Located at historic Wormsloe on the Isle of Hope, Georgia, the UGA Center for Research and Education at Wormsloe (CREW) hosts researchers from the Odum School, the College of Environment and Design, the College of Engineering, and the departments of anthropology, geography and history.


The mission of the Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases is to lead the University of Georgia to become a worldwide center of excellence in the study of the ecology of infectious diseases.

The center seeks to cultivate an intellectual community where scientific curiosity is valued, rigorous solutions to the problems posed by ecology and infectious diseases are sought, and technical skills are developed and transferred to the rising generations of scientists.


The Center conducts basic research to gain new fundamental knowledge about water and land resources of Ichauway and the region, as well as applied research focusing on modern problems related to environmental quality and land management activities. Information gained through scientific research is shared with graduate and undergraduate students, some of whom participate in Center research, as well as with land managers and policy-makers.

Graduate students from regional research universities conduct thesis work under on-site advisement of Center scientists. Work experiences in research and conservation are also available for qualifying undergraduate students, especially during summers. The Odum School of Ecology and the Warnell School of Forest Resources have developed a joint program with the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center, including research assistantship support for those graduate students who will be conducting their thesis or dissertation research at Ichauway.

The Center hosts university and conservation group field trips as part of its outreach program. In addition, Center staff frequently provide presentations on the Center’s programs to area organizations.

Ichauway is a 29,000 acre outdoor laboratory of the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center. Located in rural Southwest Georgia, Ichauway provides a program of excellence in ecology and natural resource management, including research, education and conservation objectives.

Robert W. Woodruff, the long-term chairman of The Coca-Cola Company, managed the plantation for hunting, principally quail hunting. Upon Woodruff’s death and with the advice of The Nature Conservancy, the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation established the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center on Ichauway in 1991. They recognized the unique natural characteristics of the land including one of the most extensive, unbroken tracts of longleaf pine and wiregrass in the United States.

A director was hired to begin developing the programs and facilities, which became fully operational in 1993. In a three-tiered program, the Center’s scientific staff gather complex scientific data and translate that information into terms that will serve both the scientific and nonscientific communities.

The Center’s eight scientists are at work on experimental research as well as thorough biological and physical investigations of Ichauway and surrounding coastal plain ecosystems.

For more information about the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center, please contact: Kier Klepzig, Director kier.klepzig@jonesctr.org



River Basin Center

The River Basin Center, housed in the Odum School but drawing from units across campus, connects freshwater science and policy to promote sustainable management of aquatic resources and ecosystems. River Basin Center faculty, staff and students work on aquatic management issues around the globe, but with particular emphasis on the southeastern U.S.