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.
Big congratulations to our graduate students on their recent award wins! Your hard work, passion for discovery, and commitment to excellence set a high standard for our academic community.
- Matthew Bauer won first place in the Oral Competition (Insect Conference) at the 2026 Beltwide Cotton Conference.
- Rachel Hill won third place in the Oral Competition (Improvement Conference) at the 2026 Beltwide Cotton Conference.
- Bukhtaawer Talat won first place in the Poster Competition at the 2026 Beltwide Cotton Conference.
- Sindoora Nalajala was awarded first place in the Graduates and Postdocs Poster Session at the Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference. The title of the poster: Polyploidy induction of triploid interspecific hybrids in blueberries.
We're proud of our awesome graduate students and want to recognize their excellence!
The Institute for Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics has a vibrant graduate program that offers both a Master's degree and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics.
University of Georgia professor and IPBGG member, John Ruter (along with Yajun Yan of the UGA College of Engineering) have been elected Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors, bringing UGA’s total to 19 faculty members who have received this honor since 2012. It is the seventh consecutive year the university has had faculty elected.
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