{"id":12330,"date":"2026-06-30T10:41:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T14:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/?p=12330"},"modified":"2026-06-30T10:41:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T14:41:29","slug":"honors-global-scholars-explore-sustainable-agriculture-and-well-being-in-georgia-and-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/2026\/06\/30\/honors-global-scholars-explore-sustainable-agriculture-and-well-being-in-georgia-and-ireland\/","title":{"rendered":"Honors Global Scholars Explore Sustainable Agriculture And Well-Being in Georgia and Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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When Amy Potter, Ph.D., attended a panel discussion in Ireland about environmental changes in the summer of 2023, she didn\u2019t expect to be inspired to create a cross-disciplinary learning experience for students in Georgia Southern University\u2019s Honors College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The geography professor had already been guiding her students through the history of Irish farming and agriculture at the University\u2019s Learning Center in Wexford, Ireland. But it was the passion of one Irish farmer, Jer O\u2019Mahony, who spoke on a panel about the challenges facing farmers, specifically those who operate family-owned farms, that truly resonated with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat summer, two days after we met him at the panel, he came and gave a talk to our students in Ireland,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat was so interesting about his presentation was that it touched on mental health, geography and biology \u2014 all these different groups that were in the room. He engaged everyone in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Potter took on the leadership of the Honors Global Scholars in 2024, she knew she wanted sustainability and agriculture to be central themes. Established in 2023, the program is a cohort-based learning experience for first-year students from various academic disciplines. The coursework is team-taught by faculty from across the University, including Potter and Howard Keeley, Ph.D., director of Georgia Southern\u2019s Center for Irish Research and Teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy class reads a journal article called \u2018The Precarity of the Irish Family Farm,\u2019 which explores the different factors impacting the sustainability of the Irish farm,\u201d Potter said. \u201cWhen we talk about the Irish family farm, we can\u2019t just talk about the farm itself \u2014 we have to talk about the grocery stores, the middlemen in terms of food distribution. There are so many layers of who\u2019s making the money versus the family farm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visiting farmers in Bulloch and surrounding Georgia counties, as well as in County Wexford, gives students firsthand insight into the people at the origin of food production \u2014 and the challenges they face in both local and global contexts. In May, the 24 students in the 2024-25 cohort wrapped up a six-week trip to Ireland, where they conducted and presented survey-based analyses to a high-level visiting delegation that included Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns and his wife Dayle Burns, operators of a fifth-generation family farm from Effingham County, and Cynthia N\u00ed Mhurch\u00fa, an Irish member of the European Parliament. The students\u2019 work even caught the attention of Irish media, earning them a feature interview on South East Radio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Propagating New Perspectives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Honors College Global Scholar Ellie Brown recalls not giving much thought to where her food comes from before coming to Georgia Southern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI knew absolutely nothing about agriculture, and even less about sustainability,\u201d the Buford, Georgia, native said. \u201cI really was naive to the fact that agriculture plays such a big part in society today, but through the program, I\u2019ve taken a hands-on approach to what we\u2019ve learned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cohort visited Brooklet-based family farm Hunter Cattle Company and Metter-based Better Fresh Farms, which utilizes space in Georgia Southern\u2019s Business Innovation Group\u2019s Metter Business Incubator and Georgia Grown Innovation Center. Brown said the farm visits have opened her eyes to the world of farming in a way she didn\u2019t expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s completely changed the way I\u2019ve thought about food and what I put in my body,\u201d Brown said. \u201cIt\u2019s changed the way I view how people care about their food and how farmers and people who work in agriculture do their work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weston Calhoun focused on agricultural sustainability when he participated in the first cohort as a freshman. He describes the program as incredibly impactful and a reason that he secured a summer internship at the Statesboro headquarters of AgSouth Farm Credit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was no better learning experience for me than actually doing experiential learning with a group of professors who were dedicated to teaching us about the same thing with a group of students who are all on the same page,\u201d Calhoun said. \u201cIt really formed my freshman year and has been the highlight of my educational experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focusing on family farms means serving the communities in which Georgia Southern\u2019s campuses are located with a focus on coastal sustainability and resilience, an area of focus for the University\u2019s research efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe family farm is absolutely critical,\u201d Keeley said. \u201cThe average size of a family farm in Ireland is around 50 to 60 acres. We\u2019re asking, \u2018Is that a sustainable model in the present day?\u2019 We have to decide that we value the family farm and recognize that it\u2019s so integral to our identity that we will commit to making it sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Enriching Farmers\u2019 Lives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A primary focus for students and faculty in the second cohort has been surveying Irish farmers. Led by Potter, the survey asked farmers to report on their mental health and the challenges they face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not uncommon to hear of farmers taking their lives, so we wanted to get an understanding of what\u2019s happening on that front,\u201d Potter said. \u201cWe also asked questions about how farmers feel about organizations like the European Union (EU).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early themes emerging from the survey indicate Irish farmers are skeptical of EU policy in promoting sustainable agricultural practices. In addressing mental health concerns, Potter said preliminary data indicate stress factors include extreme weather conditions, environmental challenges, heavy workload and long hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe survey we\u2019ve created is allowing farmers to be heard and be seen in ways that are social and emotional, and that is very important,\u201d Keeley said. \u201cOne of the things we noticed about farming in both southeast Ireland and coastal Georgia is an aging demographic. Farming is often a very isolated kind of job, so there are high suicide rates among farmers. These are very important issues, and farmers need to feel that they\u2019re being acknowledged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keeley added that the Irish Department of Agriculture has highlighted the survey in the European Parliament as an important intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sustaining the Future of Agriculture<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Agricultural sustainability goes beyond environmentally friendly practices. It\u2019s also about keeping farms in business, supporting farming communities, and preserving farms for future generations. While in Ireland, Calhoun learned that most Irish farms are family-owned, but there are fewer family members to pass the farm on to.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIn a survey of Irish farmers, 51% said they didn\u2019t know if they had someone to take over when they passed away,\u201d Calhoun said, noting a vast majority of farmers are aged 60 and older. Visiting Irish family farms helped Calhoun understand the importance of generational farming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight when we got there, lambs were being born one after another,\u201d he said. \u201cWe were able to see how even the youngest members of the family \u2014 these 5- and 6-year-old kids \u2014 are helping out on the family farm, which is a really common thing in Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cultivating an International Community<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Another important part of this research is building an international community between coastal communities in Ireland and Georgia, Keeley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the most fundamental level, we\u2019re bringing together the best practices from Ireland and Georgia by working with farmers who are our core constituency, but also by incorporating our experts in our Institute for Water and Health and Institute for Health Logistics and Analytics,\u201d Keeley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Ireland, the program is working with the Irish Environmental Protection Agency and Teagasc, Ireland\u2019s national agricultural research agency, both of which are headquartered in County Wexford and close to Georgia Southern\u2019s campus there, Keeley noted. Potter believes Georgia Southern\u2019s students\u2019 contributions to Irish communities have been meaningful to farmers there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the most rewarding thing is seeing that we have formed these very close relationships with Irish farmers; they are close to our students, they\u2019re close to our faculty,\u201d she said. \u201cTo have young people take an interest and care about what they\u2019re doing, I think that\u2019s also been very meaningful to them. It\u2019s really a beautiful partnership that\u2019s formed across the Atlantic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2014 Crissie Elrick Bath<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Amy Potter, Ph.D., attended a panel discussion in Ireland about environmental changes in the summer of 2023, she didn\u2019t expect to be inspired to create a cross-disciplinary learning experience for students in Georgia Southern University\u2019s Honors College. The geography professor had already been guiding her students through the history of Irish farming and agriculture […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":12331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[91,92],"class_list":["post-12330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-fall-2025","tag-spring-2026"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t