dr. Dunkley has authored or co-authored one hundred and twenty-five publications including peer reviewed journal articles, peer-reviewed extension bulletins, book chapters, newsletters, popular press articles, abstracts, technical reports and web-based documents/programs. Dr. Dunkley has published articles and technical reports about greenhouse gas emissions from poultry production farms. She manages web page that she manages on the University of Georgia Department of Poultry Science website, “Poultry House Emissions”, where the Poultry Carbon Footprint Calculation Tool can be accessed by producers who wants to calculate their farm’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Our youth programing in extension is geared towards nurturing the young students in their interest in agriculture. Dr. Dunkley continues to contribute in youth programing. Each year she, along with her extension colleagues are engaged in the 4-H and FFA Poultry Judging competitions around the state. She is also involved in the National 4-H Poultry and Egg Symposium, where she chairs the Commercial Egg. Annually, Dr. Dunkley participates in the “First Grade Field Day”, a program put on by the department of Animal and Dairy Science. This effort ensures that first grade children are made aware of the origin of their food and in this case, chicken. Another major part of Dr. Dunkley’s youth program is her involvement in the “Young Scholar Program”. This program is focused on exposing high school student to agricultural research and she has mentored 13 students, in conducting scientific research related to poultry production. Over her years of service, Dr. Dunkley have contacted thousands of students and continue to contribute in this way.

Dr. Dunkley has no research assignment; however, she conducts and collaborates with other scientists in applied research studies to meet the needs of the poultry producers and thereby growing her extension program. She has received $1,139,222 in funding since her appointment. Highlighted here are two of the significant research areas in which she has made an indelible mark. Her work with environmental issues relating to the poultry industry has led Dr. Dunkley to be one of the first poultry scientists to evaluate and estimate the carbon footprint of poultry farms at the farm gate. As an extension specialist, she recognized that in order for the industry to reduce their foot-print, the producer had to be involved in the effort. She recognized that the farmers could only control what occurred on their farm. Hence, she designed a tool that would be used to calculate the emissions at the farm and included mitigatory actions that could reduce these emissions. Her efforts in the area of climate change have generated funding to conduct these studies including a grant to develop a calculation tool specifically for the poultry producer. The “Poultry Carbon Footprint Calculation Tool” was developed to be used to estimate the carbon footprint of individual poultry farms. The tool is available to poultry producers anywhere in the world. The tool can also be used as a model for other livestock production farms. Dr. Dunkley’s work in carbon footprint has resulted in about 26 of speaking invitations; including one to address attendees at the South Eastern Climate Change Consortium meeting in, the Southern Regional Extension Climate Academy annual conference. She was also invited by the Colombian Poultry Federation to speak about reducing and monitoring the carbon footprint from poultry production. She was also invited to speak at the Sustainable Animal Agriculture Summit held at the International Poultry and Processing Exposition, held annually in Atlanta, Georgia. More recently, Dr. Dunkley was invited to present her tool at a national meeting where a number of other climate tool developers from different areas of agriculture were also invited. She was also on a panel of speakers at this meeting, who answered direct questions regarding the PCFCT.

She serves as an associate editor for the Poultry Science Journal, food safety section and also for the Journal of Agriculture Food and Analytical Bacteriology. She has served as manuscript reviewer for a number of national and international professional journals. Due to her area of expertise, Dr. Dunkley has served ten times as a reviewer on USDA competitive grant proposal panels. She has reviewed about 140 grant proposals on ten panels for USDA grants and one for the Livestock Research Innovation Corporation in Canada. Dr. Dunkley is a committee member of the National Extension Committee, National Poultry Waste Management Committee, Animal Welfare Committee, Extension and Instruction Committee and Environmental Committee. As a committee member, she assists with the program planning for the sessions at the annual Poultry Science Association meetings.

She serves on the US Poultry and Egg Association Poultry Sustainability Committee. Her role on this committee is to serve the academic NGO. She advises the committee on issues of poultry sustainability from the academic standpoint. Dr. Dunkley also serves on the US Poultry and Egg Association Live Production and Welfare planning committee. Her role on this committee is to help with the planning the program of the general session and the commercial egg session for the Live Production and Welfare annual symposium. Dr. Dunkley also serves on the US Poultry and Egg Association Environmental Management symposium. Her role on this committee is to help with the planning the program of the general session and the live production session for the Environmental Management annual symposium.

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Junior Research Scientist – Dr. Emran Ali

Dr. Ali has a 75% research appointment. Dr. Ali works collaboratively with many scientists both at UGA and at other institutions on various research projects. Dr. Ali’s research program performs state of the art research with cost-efficient modern disease diagnostic methods across a range of crops. He develops advanced fungicide resistance testing and in vitro sensitivity analysis for understanding the molecular mechanisms of fungicide resistance. He also implements statewide major plant disease surveys to detect and quantify disease risks while also providing a molecular characterization of newly reported plant pathogens. Dr. Ali’s research is practical and usually has an immediate implication from the perspective of being able to take the results of his research to the growers to take appropriate disease management strategies for controlling their crops immediately. This is a critical need for crop production and Dr. Ali strives to conduct research and develop new disease testing methods that will have a positive impact on Georgia producers.

Dr. Ali is highly motivated and productive in his applied research program. To date, he has published more than 45 manuscripts from previous and current positions at internationally reputed peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Ali’s collaboration with other scientists has led to him being involved with such a high number of peer-reviewed publications. During his time at UGA, Dr. Ali has been involved in more than ten extension publications via local newspapers, extension bulletins, leaflets, and blogs. In addition to factsheets, Dr. Ali has been involved in some digital media development, including a website for MDL located on the UGA portal focused on MDL services for the grower's needs in Georgia.

Dr. Ali has been involved in many proposals and funded grants since his appointment at UGA. He has secured about 1 million in external funding by targeting federal, state, and various commodity groups in Georgia. Dr. Ali has been involved with three large GDA block grant projects, which were funded $110,000 for citrus greening disease, $95,000 on dollar spot disease on turfgrass, and 100,000 for Fusarium wilt of watermelon. In 2019, Dr. Ali has also secured a USDA-Southern IPM grants for cucurbit leaf crumple virus and laurel wilt pathogen of fruits. Dr. Ali had collaborated and been involved in various grants funded by nationally and internationally. Dr. Ali has been either a PI or Co-PI on 30 total funded proposals since he began at UGA. Currently, he is actively involving several projects funded by the USDA-NIFA, GDA-SCBG, southern SARE, and commodity groups. Thus, Dr. Ali has been very successful at securing extramural funding for his program and has shown his willingness to lead proposals, and also to collaborate with other professionals as a Co-PI or collaborator.

In 2020, Dr. Ali has received the outstanding speaker award, organized by International Conference on Plant Pathology. In 2021, his MS student Owen Hudson has own 2nd place at the Southern Division APS annual meeting on graduate research competition. Dr. Ali also received the best presenter award (Oral) at International Virus Conference in Hiroshima, Japan. He has also received best several travel awards for joining different national and international conferences.

Dr. Ali does not have an official teaching appointment but understands fully the importance of teaching and education. He currently serves as the major advisor for two Ph.D., four M.S. students, co-advisor for one Ph.D. student, and is a member of the graduate advisory committee for two Ph.D. students. Currently, Dr. Ali is also teaching as a guest lecturer at PATH 3530 Introduction to Plant Pathology at University of Georgia in every spring taught by Drs. Tim Brenneman and Albert Culbreath.. Besides UGA, he is also teaching as a guest lecturer in other universities such as I. Tennessee State University (Every Summer) AGSC 5350 on plant diseases and plant disease diagnosis taught by Dr. Fulya Baysal-Gurel; II. The University of Hawaii at Manoa (Every Fall) PEPS/MBBE 627 on Molecular Diagnostics: Principles and Practices taught by Dr. Mohammad Arif. His teaching vision of improving upon the past includes empowering minds, young and old, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Overall Dr. Ali showed a commitment to his research efforts in the last three and half years at the UGA Tifton campus. Among his achievements are 40 papers published as well as 15 presentations. He also has played a role in securing several grants and external funding opportunities, totaling nearly $1000,000.

Dr. Ali has a 25% extension appointment. Despite his lower percentage of extension appointments, he engages in a range of extension activities as an extension specialist including advanced disease diagnosis service, fungicide resistant testing, and the development of novel diagnostic tools for onsite disease detection. He provides support to extension & research personnel, commercial growers & homeowners, and the Georgia Department of Agriculture for a wide range of plant species affected by bacteria, fungi, viruses, or nematodes.

Dr. Ali provides an early and quick diagnosis of crop diseases, which allows growers to implement control measures such as timely and appropriate chemical applications to reduce losses. During the last 3 years, over 1000 samples/per year were diagnosed at the MDL via advanced molecular and serological methods (PCR, RT-PCR, qPCR, LAMP, ELISA, etc.). In addition to molecular disease diagnostic support, Dr. Ali also provides fungicide resistance testing for all common fungicides against various pathogens. This service is crucial to guide growers in the use of effective fungicides to reduce losses caused by plant diseases. So far, his laboratory has tested about 500 samples/ year of various crop pathogens to different fungicide classes including DMIs, QoIs, and SDHIs, which are outstanding numbers. All of his testing services will increase the efficiency and accuracy of the current available pathogen diagnostic methods and fungicide resistance screening, which facilitates the development of more effective strategies for sustainable crop production.

Dr. Ali is very involved in the training of UGA Extension Agents. Last year, Dr. Ali organized and participated in a total of fourteen extension agent training events to educate county agents and growers about modern disease detection techniques. Dr. Ali has been frequently communicating with many county extension agents via phone or face-to face or contact on various plant disease issues. This is critical for the extension educator that he is available and provides relevant information as many as possible each year. Dr. Ali has participated and provided information in one form or another in a large number of international, national, regional, state, and local conferences, field days, training, and meetings due to his willingness to convey the current research and extension efforts and progress focused in advanced disease diagnosis information. Dr. Ali has also given invited presentations at various scientific conferences at the state (local grower meetings and field days), regional, national, and international levels. During his three and half years here at UGA, Dr. Ali has reached well over an estimated 10,000 people through the events that he has been invited to speak at the outside of his normal responsibility.

Dr. Ali is an active member of the American Phytopathological Society (APS), the National Clean Plant Network (NCPN), the Georgia Association of Plant Pathologists (GAPP), APS Plant-Pathogen & Disease Detection and Diagnostic committees, and the Bugwood Network. These activities should further his national name recognition in the area of advanced diagnostics. To further serve his professional field, he is currently serving as an academic editor of three internationally reputed journals: Plos One, Plants, and Frontiers in Microbiology. He has formally reviewed about 30 journal articles for Plos One, Plant Disease, Phytopathology, Plant Health Progress, and Plant Disease Management Reports. Dr. Ali is very active professionally and involved at many levels both locally and nationally.

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Junior Extension Scientist – Dr. Abolfazl Hajihassani

Dr. Hajihassani began his appointment as an assistant professor in the Department of Plant Pathology on 1 July 2017 with a 12-month 60% Extension and 40% research appointment. Dr. Hajihassani’s research and extension program focuses on identification, biology and management of plant-parasitic nematodes in vegetable crops. He develops and delivers research-based materials to growers and professionals in the vegetable industry to support state-wide extension programs. In addition to training and equipping extension agents to disseminate vital research-based information and assist with applied research, Dr. Hajihassani conducts laboratory, greenhouses, and field experiments that provide new findings that are shared regularly with stakeholders. Dr. Hajihassani has been named to the class of 2021 Fruit + Vegetable 40 Under 40 Award winners. This honor is reserved exclusively for outstanding young professionals in the nation’s fruit and vegetable industry who demonstrate excellent commitments to making their marks through innovation and leadership.

Dr. Hajihassani has produced a strong and relevant Extension publication record since joining UGA. He has authored or co-authored 7 numbered extension bulletins or circulars and published 16 Plant Disease Management Reports (PDMR), one-page refereed publications that report the results of applied field efficacy trials in support of Extension recommendations. He also contributes annually to the Georgia Pest Management Handbook, the Southeastern U.S. Vegetable Crop Handbook and has successfully utilized social media in his Extension program (contributions to the UGA Vegetable Blog and @UGANema Twitter handle). Dr. Hajihassani has delivered information on nematode identification and management through publishing articles in multiple grower-oriented trade journals. These publications have been recognized as having a significant impact on vegetable production in Georgia. Some of Dr. Hajihassani’s extension publications include county extension agents as coauthors. This has documented the closer involvement of Dr. Hajihassani with the county delivery system and support the role of the agents in applied research and nematode survey programs. It also will be necessary for county agents to document their efforts professionally.

Dr. Hajihassani conducted the first extensive survey of plant-parasitic nematodes in Georgia vegetable crops in over 25 years. In this project, he has closely worked with more than 25 county extension agents and have secured assistance from numerous vegetable growers. The results of this project were shared with vegetable growers through several presentations made at the county grower meetings in the last three years. The information helped growers in what management measures to take to lessen nematode damage. Based on these data, several fields with high nematode pressure selected for potential on-farm trials with the assistance of the extension agents. In collaboration with county Extension agents, Dr. Hajihassani has completed five on-farm trials on nematode management in different vegetable crops using cover crops and nematicides. He also has included county agents in his research and extension publications. In collaboration with extension specialists (Dr. Bhabesh Dutta and Tim Coolong) and agents, Dr. Hajihassani is currently conducting four on-farm trials in different counties to manage root-knot nematodes and Fusraium wilt of watermelon. Such collaborations strengthened Dr. Hajihassani’s role in the county delivery system and aided agents in their professional development.

Dr. Hajihassani’s extension program in vegetables does not cease at the state’s boundary as he contributes to national and/ or international extension and outreach activities. Dr. Hajihassani has coordinated the first of an annual webinar series on nematode management in vegetables that included participants from the USA and 26 other countries. On average, Dr. Hajihassani conducts more than 30 county visits per year as requested by county agents and vegetable growers. These visits are mainly related to the identification of nematode problems and providing short-, mid- and long-term recommendations on nematode management, resulting in direct economic benefit to vegetable producers across the state. On average Dr. Hajihassani receives >400 phone calls and E-mails related to nematode diseases on vegetables in Georgia. In addition, he provides control recommendations on >200 root and soil samples per year submitted through the UGA Nematode Diagnostic Lab, disease diagnostic, county agents, and on-farm visits. Every year, Dr. Hajihassani performs 5-7 field trials to evaluate the efficacy of old, newly-introduced or non-labeled formulations of nematicides which are of great importance for effective management of nematodes in vegetable production systems in Georgia and the Southeast. Dr. Hajihassani communicates the results from these experiments with growers, extension agents, and industry through extension and outreach activities. He also uses the information to prepare referred extension publications and update the technical publications such as the Georgia Pest Management Handbook annually.

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Teaching Award – Dr. Barry Croom

Dr. Barry Croom has more than thirty years of experience in agricultural and extension education. He has served as a high school agriculture teacher, teacher educator, extension associate, state education staff member, professor, department head in agricultural education and agricultural sciences, and interim department head in agricultural leadership, education, and communication. Croom has taught courses in leadership, information technology, experiential learning, global agriculture, instructional methodology, educational program planning, and youth development. He has taught more than 30 different courses at the graduate and undergraduate level. Croom maintains a research program that focuses on effective teaching, career and technical education policy, and diversity in agricultural and extension education. He is the author of two textbooks, 46 peer-reviewed publications, and more than 20 popular publications.

During his tenure at the University of Georgia, Dr. Croom has provided leadership for the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, & Communication on the Tifton Campus. He teaches courses in Agricultural Education and directs curriculum development and research efforts of the STEM Integration and Research Development Laboratory while also providing direction for undergraduate and graduate programs in the department. He divides his time between teaching courses on the Athens and Tifton Campuses and served as Interim Department Head of the ALEC Department for the past year. His leadership has provided resources for ALEC on the Tifton Campus totaling more than $100,000 in equipment and supplies to enhance educational opportunities for future teachers and agricultural education programs across Georgia. Additionally, he has worked to help create clear pathways to the University of Georgia for students considering our programs at community colleges in South Georgia.

Ten minutes in Dr. Croom’s class would provide obvious evidence to support his nomination. He’s one of the most engaging, compassionate, innovative, and down-right hilarious professors our students get to learn from. His experience shines through the numerous anecdotes of his own successes and failures as a teacher – anecdotes that create relatable, meaningful, and lasting connections with our students. He engages students from the first minute he enters the classroom, many times creating lessons that keep students on their toes and thinking critically while seeking answers. Dr. Croom has gone above and beyond to help students in need, often seeking them out when he hears they’re going through a rough time. He checks-in with others, even when he’s overwhelmed and bogged down in paperwork. It’s the kind of person and educator he is and the very reason our students leave campus with a sense of family. When asked if they had any fond memories of Dr. Croom they’d like to share, dozens of his former students responded with comical one-liners and teaching tips they now use every day. One former student said Dr. Croom’s teaching tip #462 “Always keep a spare pair of pants with you at all times” has come in handy more than a couple times during his teaching career. Another credited his encouragement to pursue a graduate degree as the very reason she ever thought she was capable of graduate work and now graduating with honors. His impact has been far-reaching and his ability to cut through with humor always put them at ease. One former student added, “it doesn’t matter how much stress and pressure he or his students are under he will always find a way to lighten the mood and make you laugh, whether it’s a corny joke or a hilarious teaching story.” And finally, one mentioned, “I remember when some of us didn’t pass EDTPA, he literally cancelled his vacation to make sure we were prepared for the second submission. A true act of love for his students that not many would do.” Dr. Croom’s students have earned state and national recognition for academic achievement. He, himself has won most every award our profession has to offer from Teacher of the Year to Honorary State and American FFA Degrees to Senior Fellow of the American Association for Agricultural Education, yet I believe this award would mean the most to him. The Tifton Campus has provided new perspective to his career in education and his mentorship and leadership continues to cultivate students and young faculty every day. His dedication deserves to be awarded.

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Senior Technical Support – Bob Brooke

Bob Brooke works with the Statewide Variety Testing Program stationed here on the Tifton Campus. He helps conduct the State Official Variety Trials (OVT) on all crops at Tifton, Plains and Midville Stations. He started working here in the Crop and Soil Science Department on the Tifton campus in May of 2001 as a Research Technician. He is still working with SWVT, but now he is a Research Professional I. Working in Variety Testing you have to have a well-rounded knowledge of many different crops. This includes the planting, maintenance, and harvesting of literally thousands of plots and the ability to correctly operate a wide array of different equipment. Bob accomplishes these tasks exceeding the standard. He never complains about working late or staying overnight out of town to get the job done. He uses extreme caution and care with his work because he knows the importance of details when it comes to research. He takes immense pride in his job because he knows the research that we do is looked at and used for variety selection not only by farmers, but other universities and industry personnel as well. Bob also spends time harvesting wheat, corn, cotton and soybean plots for other Research and Extension Faculty here on the Tifton campus and other branch stations. He is well known among the scientists here on the station as “the man with the little blue combine.”

Although I am his supervisor now, it wasn’t always that way. When I started with SWVT here in Tifton in 2008, Bob was my trainer so to speak. I grew up on a farm but had no experience with research and small plot work. He helped me to learn the job and the importance of what we do here at UGA. Since I have been here he has worked with and taught two other full-time employees as well as five student workers. Bob shows up every day ready to work with a smile on his face. I know that as long as he is in the lab or in the field that the task at hand will be performed carefully and correctly. That is truly a blessing as a supervisor to have someone that I can trust in such a way. Everything I have said I truly mean, Bob is not only a great person and a valued employee to the University, but he is my very good friend and I think I value that the most.

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Senior Technical Support – Andy Dunn

Andy Dunn is a shining star on the UGA-Tifton campus. Andy has been serving as the UGA-ADS Beef Manager for the past 5 years, and most recently has been promoted to the Alapaha and Tifton ADS Senior Farm Manager position. However, Andy has a long history on the UGA-Tifton campus. Andy has served in several capacities across this campus over the past 14 years. Through these positions he has developed strong and lasting relationships and a reputation for being a hard worker who is willing to aid anyone in need. He is highly dependable and goes above and beyond the call to make sure the job gets done, whatever it may be. During the past 5.5 years, Andy has made significant improvements to both the beef units in Tifton and Alapaha, including improving and renovating pastures, clearing land for new pastures, and making necessary infrastructure improvements. Andy has done a fantastic job at coordinating these and other projects with other personnel to ensure that it is done with an exceptional level of efficiency.

In recent years, Mr. Dunn has devoted a large amount of his and his employee’s time and energy to renovate the Black Shank grazing paddocks into what is now known as the Better Grazing Program Southern Location in Tifton, GA. To accomplish this task, he coordinated with several departments across campus and maximized on others knowledge and expertise to help in the extensive pasture renovation and location restructuring. He continually works across departments and program and utilizes the multitude of expertise on the UGA-Tifton campus to assist others as well as getting answers to challenging agricultural questions. He advises and assists the Beef program research technician and student employees on various topics including installation of fencing and watering systems, animal handling and management, and pasture production. He will even go so far as transporting equipment to various locations help improve project progress when necessary. Along with his cattle and land management responsibilities, Andy has taken an active role in assisting faculty in accomplishing their research goals (although some days we believe he prefers the cows to the faculty members). In addition to his contributions to the Better Grazing Program, Andy has collaborated with faculty members across departments to establish projects on weed control, pasture renovation, species suitability, etc. While he isn’t responsible for the data collection on projects, he does go above and beyond to make sure the researchers have the necessary equipment and locations they need for the projects, and helps keep an eye on things when researchers are not able to be present on a daily basis. Mr. Dunn is willing to discuss potential research projects and provide input on the applicability of these projects to the end-user which is important for the researcher to understand and incorporate into their research and educational programs. His input provides direction and helps keep faculty grounded to the producers we serve. This has helped the researchers and Extension specialist maintain their applied research focus with the end-user in mind, as well as develop additional projects that help answer questions producers are facing that we might not even realize are happening.

Mr. Andy Dunn has developed a relationship that reaches far beyond the fence lines in Tifton and Alapaha. His work ethic, understanding that we are a research institution, and willingness to work cooperatively with faculty has given several Athens faculty members the desire to conduct research projects in Tifton and Alapaha. This reputation far surpasses the stateliness of Georgia as he has recently fielded several job offers from universities as far away as Montana. Andy is a very reliable, dependable, and essential employee and works to continually exceed the expectations of all. He is a true asset to the Animal and Dairy Science program in Tifton and the UGA Tifton campus. Andy understands the important value of the work conducted at the UGA-Tifton campus, and strives to meet the tri-partite mission of the land grand university system. He works closely with all ADS faculty to help meet the research and extension needs of the program while constantly striving to improve the ADS Beef Unit(s) in South, GA. He takes pride in his position and the UGA-Tifton campus and it is evident in his work. These qualities are even more evident as he has started a successful transition of the ADS farm units to Beef dominance in his new role as Alapaha and Tifton ADS Senior Farm Manager. Andy Dunn is an excellent example of the exemplary employees we have at the UGA-Tifton campus.

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Junior Technical Support – Stephanie Botton

Stephanie has been a member of the Ozias-Akins lab since 2013 and currently holds the position of Research Technician III. Stephanie joined the lab after graduating from Mercer University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. In the fall of 2020, Stephanie was accepted into UGA’s IPBGG Master’s program and is now successfully juggling both fulltime UGA employment and being a part-time UGA student.

Stephanie has advanced over the years from having a book knowledge of biology to gaining both research and horticultural knowledge of peanuts. Stephanie has many roles in the lab. One of her main responsibilities is to perform marker-assisted-selection on more than ten thousand peanut seeds each year from various breeding lines for multiple traits of agricultural importance including disease resistance to peanut root-knot nematode, late leaf spot and white mold and high oleic to linoleic acid ratio and blanching quality in peanut seeds. Due to the large quantity of seeds that need to be screened and various combinations of molecular markers within different sets of seeds, this job demands an extremely high level of organizational skill and accuracy of data curation and selection. To achieve this, Stephanie has trained student workers and performed quality control of every set of DNA extractions assisted by student workers. Due to her scrupulous work, our molecular breeding program was able to produce reliable breeding lines with target traits and some of these lines have advanced to cultivar release.

Stephanie also actively participates in peanut hybridization, greenhouse management, field planting and data collection. She keeps the greenhouse plants happy and healthy – scouting almost daily for the dreaded spider-mites, thrips and white flies. During crossing season, Stephanie is here both on weekends and evenings, doing what is required to generate successful crosses. Crossing peanut is a challenge since only two seeds may be recovered from each pollination requiring that lots of pollinations be conducted. During the peanut field season, Stephanie is there to prepare, plant, evaluate and harvest, always bringing a positive attitude.

Over the years, Stephanie has filled in multiple times, when needed, and become the “de facto” lab manager. She has taken on this extra work either when the position was vacant or during extended leaves. During this time, she has supervised multiple student workers, coordinated their schedules, approved timesheets and has dealt with lab items such as “are there enough autoclaved tips” or “the lab needs liquid nitrogen” or “the -80 is not at -80” or “where can I find….”. Stephanie notices, helps when needed and tries to fix when possible. Stephanie also takes her commitment to UGA community service very seriously. She has served as a mentor for UGA’s Young Scholars Program for seven years. She can both teach and give hands-on experience to high school students interested in science while still completing her busy work schedule. Many of her Young Scholars have been awarded 1st, 2nd or 3rd place in the poster competition for the Tifton Campus. She has been a member of the UGA Tifton social committee for many years. Just this last Christmas, she was the ‘Christmas Tree’ taking pictures during the ‘Covid-drive thru’ Christmas Breakfast. Stephanie has also been actively involved in the UGA-Tifton Campus Relay for Life team. While it is hard to convey all the reasons both big and small why Stephanie is deserving of this award – hard-working, dedicated, dependable, knowledgeable, constant, helpful and she bakes homemade cheesecakes for lab social events – all demonstrating that she is worthy of this award.

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Administrative Support – Ashley Golden

Ashley Golden has only been employed on the UGA-Tifton Campus for two years. Covering both ADS & CSS, she has quickly excelled in learning University financial systems, supporting faculty, and became a key player in the Administrative Support Team for the campus. Ashley Golden is a driven, self-motivated individual who is very knowledgeable in many systems within the University of Georgia. She has not only taken the necessary time and effort to learn many ever-changing and complex UGA programs including UGA Jobs, One USG Faculty & Staff Portal, One Source Financials, UGA Mart, and WORKs P-Card system, but has excelled as a proficient user and resource for others in like roles. Ashley has learned to be proactive and productive in the tasks associated within each of the systems to enhance faculty and staff efficiency within their own jobs. Currently Ashley assists 8 faculty members, 20 staff members, 18 student assistants, and 16 graduate students throughout the year.

Ashley is very dependable, task oriented, takes initiative no matter the task at hand, and always has a wonderful attitude, something to be commended considering the hardships endured during her time at UGA-Tifton. It is easy to see that her initiative and encouraging attitude has created many healthy and lasting work relationships within ADS and CSS as well as across the campus. Ashley is a joy to be around and work with!

Ashley Golden is a go-getter with the necessary flexibility in a constantly changing university system. Ashley’s first 6 months were spent solely in Crop and Soil Science when she was asked to join Animal & Dairy Science. When approached with this transition, Ashley was disappointed to leave her folks in CSS, however she jumped at the opportunity to help fill a void in a desperately needed position within ADS. Ashley joined ADS eagerly and quickly became part of the ADS family unknowing that more changes were on the horizon. In 2020, with the announcement that the ADS Dairy would be closing and a significant reduction in force was occurring, Ashley kept up her work and positive attitude to try and shine some light in a gloomy situation. Fortunately, through this transition she gained the opportunity to reclaim some of her previous CSS faculty while continuing to serve the ADS department in Tifton. The faculty and staff whom Ashley serves across both departments agree that she does a wonderful job and is an asset to the UGA-Tifton campus.

To say that 2020 has been very hard for many of us across the UGA-Tifton Campus would be an understatement. During the first few months of the COVID pandemic Ashley worked solely for Animal and Dairy Science, a department that functions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As part of the ADS department Ashley was listed as an essential employee, and while she was given the option to work remotely, she felt she was needed in house and elected to follow CDC guidelines and continue to come in almost every day. During a very unprecedented time, Ashley sacrificed her time and family and went above and beyond to help better the department, campus, and UGA-Tifton community. Ashley Golden is an outstanding addition to the UGA-Tifton family and is very deserving of consideration for the UGA-Tifton Campus Awards for Excellence in Administrative Support.

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Administrative Support – Mimi Baldree

Service Unit Support – Tracey Vellidis

Tracey Vellidis has served the Tifton Campus for over 25 years as a Creative Design Specialist and has been a vital resource for the faculty, staff, and students for the entire period.

Tracey’s responsibilities are to provide the Tifton Campus faculty, staff, and students with state of-the-art media presence and make them look good when compared to their peers. When Tracey began working at the Tifton Campus this meant designing and printing posters; creating slide backgrounds; designing, editing, and printing brochures; and shooting video (VHS). An example of Tracey’s impact in the late 1990s is the polished, professional, linked video and slide presentation she created in 1997 (when portable video projectors were the size of a checked suitcase) that allowed the UGA Precision Ag Team to outcompete Texas A&M for a major grant from John Deere. The grant was to assist the company in the development of their cotton yield monitor and quick started the Tifton Campus precision ag research program. Over the years technology and media have changed and Tracey trained herself to provide services using digital media.

Examples of Tracey’s recent projects are the websites that she designs, creates, and maintains for several individual researchers, for lab groups, and for the majority of the Extension Commodity Teams. She designs all the brochures, event announcements, and recruiting materials for Academic Programs. For the Tifton Campus overall, she ensures the cohesion of the visual concepts of the Campus’ communication strategy associated with its research, extension, and teaching programs. An example of Tracey’s overall contributions to the Tifton Campus are her creative designs to support the Centennial Celebration – among other things, she created the Centennial logo and the giant banner on which it is displayed on the Old Administration Building. A two-page summary of her impressive 2019 accomplishments is included at the end of the nomination packet. Her annual accomplishments for the other 24 years of her UGA career are just as impressive. For 25 years, Tracey has responded to the media needs of, and worked effectively with, a wide range of people on our campus. She is orderly and organized, which shows in all her projects. Everyone speaks highly of her creativity and the quality of her work. She is responsive and efficient and is always willing to help when needed.

Clients of Tracey's comment regularly on how super-responsive she is to their needs and how her work brings professional messaging to their media projects. Tracey is responsive to her clients' timelines and can grasp the vision her clients are trying to relay to their audience. She goes the extra mile to ensure her client is happy with the results. An example is that she will typically make content changes to websites that she maintains within 24 hours. This should be compared to the two to four months wait typical of other in-house website support groups.

Tracey is a person you want on your team. She listens to everyone’s ideas and blends them into a winning outcome. During the Centennial Celebration year, Tracey was a vital member of many of the planning subcommittees and led the branding subcommittee. She created positive energy and atmosphere during the yearlong project. Her strong communication skills and positive attitude make her a great team member on any project.

Tracey can make effective decisions quickly. She has a robust set of values and a strong sense of integrity, which stands out in her work. Tracey has and will learn new skills to provide the best media design for her clients. She is an innovative thinker and will take the lead when needed. For example, she will take the initiative and meet with Extension Commodity Teams so that she can obtain the information needed to create and design the Team websites. As indicated in the previous paragraph she led the Centennial branding subcommittee and is still responsible for Tifton Campus branding. She led the effort to populate our campus light poles with the UGA banners. Tracey does not back down from a challenge. Over the years, she has proven she can change and adapt to the needs of her clients to ensure that their messaging reaches their audience.

Tracey is a valuable asset to the Tifton Campus and her impact is everywhere on the campus even if it is not widely recognized. She regularly assists faculty, staff, students, and Teams with their media needs. She contributes greatly to the Tifton Campus with her designs and branding creations that promote brand and name recognition across the state and the nation. Tracey is very dedicated to the mission of the UGA-Tifton Campus and is very deserving of the Award of Excellence in Service Unit Support.

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Student Worker – Samantha Bowen

Samantha Bowen is a student worker, under the supervision of Dr. Timothy Grey, assisting in weed science research. Samantha is an integral part of our team. Her reliability is unmatched, and she always has a positive attitude, even if she is needed to work overtime. Samantha has unique responsibilities, ranging from maintaining the laboratory equipment to harvesting crops in the field. When she was hired, Samantha jumped right in and spent extra time, even time outside of work, learning every aspect of the lab and all the equipment. Through her dedication to understanding the work and learning the methodology, Samantha has become proficient in processing soil, plastic, and water samples for analysis using a high-performance liquid chromatography system with a mass spectrometry detector. We rely on her to run soil samples through a microwave extraction system, shakers, and centrifuges. She has also taken the responsibility of having the preparation completed for all lab trials, with tasks ranging from labeling vials to organizing sample spreadsheets. Samantha has developed a passion for research and is one of our greatest assets in completing our lab trials.

She is also dedicated to our field work and is involved in all aspects, from planting to harvest. This program covers a wide range of cropping systems and requires knowledge of row crop and perennial cropping practices. Samantha took this with stride, asking questions and learning each time we were out in the field. She is hands on with measuring and mixing herbicides for application, weed species biomass and counts, in-field peanut physiology measurements, sampling, and crop harvest.

Samantha took the initiative to become more involved in the research almost as soon as she began working. She took the lead on a bioassay research project to further develop her skills and understanding of herbicide behavior in the soil. Her drive and initiative led to her being able to present this research at the 2020 Southern Weed Science Society annual meeting, titled “Evaluating Herbicide Soil Dissipation in Georgia Pecan”. She was one of the only undergraduate students to present original research at this meeting. During this meeting, Samantha used the opportunity to network with industry representatives, graduate students, and attend sessions to further her interests and knowledge in weed science (even though none of this was ‘required’). After completing this research, Samantha wanted to continue learning by taking the lead on another research project. This research includes using a thermal gradient table and is based on evaluating herbicide thermal stability. Samples from this project are being processed through the LC/MS, under the direction of Samantha. This research is working directly with a peanut herbicide used by our Georgia growers. She will be the first author and presenting author for this research at the 2021 American Peanut Research and Education Society annual meeting. She will also be one of the only undergraduates presenting research at this meeting. Samantha balances classes at ABAC with her job at UGA very well. She strives to always be present and ready to work, even coming in an hour earlier than normal to ensure she can work enough consistent hours to complete the tasks of that day. Anytime you give her a task, she will put all her effort to complete it in a precise and timely manner. Overall, Samantha has shown incredible passion, dedication, reliability, and a love for working in weed science research. She never hesitates to ask questions, learn from those who teach her, and work hard every day. Without her, our group and research would not be where we are today. This letter of recommendation is only a snapshot of what Samantha has contributed to during her time at UGA.

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