Best of CASE District III Award
 

Institution: University of Georgia

Title of entry: Invasive Arachnids

About this entry: In early 2022, researchers in UGA’s Odum School of Ecology found that the Joro spider can withstand cold environments better than many of their tropical cousins, and that means that they could colonize the entire East Coast.

When we learned about this research in UGA’s Division of Marketing and Communications, we knew it was a story people would want to hear. Staff immediately began preparing a news release, collecting photos (including shots taken in our studio of a Joro spider found outside an employee’s home).

This story is now the top Google result for a search of "joro spider".