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Author: akatki

Jennifer Thompson

akatki on March 19, 2025

Non-Tenure Track Faculty Research Excellence Award 2025

Jennifer Thompson, associate research scientist in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is a leader in research on the social sustainability of agriculture and food systems. Her interdisciplinary and community-engaged scholarship advances knowledge and practice on the human dimensions of climate-smart agriculture, community food systems, and food systems education. Over her career, Thompson has secured funding on projects totaling over $105 million, including $7.5 million to UGA and over $3 million directly supporting her lab. As the lead social scientist on major USDA-funded sustainable agricultural projects, Thompson’s commitment to farmer engagement is producing unique insights that inform policy and outreach. An internationally recognized scholar, she has conducted research in France, Norway, Spain, and across the United States, publishing in top-tier journals. As a research mentor and past president of the Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition, Thompson fosters the future of sustainable agriculture and food systems scholarship.

Team Impact Award 2025

akatki on March 19, 2025

Team Impact Award 2025

The Biointerface Translation and Engineering Center (BTEC)

The Biointerface Translation and Engineering Center (BTEC), an interdisciplinary research initiative spanning the College of Engineering, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and the College of Veterinary Medicine, is at the forefront of transforming biomedical research through innovation in advanced biomaterials for medical devices. Addressing critical clinical challenges such as thrombosis, infection, and antimicrobial resistance, BTEC’s work spans a range of applications including vascular catheters, wound dressings, implantable sensors, and extracorporeal life-support systems. The team has secured over $12 million in competitive federal research grants, and their collaborative efforts have resulted in more than 35 patent filings, numerous high-impact publications, and significant mentorship of students across multiple disciplines. By integrating materials science, microbiology, and clinical research, BTEC is pioneering next-generation medical technologies poised to enhance patient outcomes globally.

Raíssa Nogueira de Brito

akatki on March 19, 2025

Postdoctoral Research Award 2025

Raíssa Nogueira de Brito, postdoctoral research associate in the Franklin College Department of Anthropology, conducts groundbreaking research on vector-borne disease ecology and zoonotic disease transmission under the mentorship of Associate Professor Susan Tanner in anthropology and Professor Julie Velásquez Runk of Wake Forest University, in collaboration with Professor Nicole Gottdenker in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Brito’s interdisciplinary work bridges anthropology, ecology, and public health to investigate the biological, social, and environmental factors shaping disease emergence. She has a central role in an NSF-funded project on multi-host, vector-borne infections in tropical landscapes, conducting field research in rural Panama and leading a genetic sequencing study on Chagas disease vectors. Brito has published in top journals, including Acta Tropica, and co-developed TriatoKey, a mobile app for disease vector identification and citizen education. A 2023 SEC Emerging Scholar, she has secured research funding and presented internationally. Brito’s work is advancing understanding of how environmental and social factors drive disease transmission, with significant implications for global health and policy.

Stephanie Halmo

akatki on March 19, 2025

Postdoctoral Research Award 2025

Stephanie Halmo, postdoctoral research associate in the Owens Institute for Behavioral Research, studies metacognition and STEM education under the mentorship of Associate Professor Julie Stanton. Halmo’s work examines how undergraduate life science students develop metacognitive skills, providing key insights into improving science education. She leads the College Learning Study, a large-scale longitudinal project tracking students’ metacognitive skill use and development across four years of college. She has advanced qualitative and quantitative analysis methods, including discourse analysis, to assess how students regulate their thinking during problem-solving. Her research has resulted in multiple first-author publications in CBE–Life Sciences Education and attracted nearly $350,000 in NSF funding as a sole principal investigator—an extraordinary achievement for a postdoctoral scholar. With a growing national and international reputation, Halmo’s research is shaping how educators understand and support student learning in STEM, positioning her as a leader in discipline-based education research.

WenZhan Song

akatki on March 19, 2025

Lamar Dodd Creative Research Award 2025

WenZhan Song, Georgia Power Mickey A. Brown Professor in the College of Engineering, is a leading researcher in sensor networks, cyber-physical systems, and security. His work integrates artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) to enhance infrastructure security, energy resilience, and healthcare technologies. Song has pioneered breakthrough IoT innovations that enable real-time, non-intrusive health and activity monitoring for humans, animals, machines, and infrastructures. His research in cyber-physical security has led to advanced systems that fuse cyber and physical signals to detect and mitigate threats to smart grids and industrial systems. He has also developed zero-trust IoT data infrastructure to ensure secure, reliable, and privacy-preserving data storage and sharing. Many of his smart IoT technologies have been adopted in real-world settings. As director of UGA’s Center for Cyber-Physical Systems, Song leads interdisciplinary initiatives that drive innovation and industry partnerships. His contributions have earned him numerous accolades, including the IEEE Mark Weiser Award.

Rielle Navitski

akatki on March 19, 2025

Albert Christ-Janer Creative Research Award 2025

Rielle Navitski, associate professor in the Franklin College Department of Theatre and Film Studies, is a leading scholar in Latin American film and media studies. Her research explores the intersections of cinema and transnational exchange, challenging conventional narratives in film history. She has authored two influential monographs: “Public Spectacles of Violence,” which examines sensational cinema and journalism in early 20th-century Mexico and Brazil, and “Transatlantic Cinephilia,” which investigates networks of film culture between Latin America and France during the mid-20th century. Navitski’s scholarship, based on extensive archival research across multiple countries, has reshaped understandings of Latin American film’s role in global media history. She also has co-edited an open-access textbook on Latinx media and an anthology titled “Cosmopolitan Film Cultures in Latin America, 1896-1960.” Recognized with prestigious fellowships and awards, Navitski’s work continues to advance the fields of film history, cultural studies, and Latin American studies, making a lasting impact on those disciplines.

Timothy Yang

akatki on March 19, 2025

Creative Research Medal 2025

Timothy Yang, associate professor in the Franklin College Department of History, explores the intersection of business, medicine, and empire in the making of modern East Asia and Japan. His book, “A Medicated Empire: The Pharmaceutical Industry and Modern Japan” (Cornell University Press, 2021), is a micro-history of how a multi-national drug company, Hoshi Pharmaceuticals, expanded alongside Japan’s imperial ambitions, using state connections to dominate colonial markets. Through extensive archival research, Yang reveals how the company capitalized on imperial policies, marketing medicines in colonies while adhering to domestic narcotic bans, shaping both commercial and medical landscapes across the world. Widely praised for its innovative approach, the book won the Hagley Book Prize for best book in business history and has received glowing reviews in leading academic journals. Yang’s work bridges the history of science, economic history, and colonial studies. As director of UGA’s Center for Asian Studies, he continues to advance interdisciplinary scholarship across Asia and beyond.

Rumya Putcha

akatki on March 19, 2025

Creative Research Medal 2025

Rumya Putcha, associate professor in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music and the Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies, explores the cultural politics of Indian dance in transnational contexts. Her book, “The Dancer’s Voice: Performance and Womanhood in Transnational India” (Duke University Press, 2023), examines how South Indian classical dance shapes narratives of caste, race, and migration. Combining ethnographic research and historical analysis, Putcha demonstrates how the figure of the Indian dancing woman reinforces social hierarchies while also serving as a site of resistance. The book has received widespread acclaim for its interdisciplinary approach, engaging ethnomusicology, performance studies, and postcolonial theory. It has been reviewed in leading academic journals and was recognized with the 2024 de la Torre Bueno First Book Award from the Dance Studies Association and the 2025 Bernard S. Cohn First Book Award from the Association for Asian Studies. Through this work, Putcha offers a critical rethinking of how performers cultivate citizenship in India and its diasporas.

Krista Capps

akatki on March 19, 2025

Creative Research Medal 2025

Krista Capps, associate professor in the Odum School of Ecology and the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, has led groundbreaking research on global carbon cycling in rivers. As part of a landmark study published in Science, Capps and colleagues conducted an experiment across 514 streams on six continents to measure organic matter decomposition. The team used a standardized assay to assess microbial activity, generating the first global-scale model of riverine carbon breakdown and identifying key environmental drivers. This research showed that accelerated decomposition rates were linked to regions dominated by human activities, such as urbanization and agriculture, potentially altering aquatic food webs and increasing carbon release into the atmosphere. Capps and co-authors used machine learning to develop a model explaining 70% of the variance in prior decomposition rates and created a predictive tool for environmental forecasting. A recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, she continues to advance freshwater ecology with globally impactful research on ecosystem resilience.

Elizabeth Brisbois

akatki on March 19, 2025

Creative Research Medal 2025

Elizabeth Brisbois, associate professor and Distinguished Faculty Fellow in the College of Engineering, is recognized for her pioneering work on light-based nitric oxide (NO) release technology for medical devices. Her research team developed a wearable fiber optic device that uses photoactive NO donor chemistry to deliver controlled antimicrobial NO therapy. This breakthrough has significant potential to prevent infections in catheters and wound dressings, addressing a major clinical challenge in healthcare by reducing complications and improving patient outcomes. Her findings, featured on the cover of the Journal of Controlled Release, led to a $2 million NIH R01 grant to develop and advance to preclinical testing. Brisbois has secured over $12 million in research funding, has more than 20 issued or pending patents, and co-founded Nytricx Inc. to commercialize biomedical technologies. A Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors, she has also received multiple national awards recognizing her impact on biomaterials research and translational medicine.