Greetings from Athens! Although the cooler weather has arrived (at last!), UGA graduate students are red hot. Thirteen UGA graduate students have received National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, one received a Gilliam Fellowship from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and two received the prestigious Fulbright Fellowship. Our graduate students continue to amaze, with their cutting edge research and scholarship; stunning exhibitions and performances; and outstanding service to their communities.

This issue presents a snapshot of the outstanding work that UGA graduate students perform each day. I hope you will enjoy gaining insights into the technology behind artificial skin and water conservation, through the stories about Jitendra Pant and Caitlin Conn, respectively. I am sure you will be dazzled by Amanda Scheutzow’s intricate sculptures and Stacy Cobb’s remarkable story of persistence and determination. Brittany Jenkins and Barbara Del Castello are examples of UGA graduate students who have won highly competitive awards, the Gilliam Fellowship and White House Fellowship, respectively. Although their disciplines are very different, inherent in each of these stories is a student’s dream: to cure disease, save the planet, or make our world just a little bit brighter.

I hope these stories will brighten your day, as much as they have mine. I never cease to be amazed by our remarkable graduate students.

Cheers,

Suzanne Barbour