On October 14-16, the Sunbelt Expo was held near Moultrie. In the University of Georgia building, all exhibits followed the general theme of water conservation. Stripling Park joined other UGA teams there, in our case showing irrigation water conservation. Our display included a banner with a timeline of irrigation milestones in Georgia, soil moisture sensors, plants with sensors in the root zone, and live internet links to webcams and soil moisture data from Stripling Park via the SGRita wireless internet project. Visitors had the opportunity to get “hands on” with several sensors and watch soil moisture values change on the computer screen.

We were delighted to have Gov. Perdue, Pres. Adams, Dean Angle, Assoc Dean Shulstad, and Asst Dean West drop by our display to see our team's work. Rad Yager, education and outreach coordinator for SIRP, led the development of the display and was assisted in the on-site demonstrations by Ivey Griner, Jay Hathorn, and Calvin Perry. SIRP was proud to be a participant in Sunbelt Expo 2008.