Savannah, Ga. – The University of Georgia will hold a dedication ceremony for its newest facilities—the Center for Research and Education at Wormsloe cabins—on Friday, April 22, at 4 p.m. at Wormsloe, 7601 Skidaway Road, Savannah.
Nestled among the palm trees and Spanish moss-draped oaks, two new three-bedroom cabins, measuring roughly 1,450 square feet each, will provide lodging for students and faculty immersed in experiential learning programs on site.
“UGA’s Center for Research and Education at Wormsloe is situated on one of the most significant historical, cultural and natural sites on the Georgia coast,” said Sarah Ross, president of the Wormsloe Foundation and director of the UGA site. “UGA and the Wormsloe Foundation have partnered to support student and faculty research since 1938. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is now an important part of this public-private partnership which fosters interdisciplinary research and education involving a dozen academic units across campus.”
The event’s speakers include UGA President Jere W. Morehead; Don L. Waters, regent of the University System of Georgia; Daniel J. Nadenicek, dean of the College of Environment and Design; and Ania A. Majewska, Ph.D. student in the Odum School of Ecology.
Wormsloe was established in 1736 by Noble Jones, one of the original founders of the Colony of Georgia, as a farm and fortification against potential invasion by the Spanish. It has remained under the ownership and management of his descendants ever since. Wormsloe, although inhabited for centuries, has never been developed, making it one of the most ecologically intact properties in the area.
The current owners, ninth generation Jones descendant Craig Barrow and his wife, Diana, created the Wormsloe Institute for Environmental History with Ross and the Wormsloe Foundation in 2007. In April 2013, the trustees of the Wormsloe Foundation donated 15.45 acres of the Wormsloe property to UGA to create the UGA Center for Research and Education at Wormsloe. Research is conducted on these acres as well as the almost 1,200 that surround them, which are owned by the Georgia DNR.
The UGA students and professors at Wormsloe come from various disciplines—including geography, environment and design, archeology, anthropology, history, forestry and ecology-and from various parts of UGA—the College of Environment and Design, College of Engineering, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Odum School of Ecology and Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources.
The projects they’re working on range from solar to water to the intercoastal waterway to pollinator research to rice cultivation to augmented reality.