Georgia Southern University recently recognized approximately 2,420 students for excellence in academics on the Fall 2020 President's List. To be eligible for the President's List, a student must have at least a 4.0 grade point average and carry a minimum of 12 hours for the semester.

Georgia Southern University recently recognized approximately 3,850 students for excellence in academics on the Fall 2020 Dean's List. To be eligible for the Dean's List, a student must have at least a 3.5 grade point average and carry a minimum of 12 hours for the semester.

Erin Arneson, a graduate student in the James H. Oliver Jr., Institute for Coastal Plain Science (ICPS) and Department of Biology, was one of five students selected for the Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship.

Georgia Southern journalism student Brendan Ward will take part in the American City Business Journals Business Reporting Program at New York University as a part of a Dow Jones News Fund Internship.

Lauren Wilson, a graduate student in the Georgia Southern University Department of Biology, spent the summer working as a snake specialist in Central America. Wilson joined a research team tasked with quantifying and protecting biodiversity in the forests of Cusuco National Park, Honduras. The team was organized by the conservation research organization, Operation Wallacea.

When 19-year-old Georgia Southern student and archer Adam Heidt arrives in Naples, Italy, this July, he'll be competing against some of the top collegiate athletes in the world as he works toward his goal of one day competing at the Olympics. Heidt, a Springfield, Georgia, native, will join other college athletes at the summer World University Games (WUG) to represent USA Team in the individual, team and mixed team archery competitions.

A team of Georgia Southern University logistics students placed third out of 14 schools and received $1,000 in the first-ever FreightTech Innovation Challenge in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

While most people tend to avoid ticks, Jackson Tomlinson, a graduate student in the Department of Biology finds them fascinating and beautiful. His interest in the parasites was recently rewarded with the discovery of two species of ticks that are entirely new to science.

Students seeking careers in the hospitality industry aren't just learning concepts in the classroom, but they are also prepared for the industry through hands-on experiences at Georgia Southern University. The Hospitality Management program in the Parker College of Business prepares students for entry-level management positions in the restaurant and lodging industries while focusing on industry operations. Throughout the academic year, hospitality students travel throughout the Southeast to locations known for tourism to experience the behind-the-scenes operations of restaurants, hotels, pre-packaged food facilities and more.

The spring 2019 graduating class in the Athletic Training Program at Georgia Southern University has earned a 100% pass rate on the Board of Certification (BOC) exam. The comprehensive test covers a student's entire education and clinical experience and must be passed in order to become a certified athletic trainer.

The 25th annual Georgia Southern Fall 2016 Commencement Ceremony represented a momentous day as approximately 1,700 of Georgia's best and brightest undergraduate and graduate students received degrees from the University's eight colleges. Approximately 400 graduate degrees were conferred, while around 1,300 undergraduate students received degrees.

Janna Hines, senior communication sciences and disorders major from Columbia, South Carolina, has been honored with the Southern Talon Award.

Two members of the Georgia Southern University Office of Leadership and Community Engagement staff, Urkovia Andrews, Dr.P.H., assistant director for service-learning, and Jordan Wilburn, coordinator for community engagement, were recognized at the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority's (DSDA) annual meeting and Brick Awards. Wilburn was acknowledged for providing the DSDA with Georgia Southern student volunteers who connect, serve and lead. Andrews was recognized for partnering with the DSDA with the Georgia Southern BUILD Program and Step Into Statesboro tours. She has also helped with the Downtown Dog Park, written grants and served on the Blue Mile Committee. Destin Doe, a senior computer science major and community liaison for the DSDA, was also recognized with an Excellence in Service award.

STATESBORO, Ga.-The Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art (BFSDoArt) at Georgia Southern University recently presented its annual Form and Content student exhibition April 5 to 12 at the Center for Art & Theatre on the Statesboro Campus. Form & Content features student work from Art Foundations classes that include Drawing I, Drawing II, 2D Art and Design Foundations, 3D Art and Design Foundations, and Digital Foundations.The exhibition was juried by Ben Tollefson is a nationally-exhibited artist and an assistant curator at the SCAD Museum of Art. Tollefson has been working with both 2D and 3D art, his practice is highly realistically rendered, chromatically complex and tightly composed, yet evocative and surreal in appearance. Winners were announced at the closing reception on April 5. Haley Wilson was awarded first place. Peyton Butts was awarded second place. Genevieve Townsend was awarded third place. Students work accepted in the Form & Content exhibition are Jacoby Aultman, Jalen Austin, Patrick Brownlee, Yaschira Camacho, Carlos Carvajal, Justin Chinnery, MacKenzie Cintron, Katsi Cruz Delgado, Cathy Estes, Brittany Evans, Anna Forbes, Anna Grace Raley, Sabrina Hill, Makenzy Lane, Giselle Martinez, Dubby Ibuoka, Taylor Mcmahan, Matthew McRae, Pardiss Moazzam, Katherine Naude, Laiken Owens, Anna Peters, Abigail Rodriguez-Colon, Elias Smalls, Cheyenne Smith, Megan Tanner, Julianna Tilman, Nina Trammell, Makinzie Wall, Elizabeth Wilson, Devon Witkowski, and Whitney Youngblood Josey.

The Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art (BFSDoArt) at Georgia Southern University recently presented its annual undergraduate juried exhibition from April 5 to 12 at the Center for Art & Theatre on the Statesboro Campus. Juried 2019 featured the variety of media taught within the Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art, which includes drawing, painting, jewelry, multimedia, mixed media, photography, printmaking, sculpture and ceramics. The exhibition was juried by Susan Laney, is the owner and director of the Laney Contemporary Gallery in Savannah, Georgia. Laney has been active in the art scene for well over a decade and has worked with some of the region's most important contemporary artists, as well as with galleries and artists nationwide. In addition to her gallery, she frequently curates exhibitions for a number of museums and art fairs. Winners were announced at the closing reception on April 5. Nina Samuels was awarded Best in Show. Taylor Goody was awarded Juror's Choice. Aminatta Mbow was awarded Exceptional 2D, and Andrew Shirah was awarded Exceptional 3D. Other students with work accepted into the Juried 2019 exhibition were Marjorie Adams Alise, AJ Aremu, Meridith Bearden Lauren, Ashton Beeghley, Peyton Butts, Emily Coats, Andrew Cobb, Sierra Cornell, Jasmine Davis, Hannah Eldridge, Allison Exley, Nicholas Farmer, Rachel Forehand, AnnaBrooke H. Greene, Shelby Head, John R. Lewis, Tanner Maxey, Tyre McDonald, Tommy McMillan, Alex McReynolds, Abigail Newman, Megan Nussbaum, Katrine Ramhoj, Virginia Russell, Alyssa Santana, Macey Skelton, Kevin Spillane, Megan Tanner, Raven Waters, and Gherri Weekes-Garnette.

Georgia Southern University Spanish and French major Emily Pressler has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) grant for the 2019-2020 academic year. Pressler's placement will be in Galicia, Spain, and she will assist primarily in English classes for students who speak Spanish, Galician and English.

Two Georgia Southern students and one alumna are semifinalists for selection as 2019-2020 Fulbright English Teaching Assistants. Emily Pressler, a senior Spanish and French major, Michael Casteel, a senior computer science major, and alumna Adom Abatkun ('18), who earned a degree in criminal justice and criminology, applied last fall for the opportunity to teach English in other countries. All three students worked for months on their applications before interviewing with the campus Fulbright committee. The national screening committee then selected these students to move on to the next round. Fulbright's National Screening Committee selected the students to move on to the next round, and they are now waiting for a decision to be made by selection committees in their respective, potential host countries. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program supports individual study/research projects and English teaching assistantships in other countries. Any senior or alumni may apply for these awards.

Eleven students from Georgia Southern University assisted the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) on March 2 in establishing a new oyster reef restoration site on Hutchinson Island at the Ashepoo River. Led by Daniel Gleason, Ph.D., director of the Institute for Coastal Plain Science at the University, and John Carroll, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology, the student group teamed up with University biology graduate Michael Hodges ('01), a biologist with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR). "Establishing this relationship with Michael Hodges and South Carolina DNR provides several outstanding opportunities for our students," said Gleason. "Not only does it allow them to make a difference by participating in an important restoration activity, but it also puts them in direct contact with individuals who can provide them with access to internships as well as long-term career opportunities in natural resource management." With the help of SCDNR staff, the students transferred 350 bags, approximately 10,500 pounds, of recycled oyster shells from land to the shoreline to help form new oyster reefs. The purpose of the program, known as the South Carolina Oyster Restoration and Enhancement Program (SCORE), is to plant recycled oyster shells along the shoreline to form new, self-sustaining oyster reefs. Over time, larval oysters attach to the shells and grow and multiply until they form a vibrant ecosystem. SCORE is a community-based habitat restoration program relying solely on volunteer groups to assist in establishing oyster reef sites. It is an important endeavor because oysters play a significant ecologic and economic role in the southeastern United States. "Oysters improve water quality, control erosion and provide habitat for other commercially-important shellfish and fish species," said Hodges. "Unfortunately, oyster populations are declining, so restoration activities such as SCORE are needed to maintain the quality of the habitat." The oyster reef restoration site established was the first by students from Georgia Southern, but there are already plans to return next year to check on the reef's progress and to extend the current reef by adding even more bags of recycled shells.

Caroline Steed has been selected as this year's recipient of the Annie F. Oliver Award for Volunteer of the Year. This award, given annually by the Savannah Speech and Hearing Center, recognizes individuals who have demonstrated excellence in and a strong commitment to volunteering for the betterment of the Savannah Speech and Hearing Center community. Steed, from Savannah, graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Sciences from Armstrong State University. Upon graduation, Steed returned to Georgia Southern University to obtain a post-baccalaureate certificate in communication sciences and disorders on the University's Armstrong Campus. "I was extremely honored to receive this award," stated Steed. "Volunteering for this organization has truly been a once in a lifetime opportunity and I feel very fortunate to be given the opportunity to be able to work with the diverse populations that Savannah Speech and Hearing Center serves." Steed has been volunteering with the Savannah Speech and Hearing Center since January 2018 and has clocked more than 188 hours of volunteer experience working in a variety of areas including hearing screenings at local schools, the Stroke Group, Sound Start and fundraising events. "I have had the chance to learn from some of the most skilled, caring and compassionate people I have ever had the pleasure of coming into contact with. Volunteering and giving back to the community I was born and raised in gives you an incomparable sense of worth," said Steed. Steed was honored at a Volunteer Reception held in February. After graduation in May, Steed plans to continue her education and obtain a master's degree in communication sciences and pursue a career in speech-language pathology.

Georgia Southern University special education majors Kylie Brady and Rebecca Hinrichs are passionate about helping students with disabilities, as well as the studied benefits of appropriate classroom management. Their passions led to a presentation at Harvard University's annual National Collegiate Research Conference, the largest student-run research conference in the country, in January.

On April 17, 2017, S. Dawn Odom completed the requirements to now claim the designation Certified Master Athletic Administrator. She has joined an elite group of other athletic administrators from across the country that has attained the CMAA designation in the field of athletic administrators. The NIAAA is the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. Georgia Southern University, Masters of Educational Leadership

The executive members of Georgia Southern's Interfraternity Council (IFC) recently attended the Southeastern Interfraternity Conference (SEIFC), held to provide IFC executive members from all over the U.S. with resources to enhance and improve their councils. Georgia Southern's Fraternity and Sorority Life was recognized in the top tier of Greeks nationwide for having an all Greek GPA that is higher than the all campus average GPA.

Ceramic work by Georgia Southern student MacKenzie Williard recently was accepted into a group exhibition at Local Project in Long Island City, New York. ANIMILIA was curated by Julian Calderon. It includes work from more than 60 artists. The show is on view from March 2 - March 18. Willard is a senior Bachelor of Fine Arts student concentrating in 3D Studio Art.

Henriette Sabroe Ebbesen, was a winner in Life Framer's monthly photography competition "Still Life." The work from her series "Kaleidoscope Still Life" received an honorable mention in the competition judged by internationally celebrated photographer Lorenzo Vitturi. Additionally, Ebbesen's portfolio is currently featured on the Photo Vogue Italia website. "Water Lilies," a photocollage from her series "Feminine Development," was selected Photo Vogue Italia's Pic of the Day on January 2. Ebbesen currently is studying medicine at University of Copenhagen, Denmark. She attended Georgia Southern University through the Georgia Rotary Student Program and studied art from 2015-2016. Here she found her passion for fine art photography. Her work has been featured in exhibitions in the U.S. and Europe.