The blueberry breeding program of the University of Georgia was established in 1944 at the Coastal Plain Experiment Station in Tifton, Georgia, currently known as the University of Georgia Tifton Campus. Establishing the public breeding program was in response to the failed commercialization venture in Florida, which was undermined by the poor and variable fruit quality from wild plant stock in early 1900’s.
We are proud to recognize the outstanding achievements of our students who have been selected for the IPBGG 2026 Awards:
-
Roger and Cindy Boerma Plant Breeding Excellence Scholarship Award
Recipient: Samikshya Rijal -
The Glenn & Helen Burton Feeding the Hungry Scholarship Award – MS
Recipient: Stephanie Botton -
The Glenn & Helen Burton Feeding the Hungry Scholarship Award – PhD
Recipient: Habib Widyawan -
The Peggy Ozias-Akins Leadership in Science Award
Recipient: Saptarshi Mondal
Each award recipient will receive $2,500 in recognition of their exceptional contributions.
A heartfelt thank you to our review committee for their dedication and effort in evaluating the dossiers—a task that is never easy!
PBGG doctoral student Anita Giabardo (advised by CRSS professor Dr. Robin Buell) is one of two doctoral candidates at the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) chosen for the eighth cohort of the prestigious Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) Fellows program, a three-year initiative designed to cultivate the next generation of food and agriculture research leaders.
The fellows will conduct research aligned with FFAR’s global challenge areas and engage in professional development designed to prepare them for leadership across academia, industry and government.
IPBGG members David and Soraya Bertioli are internationally recognized pioneers in peanut genetics, whose groundbreaking work has reshaped the future of agriculture.
Originally from Brazil, the couple moved to Georgia in 2013 to establish the Wild Peanut Lab, a hub of innovation dedicated to unlocking the genetic secrets of wild peanut species. Their expertise was instrumental in a major genome mapping project, where they traced the lineage of a disease-resistant wild peanut—collected in 1934 in Bolivia—through 251 cultivated varieties across 29 countries. Their work not only bridges continents and centuries but also holds the key to more resilient, sustainable peanut crops worldwide.
Robin Buell, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar Chair in Crop Genomics and Professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
The NAS is dedicated to:
- Recognizing and elevating outstanding science
- Fostering the broad understanding of science
- Overseeing the National Research Council in producing and promoting the adoption of independent, authoritative, trusted scientific advice to the government for the benefit of society