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We are getting ready for another incredible seminar today to be led by Leah Tomey! Join us to learn about the exciting genetics and biochemistry of one of the world’s favorite flavors!

After a short break, our Thursday afternoon student seminars are BACK! Today’s presenter is Kamalpreet Dhillon. We are very excited to hear her exciting lecture!

We are so thankful for every cup of joe and the energy it brings us! But what if all that delicious caffeine was no longer available? This afternoon, Emily Powell tells us the story of Coffee Under Siege and how plant breeders prevented a caffeine crisis!

Building connections beyond the lab 🌱 The Plant Breeding Practicum cohort visited UGA’s Griffin campus for research exposure, faculty interaction, and a campus-hosted evening social. A key step in shaping the next generation of plant breeders! #IPBGG #PlantBreedingPracticum

New faces, same mission!👋 Meet the 2025–2026 IPBGG GSA Committee! 🌱 These grad students will be leading student activities and community engagement at the Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics & Genomics. #GradLeadership #UGAGSA

Meet Dallas Kreisa, the GSA President at IPBGG! She’s a 3rd-year PhD student mapping Frogeye Leaf Spot resistance in soybean in Dr. Zenglu Li’s lab. Soccer coach, former college athlete and a passionate researcher, Dallas brings energy to every field! ⚽🌱 #UGAGSA

Serving as GSA Vice-President for the Athens campus is Emily Powell. She’s a third-year PhD student in the soybean breeding lab, working on resistance to soybean cyst nematode. #UGAGSA #GraduateLeadership

The GSA Vice-President for the Tifton campus is Sindoora Nalajala. She is a second-year PhD student in the blueberry breeding lab, working on interspecific hybridization and resistance to biotic stresses in blueberry. #UGAGSA #graduateleadership

Say hello to Jordan Knapp-Wilson, GSA Vice- President for the Griffin Campus. He’s a PhD candidate in Dr. Dario Chavez’s lab, studying peach tree architecture and phenotyping. We’re glad to have Jordan on the GSA team this year. #ugagsa #graduateleadership

Here comes Leah Tomey, the GSA Fundraising Chair for the Athens campus! She is a second-year master’s student in Dr. Robin Buell’s lab, where she uses comparative genomics to study heat tolerance in common bean. #UGAGSA #graduateleadership

Let’s welcome Achyut Duwadi, GSA Fundraising Chair for the Tifton campus! Achyut is a first-year PhD student in Dr. Patrick Conner’s lab, where he’s working on pecan and muscadine grape research. #UGAGSA #graduateadership

Say hi to Swikriti Pandey, the GSA Secretary! Swikriti is a third-year PhD student in Dr. Peggy Ozias-Akins’s lab, where she’s evaluating induced genetic variations in cultivated peanut populations. #UGAGSA #GraduateLeadership

Welcoming Jake Spittle, the IPBGG GSA Treasurer! Jake is a second-year PhD student co-advised by Dr. Zenglu Li and Dr. Wayne Parrott. His research focuses on using wild soybean to identify genes for insect resistance. #UGAGSA #graduateleadership

Meet our Social Media Chair, Khyathi Madduru Khyathi is a second-year Ph.D. student in Dr. Patrick Conner’s lab, where she’s researching zinc deficiency in pecan using spectral imaging and genetic analysis. #UGAGSA #graduateleadership

Say hello to Ashmita Upadhyay, our GSA Journal Club Chair! Ashmita is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Clevenger Lab at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, where she works on computational genomics and phenomics in peanut and blueberry. #UGAGSA #GraduateLeadership

The practicum students engaged in research discussions, lab tours, and an evening social with faculty and graduate students on the Athens campus. It was an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas and strengthen our academic community. #plantbreedingpracticum #summersocial

Say hello to Caitlin McCann, GSA Griffin Campus Delegate! Caitlin is a second-year M.S. student in Plant Breeding, working in the Chavez Lab on the Griffin campus. Her research explores peach population genetics. #UGAGSA #graduateleadership

Our April- June 2025 Banner Contest winner is Achyut Duwadi! His aerial shot of Ponder Farm showcases our muscadine, pecan, and corn research plots with a lake that fuels innovation (and irrigation!) from above!

Closing out the 2025 Plant Breeding Practicum in Tifton! Students visited UGA Tifton last week to connect with faculty and explore breeding projects. A strong finish to this multi-campus experience in collaboration and professional growth. #plantbreedingpracticum

Big wins across the board for IPBGG! 🏆 Aidan Bobholz (Li Lab): 2025 Frank D. Keim Fellowship Samuele Lamon (D. Bertioli Lab): 3rd, APRES PhD Talk Andrew Marchetti (Brown Lab): 1st, APRES MS Poster Dr. Soraya Bertioli: Corteva Agrosciences Award for Excellence in Research