2019 Seminar Series

January 18, 2019

Leveraging Nebraska’s Bioresources for Weed Control in Specialty Crops

SAM WORTMAN
Assistant Professor, Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska—Lincoln

Nebraska is rich in bioresources, many of which can be used in specialty cropping systems to provide valuable agronomic functions. This seminar will highlight current research on bio-based mulches, seed meals, and sprayable films to manage weeds and increase profitability of vegetable production.

January 25, 2019

Integrated Weed Management in the Panhandle of Nebraska

NEVIN LAWRENCE
Assistant Professor, Integrated Weed Management Specialist, Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska—Lincoln

The Panhandle of Nebraska can be characterized by its unique soils, climate, and crops, compared to greater Nebraska. With limited herbicide options available to farmers because of soil conditions and crop tolerance restrictions, farmers must leverage targeted crop rotations and cultural practices to attain sustainable weed control. Current research will be discussed.

February 1, 2019

Cover Crops and Soil Ecosystem Services in the Great Plains

SABRINA RUIS
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska—Lincoln

Cover crops may provide many soil ecosystem services in Nebraska and other similar regions in the Great Plains. However, the ability of cover crops to deliver ecosystem services may be limited by cover crop management. Ruis will discuss the relationships between cover crop management and cover crop effects on soil ecosystem services.

February 8, 2019

Cover Crop Management and Insect Interactions

JUSTIN MCMECHAN
Assistant Professor, Crop Protection and Cropping Systems Specialist, Eastern Nebraska Research and Extension Center, Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska—Lincoln

Cover crop adoption is largely driven by a number of agronomic factors that vary depending on the producer’s goals. Insects are rarely discussed in cover crop systems unless significant economic losses occur. McMechan will discuss how cover crop management practices might alter beneficial insect activity or risk of insect pests.

February 22, 2019

Online Teaching: You Can Do It Too!

LEAH SANDALL
Distance Education Coordinator, Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska—Lincoln

MCKINZIE SUTTER
Distance Education Specialist, Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska—Lincoln

GRACE TROUPE
Distance Education Specialist, Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska—Lincoln

Embracing technology to create learning environments and resources for learners has been the focus of the Agronomy and Horticulture Distance Education program for close to 20 years. Sandall will share about the current status of the department’s online program, while Troupe and Sutter discuss some specific online teaching methods which have been successful in their online classrooms.

March 1, 2019

Developing Hybrid Wheat: Beyond the Theory

SALLY CLAYSHULTE
Bayer Crop Science, Adjunct Associate Professor, Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska—Lincoln

Clayshulte will discuss how the wheat hybrid system can be used as a basis to introduce new traits to increase the value of wheat. Open areas remain in bringing hybrids into the commercial seed market within North America and other regions. BASF purchased Bayer’s Seeds and Traits business in 2018, thus inheriting the hybrid wheat business. The legacy Bayer hybrid wheat strategy was based on observations of opportunities in wheat seeds and traits. Hybrid wheat development is based on genetics, experimental production systems, testing and selection. Different technology platforms can be utilized to identify and deliver value to wheat grains.

March 8, 2019

How is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics taught in North American Universities?

MARILYNE STAINS
Assistant Professor, Chemistry, University of Nebraska—Lincoln

ADespite extensive resources aimed at improving undergraduate STEM education over the past decades, the uptake of research-based instructional practices is unclear. Stains will describe the results of the largest observation-based study to date, which provide a snapshot of the instructional landscape of STEM undergraduate courses in North America.

March 15, 2019

From Transcripts to the Tri-State: Exploiting Plant Density Tolerance to Improve an American Delicacy

MARTY WILLIAMS
Ecologist, USDA-ARS, Adjunct Professor, University of Illinois

Over the last century, the United States has led the development and production of sweet corn globally. Despite improvements in eating quality, yields have stagnated in recent decades. Williams will present research, from the level of the gene to the upper Midwest, which the industry is now exploiting to improve sweet corn production.

April 5, 2019

Impacting People’s Lives – Strategies to Provide Nutrient-Enriched Staple Food Crops

MICHAEL GRUSAK
Center Director, USDA-ARS, Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center, Fargo, North Dakota

Food crops can provide nutrients to people, but nutrient levels are not always adequate to supply required daily amounts. Grusak will discuss conceptual approaches to determine nutritional targets, along with transgenic strategies to increase iron and zinc concentrations, in cassava storage roots for African consumers.

April 12, 2019

Using Genomics to Characterize the Speed and Diversity of the Soybean Iron Stress Response

MICHELLE GRAHAM
Research Geneticist, USDA-ARS, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa

Graham will discuss how reserving crop yield is critical for U.S. soybean production and the global economy. Crop species have been selected for increased yield for thousands of years with individual lines selected for improved performance in unique environments, constraints not experienced by model species such as Arabidopsis. Coupling plant breeding, genome-wide association studies and cutting-edge genomic approaches has revealed that genes involved in iron uptake and utilization, defense and DNA replication/methylation are the hallmarks of the soybean iron stress response.

April 19, 2019

Decision-Making during Drought: What Spurs a Range Manager to Take Action?

TONYA HAIGH
Project Manager Rural Sociologist, School of Natural Resources, National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

In 2016, a quickly-developing drought event occurred across the northern U.S. High Plains. Range and livestock managers made decisions throughout the drought that had consequences in terms of their farm/ranch finances, productivity, and ecological health. This talk will highlight managers’ drought management decisions, outcomes, information used, and the conditions and practices that led to improved outcomes.

September 6, 2019
 

Improving Heat Resilience in Cereals

HARKAMAL WALIA
Faculty Fellow, Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, Associate Professor, Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Higher global temperatures during cropping seasons are resulting in yield losses. Part of these losses are resulting due to higher nighttime temperatures during grain development. Walia will present work aimed at elucidating the physiological and molecular basis of these yield losses in two major cereals, wheat and rice. High temperature resilience of these two crops, which collectively provide more then 50% of the human caloric needs is essential for sustaining future food production.

September 13, 2019

Integrating Design, Analytics, and Genomics in Crop Improvement

JIANMING YU
Professor and Pioneer Distinguished Chair in Maize Breeding, Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University

Novel strategies and effective tools are essential for sustainable food production. One challenge is how to rethink and redesign discovery pipelines to achieve higher resource use efficiency. In this seminar, Yu will highlight three research areas where integrated designs can be used to mine the diversity in genes and environments.

September 20, 2019

Pollinator Health and Conservation Efforts in Nebraska

JUDY WU-SMART
Assistant Professor, Extension Specialist, Department of Entomology, Bee Lab, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Pollinator Health and Conservation Efforts in Nebraska” is a seminar that highlights research and extension efforts by the UNL Bee Lab as well as collaborators and partners across the state. Information will include current research on abiotic and biotic stressors contributing to bee decline in managed honey bee colonies and wild bee populations. This seminar is the start of a series of webinars presenting information on projects in Nebraska by members and partners of the Beneficial Insect Ecosystem Issue Team.

September 27, 2019

Regenerative Agriculture – from the Soil to the Table

JOSEPH AND MATTHEW BRUGGER, Upstream Farms
STEVE TUCKER, AgriForce Seed
KATIE KREUSER AND BEN MCSHANE-JEWELL, Assistant Extention Educators, Metro District, Seminar Moderators 

Three University of Nebraska–Lincoln CASNR alumni share how they are changing the agricultural landscape in Nebraska from their crop selection and growing practices, to the product marketing and diverse customer base. Panelists will discuss the importance of their practices and how farmers can apply them to ensure future success.

October 4, 2019

Río de la Plata Grasslands - a South American Tallgrass Prairie? Floristic and Ecological Similarities and Management Implications  

BIANCA OTT ANDRADE
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

The Río de la Plata grasslands is one of the largest continuous grassland ecosystems in the Americas. These subtropical and temperate grasslands share many floristic and functional similarities with temperate grasslands of North America. Andrade will discuss how these characteristics lead to similar ecological processes and their implications to grazing management.

October 11, 2019

Why Diversity Matters: From Disease Management to the Next Big Scientific Breakthrough

SYDNEY EVERHART
Associate Professor, Quantitative Ecologist, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Disease management and government regulations are based on knowledge of the biology and ecology of plant pathogens. Molecular techniques allow accurate identification of causal agents, but have also revealed that some agents constitute several morphologically indistinguishable organisms. This talk will highlight economically relevant examples of cryptic species and why diversity matters, including recent research in Nebraska. Building on the idea that diversity matters, this talk will also highlight research on how a diverse workforce is a powerful asset towards the next big scientific breakthrough and current outreach at Nebraska cultivating career opportunities for underrepresented students in the agSTEM fields.

October 25, 2019

A Multiomic Approach at the Single Cell Level to Better Understand the Transcriptional Regulation of Plant Genes

MARC LIBAULT
Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

How the plant genome is regulated, organized, and expressed to produce different cell types is arguably one of the grand challenges in biology. Using state-of-the-art single-cell methodologies, the Libault lab is interested in characterizing cell-type-specific transcriptomic programs, their level of conservation between plant species, their dynamic regulation in response to environmental stresses, and the impact of chromatin accessibility in regulating these programs.

November 1, 2019

The Biogeochemistry of a Fertilized Landscape: Are Nebraska Rivers and Streams Pipes or Processes of Nutrients? 

JESSICA CORMAN
Assistant Professor, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

In Nebraska, as in other regions with intensively managed agriculture, many streams are enriched with nutrients. Yet, these streams also have the capacity to process nutrients, slowing or completely removing them from the water. This talk will consider the biogeochemical potential of streams in Nebraska to mitigate nutrient enrichment.

November 8, 2019

Connecting with Growers through a Peer-to-peer, Experiential Program Titled TAPS

DARAN RUDNICK
Assistant Professor, Irrigation Management Specialist, Biological Systems Engineering, West Central Research and Extension Center, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

The needs of growers continue to change overtime due to the level of education; awareness of the physical environment; sophistication of equipment and farming systems, technology, and their associated services; heightened pressure from end-users; and/or accessibility to information; among others. Consequently, the platform or space in which we engage growers around efficient and profitable crop production must adapt. This seminar will provide an overview of an interactive and engaging program titled “Testing Ag Performance Solutions (TAPS)” as well as current research efforts in west central Nebraska.

November 22, 2019

Metabolic Modeling and ‘Omics’ Data Integration in the Context of Plant Systems Biology

RAJIB SAHA
Assistant Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Plant Systems Biology is relatively a new concept in which a systems level approach is needed in order to get a wholesome view of plant biology. This talk will highlight how metabolic modeling and ‘omics’ data integration can attempt to explore some of the important questions in plant biology ranging from stress response and role of specific group of metabolites in pathogenic response.

December 6, 2019

Rangeland Research in Western Nebraska

MITCH STEPHENSON
Assistant Professor, Range Management Specialist, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, Panhandle Research and Extension Center, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Rangeland production and species composition vary both spatially and temporally in western Nebraska. This variability can influence how cattle graze within pastures and, as a result, grazing pressure on specific areas or specific species depending on grazing management. This presentation will focus research seeking better understanding of spatial and temporal variability on rangelands and how understanding cattle grazing behavior can help livestock producers strategically manage cattle for defined vegetation objectives.