Clint Thompson is pictured with his Young Scholar Michael Pannell.

TIFTON, Ga. – High school students are not the only ones benefitting from the University of Georgia Young Scholars Program on the UGA Tifton Campus. Watching students grow in knowledge and experience makes Glen Rains’ work as a mentor during the six-week internship worthwhile.       

“My favorite part is learning where they go after [the Young Scholars Program],” said Rains, a UGA agricultural engineer who has served as a mentor every year the program has been offered at UGA Tifton. Rains also keeps in touch with most of the Young Scholars he has mentored. He is currently mentoring Bailey Veeder, a rising junior from Clarke Central High School in Athens, Georgia.

The job of each mentor is to help a young student or students with their research and to make sure the students’ summer project is completed correctly. The Young Scholar depends on their expert for advice and guidance, and they gain very valuable experience.

“The best part is that their minds are like an empty bowl, so you can teach them from scratch. The basic things they learn here will help them in the future,” said Bhabesh Dutta, a UGA plant pathologist who specializes in vegetable diseases, specifically those diseases that affect onions and watermelons.

           

Dutta’s Young Scholar, Zoya Day, reported the first case of Pseudomonas syringae leaf spot disease on pumpkins in Georgia. Day, along with the other 11 Young Scholars from UGA Tifton, delivered presentations on Tuesday, July 5, to showcase their work and the research they’ve been involved in for the past six weeks.

The Young Scholars Program is offered on all three UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences campuses: Tifton, Athens and Griffin, Georgia.

Teri Hughes, assistant coordinator of the Young Scholars Program on the UGA Tifton Campus, said the scientists involved are all volunteers. They give of their time to have an impact on the career path a student chooses.

“The Young Scholars Program would not be possible if it wasn’t for the world-renowned scientists that we have here at UGA Tifton who are willing to share their knowledge with and impart their wisdom on the next generation,” Hughes said. “I hope these kids realize and cherish the opportunity they’ve had this summer to work alongside some of the best scientists in the world. These students have benefitted from their time here.”

           

The mentors had words of wisdom for those students who were part of this year’s program and those thinking about participating in years to come: “A key to receiving the most out of the program is to love learning new things and to be able to do your own research,” Rains said. “Learning on your own is enriching and vital to the growth of a scientist.”

This year’s Young Scholars and their mentors on the UGA Tifton Campus include: Lauren Asbell (Jennifer Tucker), Mackenzie Brown (Babu Srinivasan), Zoya Day (Bhabesh Dutta), Leilani Fonsah (Rippy Singh), Selyna Gant (Rippy Singh), Julie Jernigan (Sha Tao), Katie Kemeness (George Vellidis), Sarah King (Craig Kvien), Michaela Lubbers (Peggy Ozias-Akins/Corley Holbrook), Michael Pannell (Clint Thompson), Reaiah Tyson (Claudia Dunkley) and Bailey Veeder (Glen Rains).