Rich Braman, Systems Administrator and Developer
UGA Cooperative Extension / Center for Urban Agriculture
Where Science Meets People
Our friend and colleague Dr. Ruchika Kashyap – known to her growing audience as Dr. R – has launched Urban Pods, a brand-new podcast and science communication venture that pulls urban and controlled environment agriculture out of the lab and puts it straight into the hands of the people who need it most: growers, students, homeowners, and the curious.
We could not be more excited. Urban Pods is exactly the kind of bridge our industry has been asking for – practical, research-based, and genuinely fun to listen to.
Episode 1: Our Own Center for Urban Agriculture
For her very first episode, Dr. R sat down with Dr. Bethany Harris, our Center Director, Rolando Orellana, Urban Water Management Agent, and Whitney Ottinger, Sustainable Agriculture Educator and SARE program assistant. The conversation is a great introduction to who we are and what urban ag actually means across Georgia – from food production and water management to the Journeyman Farmer Program, pollinator conservation, and the Great Southeast Pollinator Census.
A few highlights worth tuning in for: Bethany’s three-word definition of urban ag (economics, environment, community), Rolando’s plea for pervious pavers and smarter irrigation, and Whitney’s cover-crop enthusiasm. The rapid-fire “Flash It” round at the end is a blast.
Dr. R also gives a shout-out to the rest of the Center crew who keep the operation humming – Becky Griffin (Community Garden Coordinator and Great Southeast Pollinator Census mastermind), Kimberly Allen, Beth Horne, Dr. Melba Salazar, and yours truly. We are a team, and it is nice to be celebrated as one.
Listen to Episode 1: What the Center for Urban Agriculture Brings to the Community
Episode 2: Meet the Fab Five
If Episode 1 is the welcome mat, Episode 2 is where Dr. R opens the door to controlled environment agriculture and introduces the UGA dream team she calls the Fab Five: herself, Dr. Rhuanito Ferrarezi (CEA crop physiology), Dr. Andrew Ogden (CEA plant breeding), Dr. Erich Schoeller (CEA entomology and IPM), and Dr. Zhihang Song (CEA phenomics and engineering).
They tackle the question everyone asks – what exactly is CEA? – and the answer is as broad and exciting as you’d hope. High tunnels, greenhouses, vertical farms, even NASA-adjacent space agriculture. There is talk of melons that actually taste like melons, “ant-man” vision for diagnosing plants from the inside, and why a butternut squash might just beat a tomato in a year-long CEA diet. If you care about where fresh, local food is headed, this one is required listening.
Listen to Episode 2: Fab Five: The CEA Team at UGA
Tune In and Follow Along
Urban Pods is hosted on Buzzsprout and lives on Dr. R’s lab site. Upcoming episodes include a conversation with Kendall Rae Johnson, Georgia’s youngest certified urban grower and USDA Youth Ambassador, and a Moon to Mars episode with Dr. Matthew Mickens, a NASA plant scientist working on space agriculture. Yes, really.
Visit the Urban Pods home page: site.caes.uga.edu/uceplab/urban-pods-2
Congratulations, Dr. R. We are so proud to be Episode 1, fired up about Episode 2, and cheering you on for every episode after that.
Rich Braman
UGA Cooperative Extension / Center for Urban Agriculture
