The Rural Engagement Workshop for Academic Faculty at UGA has announced the list of funded faculty seed grants to address issues in rural Georgia. The grants offer funding between $5,000 and $10,000 for faculty from across the University of Georgia to engage with rural Georgians on issues that are critical for their communities.

Launched by Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost S. Jack Hu and Vice President for Public Service and Outreach Jennifer Frum, the workshop is designed to encourage faculty to find challenging issues they can help address in rural Georgia. The program, now in its fourth year, also encourages collaboration between faculty in UGA schools and colleges with faculty in Public Service and Outreach and UGA Cooperative Extension already working throughout rural Georgia.

“As a land-grant and sea-grant institution, the University of Georgia is proud to work with communities across the state and to help them address their most pressing needs,” said Hu. “By connecting academic faculty and outreach faculty, we can accelerate innovative, community-focused research in rural Georgia and build upon our commitment to serving the state’s citizens.”

Qiong Wang, assistant professor at the College of Environment and Design and recipient of a 2024 seed grant, talks with 2023 Rural Engagement Workshop participant Llewellyn Cornelius, Donald L. Hollowell Distinguished Professor Social Justice and Civil Rights Studies at the School of Social Work and the director of the Center for Social Justice, Human and Civil Rights. (Photo by Shannah Montgomery, UGA)

The seed grant funding is provided by the Office of the Provost, with projects chosen partially on their fulfillment of two of UGA’s 2025 strategic directions: growing research, innovation and entrepreneurship, and strengthening partnerships with communities across Georgia and around the world. With faculty representing the wide array of disciplines from across the university, projects cover a range of issues from wastewater infrastructure to adolescent mental health.

“Thanks to the support of Provost Hu, the Rural Engagement Workshop and the seed grant funding is fostering partnerships across UGA to address a number of issues that will help enhance quality of life and economic development across Georgia,” said Frum.

Since the Rural Engagement Workshop began in 2021, alumni of the program have secured more than $7.9 million in subsequent funding that stemmed from projects started in the program.

This year’s recipients are:

• Krista Capps, associate professor at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and the Odum School of Ecology, in collaboration with faculty from UGA Extension, the Carl Vinson Institute of Government and the Archway Partnership.
• Joshua Caballero, associate professor, and Lorenzo Villa-Zapata, assistant professor, at the College of Pharmacy, in collaboration with faculty from the Archway Partnership and Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant.
• Christopher Cleveland, assistant professor at the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the College of Veterinary Medicine, in collaborating with faculty from UGA Extension and the Archway Partnership.
• Keith Wilson, assistant professor at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, in collaboration with 4-H.
• Kaitlyn Casulli, assistant professor at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, in collaboration with faculty from the Archway Partnership.
• Lucy Ingram, UGA Foundation Professor of Human Health and head of the Health Promotion and Behavior Department at the College of Pharmacy, in collaboration with faculty from the Archway Partnership and the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development.
• Qiong Wang, assistant professor at the College of Environment and Design, in collaboration with faculty from Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, UGA Extension and the Archway Partnership.
• Yingying Zeng, assistant professor at the School of Social Work (partnering with Lucy Ingram on a team project), in collaboration with faculty from the Archway Partnership and the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development.
• Leonardo Mendes Bastos, assistant professor at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, in collaboration with faculty from UGA Extension.