Teaming for Interdisciplinary Research Pre-Seed Program

The Native Plants and Beneficial Insects (NPBI) working group represents faculty, graduate students, and public service track staff who are actively engaged in research, outreach, and education for conservation and protection of native plants and beneficial insects. Currently, we have 15 members (6 tenure-track faculty from two departments and two schools, 9 graduate students and PSO-track faculty/staff). The group has had 3 meetings since its inception in mid-2019. Our goal is to meet virtually each month to share updates on current research projects and outreach efforts, discuss grant opportunities, and plan for various-scale funding proposals. We will use the requested funding to bring the group together physically and tour the three campuses to view on-going research trials at each location, as well as visit lab and related facilities. This will strengthen our network and facilitate the identification of specific collaborative research projects. In addition to team building we plan to use the funds to bring materials together and publish an extension newsletter and promote citizen science efforts such as the Pollinator Census and the outreach program Connect to Protect.

Team Lead

Bodie Pennisi
Department of Horticulture
bpennisi@uga.edu

Team Members

James Affolter
Department of Horticulture

Jason Schmidt
Department of Entomology

Shimat Joseph
Department of Entomology

Kristine Braman
Department of Entomology

Elizabeth McCarty
Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources

Becky Griffin
Center for Urban Agriculture

Jenny Cruse-Sanders
State Botanical Garden