Sustainability
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Presented by
Susan Varlamoff, Director, Office of Environmental Sciences
UGA Sustainability Working Group
Water Quantity - agriculture
Breeding and genomic work - produces drought tolerant crops
Conservation tillage – reduces evaporation of water from soils
Precision agriculture - uses wireless network, GPS, aerial maps,
low pressure valves, soil moisture meters
Recycling water on dairy farms, greenhouses, poultry processing
plants
Water Quantity – urban landscapes
Golf course BMPs for water conservation – 1st in the world
Seashore paspalum grass – uses 50% less water than Bermuda
Xeriscape landscape – uses 50% less water
Breeding drought tolerant ornamental plants
Irrigation system improvements – drip, timers, rain shut off valves
Water collection devices - cisterns, rain barrels etc.
Water Quality
Stream buffer & wetland studies – to reduce nonpoint source pollution
Low dissolved O2 in S. Georgia streams – naturally occurring
Ag P2 – practices for land application of manure & chicken litter
Migration of contaminants in soil
Method to track fecal coliform and sediment source in streams
BMPs for Georgia Gardeners to reduce nonpoint source pollution
Watershed modeling
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Farming Farming
Powered by solar, wind, biogas and biofuels
Uses pest resistant &drought tolerant crops
Minimize fertilizer and pesticide use
Organic agriculture
Integrated pest management
Conservation/ no till agriculture
Precision Irrigation
Restores soil fertility – biochar
Sustainable Gardening
Pest resistant and drought tolerant ornamentals & turfgrass
Integrated pest management
BMPs for home gardeners to reduce nonpoint source pollution
Rain barrels, cisterns – collect rain water
Rain gardens, swales - manage storm water
Irrigation improvements - rainfall shutoffs, drip etc.
Ecosystem Services
Determine value of ecosystem services - water purification,
waste degradation, nutrient cycling
Assess land needed to maintain ecosystem services in Georgia
Use of buffers and wetlands to mitigate nonpoint source
pollution
Bioenergy
Integrated biorefinery – full carbon
cycling – end product biochar used to
restore soil fertility
Breeding and genetic modifying
crops for bioenergy
Biogas on dairy farms
Ag waste - chicken litter, wood chips,
peanut and pecan shells, etc. as
feedstocks
Life cycle analysis and sustainability
studies.
Member of National BioEnergy
Science Center
Winner of Grand Challenge
competition
Climate forecasting/change
Carbon sequestration in forests
Carbon sequestration in soils
Envirotron
Georgia Automated Environmental Monitoring Network
Southeastern Climate Consortium
Global Programs
Ecuador
Honduras
Mexico
Costa Rica
Chile
Brazil
Morocco
Tanzania
Mali
Uganda
Burkino Faso
South Africa
France
Austria
Italy
China
India
Japan
Thailand
Australia
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For more information:
CAES Office of Environmental Sciences
http://www.caes.uga.edu/unit/oes