Tre’Shur Williams-Carter expects she’ll find antimicrobial resistance in the Oconee River in Athens. That’s because AMR – the adaptation that makes infections from bacteria, fungi and viruses difficult to treat – is common in urban streams like those in the Upper Oconee Watershed in Athens. But, by collecting both running river water and the biofilm coating rocks on the streambed, she hopes to learn more about the types of genes that lead to resistance and where they are coming from.
The University of Georgia will receive $8.8 million over three years to help farmers restore streams and rivers on their land through the Working Lands for Wildlife’s Southern Waters Framework.
Three colleges — the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, the Odum School of Ecology and the College of Engineering — will join with two UGA centers — the River Basin Center and the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems — to host the program.
Researchers honed their science communications skills on March 20 by distilling complex, innovative work to just five minutes in the 2026 Climate & Water Research Slam.
Seth Wenger, a professor at the Odum School of Ecology, recently was named a University of Georgia Athletic Association Professor in Ecology.
The 2026 John Kyle Spencer 5K kicked off Family Day at the Odum School on Saturday, Feb. 21. Congrats to Gideon Zemedhun, who studies computer science, and Charles Wu, who majors in statistics, economics and management information systems, took first and second place.
Irene Sánchez González is fascinated by freshwater mussels. Originally from Spain, Sánchez came to Arkansas State University for a master’s degree and developed an interest in mussels and fish. She thought mussels would be easier to study, she jokes, because they don’t move much. “I was wrong,” she said. “But, at some point, I realized that I really love working with mussels. I found them fascinating and I realized I am somehow good at identifying them.”
The River Basin Center and American Rivers collaborated on an important update to an influential report on headwaters. Drawing on hundreds of studies published since the original report, Where Rivers Are Born documents how small streams and wetlands slow floodwaters, recharge groundwater, trap sediment, and naturally cleanse pollution before it reaches downstream rivers, lakes, and drinking water sources.
A paper by RBC affiliate and Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources Professor Jaivime Evaristo points to interaction between the Okefenokee Swamp and the Upper Floridan Aquifer, refuting a widely held belief that the swamp is isolated from the aquifer below. Using isotopic and hydraulic evidence, Evaristo shows that the Hawthorn Formation between the two bodies isn’t as impermeable as some think.
The John Spencer River Run 5K and Nature Walk is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 31 beginning at 8 a.m. The event is held each year at the Odum School of Ecology in memory of John Kyle Spencer, a graduate student at Odum and the River Basin Center who dedicated his research to urban streams, freshwater ecology, conservation and ecological restoration.
Nandita Gaur works in the Crops and Soil Science Department of the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, but her degrees all are in engineering.
“I am a civil engineer, and my PhD was in bio and ag engineering. Even though I trained in the realm of engineering, my heart’s always been at engineering’s intersection with the natural environment and its human dimension.” Gaur’s research focuses on using remote sensing and geophysics to understand soil physics.