HONORS
in Brief Agriscience research
American star
Civic scholarship
Community focus Tarun Ramesh will be representing UGA as a 2020 Newman Civic Fellow. The Newman Civic Fellowship is a yearlong program that recognizes and supports community-committed students who have demonstrated an investment in finding solutions for challenges facing communities throughout the country. The fellowship is named in honor of Frank Newman, one of Campus Compact’s founders, and is supported by the KPMG Foundation. For 2020, this group includes 290 students from 39 states and Mexico— the largest cohort of Newman Civic Fellows ever. Tarun, a third-year Honors student and Foundation Fellow, is majoring in economics and genetics. His personal statement for the Newman Civic Fellowship honors his grandmother and her work as “an unapologetic activist and a distinguished physician.” He has “sought to bridge the gap between policy research and community needs by building diverse coalitions to reduce disparities in health care access. In Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, I have worked with the Roosevelt Institute to expand medication-assisted treatment for incarcerated individuals with opioid use disorder, helping to deconstruct the criminalization of addiction. At the Center for American Progress, I highlighted the inadequacies in emergency medical care and the risks that future hospital closures pose to rural residents. ... Prioritizing community needs has shaped my own policy evaluation framework.”
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UGA HONORS PROGRAM MAGAZINE SPRING 2020
Courtney Cameron researches fungal pathogens in addition to her normal class load as an agriscience and environmental systems major. In November, the thirdyear CURO Honors Scholar from Valdosta received the American Star in Agriscience at the 92nd annual National FFA Convention and Expo in Indianapolis. National FFA annually recognizes FFA members who rise to the top with the American Star Awards. The American Star in Agriscience is awarded to the FFA member who demonstrates the top agriscience-based supervised agricultural experience in the nation. Courtney is involved in research concerning Neofusicoccum and Fusarium
oxysporum f.sp. vasinfectum, both fungal pathogens. She plans to make agriculture her career, conducting research and communicating that science with others. “I want the kind of job where I’m able to be very versatile in what I do and able to serve the farmer and serve as a bridge between the farmer and the consumer,” she said.
Unite ticket
SGA president At the end of February, Honors junior Asim Ahmed, right, was named president of UGA’s Student Government Association when UGA students elected the Unite ticket to the executive branch of the SGA for the 2020-2021 academic year. Asim is a Foundation Fellow from Columbus majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology. The Unite ticket included Cheryl Kwapong as vice president-elect and Carson Kuck as treasurer-elect.
Pancake party
Flipping out over finals Every December, the Honors Program Student Council helps students fuel up for exams during Flipping Out Over Finals. The Reading Day Eve tradition includes cookie decorating, hot chocolate, an ugly Christmas sweater competition, and pancakes. At right, HPSC leadership Sneha Gubbala, Megan Pierce, and May Hu show off their sweaters.
