The Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach will recognize four faculty members and one staff member for outstanding service to the state and UGA at the 25th annual Public Service and Outreach Meeting and Awards Luncheon on April 11.
Karen Payne, senior public service associate in the Carl Vinson Institute of Government’s Information Technology Outreach Services, will receive the Walter Barnard Hill Distinguished Public Service Fellow Award. UGA’s highest honor for public service and outreach, the award recognizes sustained, distinguished and superb achievement in university public service that improves quality of life. It is named for the chancellor who led UGA from 1899 until his death in 1905.
As the head of humanitarian programs at the Institute of Government, Payne uses geographic information systems and other spatial and information technologies to help organizations worldwide that are involved in humanitarian aid and disaster relief.
Three faculty members and service professionals will receive the Walter Barnard Hill Award for Distinguished Achievement in Public Service and Outreach in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the improvement of the quality of life in Georgia and beyond. This year’s Hill Award recipients are Ellen Bauske, Phillip Brannen and David Moorhead.
Bauske, a program coordinator for the Georgia Center for Urban Agriculture, coordinates programs in urban water issues, safety training, local food, turfgrass and arboriculture.
Brannen, a professor of plant pathology at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in Griffin, focuses his research, teaching and extension efforts on disease management programs for numerous fruit-producing crops throughout the state and region.
Moorhead, a professor of silviculture in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and co-director for the UGA Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health, develops and delivers statewide and regional outreach programs on silviculture, forest vegetation management, invasive species and forest health issues.
The Public Service and Outreach Staff Award for Excellence recipient is Fei Zhang, program coordinator for the Carl Vinson Institute of Government’s International Center.
In this role, he assists Georgians visiting China as instructors or leadership delegation members with orientation, translation, program and budget development, and more.