Megan Vahsen will join the Odum School of Ecology as an assistant professor in January 2025.

For her dissertation, Carolyn Cummins (PhD ’24) investigated how temperature affects leaf litter breakdown, carbon cycling and insect physiology in freshwater ecosystems—work that is becoming more important as climate change impacts water systems globally.

Ecology professor Scott Carver is probably best known for his work explaining why wombat poo is square (which won him a 2019 Ig Nobel Prize). Since arriving in January, he’s been working to apply his expertise in new areas while leveraging UGA’s significant resources in disease ecology.

Krista Capps and UGA scientists from across four schools and colleges have brought their research together to synthesize the water issues facing the I-85 “urban archipelago.”