Josh Podvin, Assistant Director for Community Partnerships, Office of Service-Learning, University of Georgia

Joshua Podvin serves as the assistant director for the Office of Service-Learning, focusing on community partnerships and engagement. In this role, he supports the “Engage Georgia” platform, coordinates communication and support of community partners, special projects and days of service and helps promote reciprocity and partnership with the local community. He previously served as the Experience UGA coordinator, facilitating educational field trips to the UGA campus for all 13,000+ students in the Clarke County School District. He is a graduate of the Public Service & Outreach Vivian H. Fisher Leadership Academy and the Public Service and Outreach Facilitation Academy. Josh earned his M.Ed. in higher education administration from Arizona State University in 2006, and he is currently pursuing a master’s in landscape architecture.

Will Rogers, Conservation Research Professional, State Botanical Garden of Georgia, University of Georgia

Will Rogers is a research professional II at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia where his work focuses on public service and outreach, horticulture and genetic analysis of various threatened and endangered plant species. He is a native of south Georgia, where he developed a knack for noting strange and unusual relationships in the natural world. His career in plant biology began as he was obtaining a degree in psychology from UGA in 2000. He worked for 17 years in the plant biology department under Russell Malmberg until his retirement. The last 10 years of Rogers’ plant biology career focused on Sarracenia (Pitcher Plants), seeing the creation of the world’s only F2 mapping population for the genus as well as sampling tons of fantastically disgusting plant “gut content.” He joined the State Botanical Garden’s science and conservation team in late 2017 under plant biology alum and director, Jenny Cruse-Sanders. He is delighted that his quarter-century relationship with plant biology continues via a partnership with department head John Burke.

Caitlin Grdinich, Graduate Assistant and Campus Kitchen Food Trailer Coordinator, University of Georgia

Caitlin Grdinich currently serves as the Campus Kitchen Food Trailer Coordinator through her graduate assistantship at the University of Georgia. She manages a mobile kitchen that delivers meals to underserved communities in Athens, demonstrating a commitment to sustainable food systems and community service. She is a dual-degree student pursuing a Master of Social Work and a Master of Public Health. She joined the UGA Office of Service-Learning in 2021 through the Public Service and Outreach Student Scholars program and interned with Campus Kitchen during her undergraduate years.