News

Quick joins department as recruitment specialist Thursday, August 18, 2022

Tyler Quick joined the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture July 18 as the new undergraduate recruitment specialist. He has quickly begun work to engage prospective students in plant and landscape systems and plant biology at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

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Grassini appointed to endowed professorship Wednesday, August 17, 2022

University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Patricio Grassini, associate professor of agronomy and horticulture, has been named the Sunkist Fiesta Bowl Distinguished Professor in Agronomy.

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10 earn graduate degrees Monday, August 15, 2022

August 2022 Department of Agronomy and Horticulture graduates.

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln conferred 632 degrees during a combined graduate and undergraduate commencement ceremony Aug. 13 at Pinnacle Bank Arena, 400 Pinnacle Arena Drive.

Susan M. Swearer, Willa Cather Professor and chair of the Department of Educational Psychology at Nebraska, will deliver the commencement address. Swearer is a licensed psychologist, co-director of the Bullying Research Network and director of the Nebraska Bullying Prevention and Intervention Initiative.

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Kansas, Nebraska researchers use plants to pull toxic lead from soil Monday, August 15, 2022

University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers compared the amount of lead taken up by lettuce planted in highly leaded soil, plain agricultural soil, and soil with biochar and coffee grounds added.

According to a 2020 experiment led by Ryley Thomas, a student under the supervision of Assistant Professor Michael Kaiser in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, adding biochar to soil reduced the amount of lead taken up by the lettuce planted in it.

Full story from NPR

Omaha Tribe receives $671K grant for hydroponic farming Monday, August 8, 2022

A first-of-its-kind grant will fund the building of three hydroponic greenhouses on the Omaha reservation.

See full story in Nebraska Today

Tross awarded Corteva Agriscience fellowship Friday, August 5, 2022

Michael Tross, University of Nebraska–Lincoln doctoral student studying integrated plant biology, is the recipient of the competitive Developing Emerging Leaders and Talent in Agriculture Fellowship from Corteva Agriscience. Tross is advised by James Schnable, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Department of Agronomy and Horticulture professor and the Dr. Charles O. Gardner Professor of Agronomy.

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In Nebraska’s Loess Canyons, Setting Trees Ablaze Gives Prairie Birds a Boost Wednesday, August 3, 2022

A prescribed burn beats back trees in Loess Canyons. Photo: Andy Moore

For generations Great Plains ranchers saw fire as a foe. Now they’re banding together and embracing it as a tool to restore grassland habitat. Liza Grotelueschen and her neighbors began carefully restoring fire to the landscape after seeing the march of woody species displace prairie plants that feed wildlife and livestock alike. “A grassland needs fire as much as it needs water,” says Dirac Twidwell, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln rangeland ecologist. “If you shut off water, it turns into a desert. If you shut off fire, it turns into woodlands.”

See full story in Audubon Magazine

Nebraska U program reaches Indigenous teens via farming, mentorship Tuesday, August 2, 2022

Ted Hibbeler (from left) and brothers Gabe and Mateo Perales work in the Indigenous Garden on East Campus. The garden, which was added this year, is part of the university's Indigenous Food Sovereignty Program.

Established in fall 2021, the university’s Native American Coalition Food Sovereignty Program offers teens from LPS the opportunity to meet weekly with tribal elders, members of Nebraska Extension and CASNR, and other members of the university community to learn about how to garden and feed their families. It also reinforces respect for the land from a Native perspective. Agronomy and Horticulture's Ann Powers, Christian Elowsky and TJ McAndrew have helped make this program possible.

See full story in Nebraska Today

4Rs Nutrient Stewardship Field Day featured nutrient management and water quality research Monday, August 1, 2022

Javed Iqbal, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture assistant professor and Extension soil nutrient management and water quality specialist, presents updated research on nitrogen source management, and nitrogen rate using publicly available nitrogen recommendation tools.

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln 2022 4Rs Nutrient Stewardship Field Day at the Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center on July 19 featured knowledge and tools on improving nutrient management and water quality through research and demonstrations. 64 participants were in attendance including NRD staff, growers, crop consultants, Extension educators, graduate students, faculty, industry representatives and other clientele.

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Agronomy and Horticulture undergrads receive stipends for summer research projects Friday, July 29, 2022

William Anderson, a freshman plant and landscape systems major from Gothenburg, Nebraska, cross-pollinates two different lines of corn during research with Professor David Holding in plots on East Campus.

Five Department of Agronomy and Horticulture students are among 175 Husker undergraduates awarded stipends by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln to participate in research with a faculty mentor this summer.

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