March 2019 Hallie Wright was awarded a 'Communication of Research and Scholarship Grant' by the Graduate School to support her outreach efforts with the FFA chapter at Malcom Bridge Middle School (MBMS), led by Brandon Walker. She is working with middle schools students to develop and execute plant science projects, the results of which are then presented at the FFA Agriscience Fair. The funds will allow her purchase basic equipment for the greenhouse at MBMB and consumables for the students' research project. Well done, Hallie! November 2018 The Devos Lab, under the team name 'The Cereal Killers' won first place in the first Crop and Soil Science Department Ag Olympics, held at the Iron Horse Farm during the annual cook-out. The competition featured three timed events: corn shelling, plant identification and tractor pulling. Combining intellect with brute force, the 'Cereal Killers' demonstrated that molecular biologists/geneticists can be well-rounded 'aggies'. The trophy, designed and made by Jake Carter, is on display in the Devos Lab. The 'Cereal Killers' have every intention of defending the trophy next year. October 2018 John Spiekerman is the 2018 winner of the Wilbur Duncan Award. The award recognizes outstanding graduate students that excel in two of three areas, research, teaching and service. John was awarded the Willbur Duncan Award for his research achievements and outreach efforts. John's research focuses on the elucidation of the mechanisms of salt tolerance in seashore paspalum. His outreach activities include leadership of the Athens Science Cafe, co-founding of and contributing as Editor-in-Chief to the Athens Science Observer and co-founding of and contributing as Vice President of Finance of SPEAR (Science, Policy, Education, Advocacy and Research). Congratulations, John! August 2018 We welcome Hallie Wright, a graduate student in the Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics Program to the Devos Lab. Hallie will be working on blast disease, caused by the fungus Magnaporthe Oryzae, in finger millet. July 2018 Congratulations to Thomas Gottilla on being awarded a Georgia Seed Association scholarship. Well done, Thomas! April 2018 Congratulations to Thomas Gottilla on winning second place for his oral presentation in the CAES undergraduate symposium. January 2018 We welcome Soyeon Choi, a graduate student from the Department of Genetics, to the Devos Lab. Soyeon will conduct her PhD research on the genetics of flowering time in switchgrass. November 2017 Congratulations to Dr. Katrien Devos on being awarded the D.W. Brooks Faculty Award for Excellence in Research. August 2017 We welcome Thomas Gottilla, a dual BSc/MSc degree student in the Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics Program to the Devos Lab. Thomas will be conducting his thesis research on the genetics of salt tolerance in the halophyte seashore paspalum. April 2017 Congratulations to John Spiekerman for placing second in the UGA Graduate School 3MT competition with his presentation entitled 'Thinking Tall, Breeding Small'. A video of the entire competition can be found here. To watch John perform, check out minutes 33.08 to 36.29. February 2017 Congratulations to John Spiekerman for winning the Genetics 3MT competition. As winner of the genetics competition, John will next compete at the Graduate School level. January 2017 Congratulations to Katrien Devos for winning UGA's Creative Research Medal for her research on millets. December 2016 Alex Johnson was awarded a 2-year USDA Predoctoral Fellowship to conduct research on small RNAs associated with colonization of switchgrass roots by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Well done, Alex. Katrien Devos was elected as a Fellow of AAAS. November 2016 Welcome to Fabio Palumbo, a graduate student from the University of Padua, Ital. He arrived on November 29th 2016, and will be in the Devos Lab for 6 months. We welcome Hui Wang, a graduate student from Nanjing Agricultural University. She arrived on November 16th 2016, and will be in the Devos lab for 1 year. April 2016 Congratulations to Doug Eudy, who successfully defended his PhD dissertation on 04/29/2016. A few days later, he started as a 'Genome Systems Breeder' at Monsanto. October 2015 Congratulations to Rajiv Parvathaneni, who successfully defended his PhD dissertation on 10/02/2015. We had the pleasure of having Rajiv in the lab for a few more months until he started his post-doc at the Donald Danforth Center in March 2016. April 2015 Congratulations to Sandra Odonkor, who successfully defended her MSc thesis on 04/23/15. Sandra will be returning to her home country, Ghana, to apply her newly gained skills. February 2015 Welcome to Ignacio Ramirez, a Beachell-Borlaug graduate student from INTA, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias (Balcarce), Argentina, who will be visiting the Devos lab for 6 months starting February 5th 2015. His dissertation research is on the identification of candidate genes for grain yield-related traits in bread wheat. Welcome to Thomas Pendergast, who will join the Devos Lab on February 1st 2015 as a Post-doctoral Research Associate. He will be working on microbial associations in Setaria and switchgrass in collaboration with the Bennetzen lab. January 2015 Welcome to Liliam Martinez, who will join the Devos Lab on January 15th 2015 as a Post-doctoral Research Associate. She will be working on Setaria as a model for switchgrass.
