2025 Seminar Series

Feb. 13, 2025

Metamitron, Six Years in the Making: Palmer Amaranth Control in Sugar Beet

NEVIN LAWRENCE

Associate Professor and Weed Management Specialist, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

As of 2023, there were no herbicides to control Palmer amaranth in sugar beet within Nebraska or Colorado. This presentation covers the past six years of research from the Panhandle Weed Science group that led to a emergency use label for a novel herbicide, saving the industry $7 million in yield in 2024.

Feb. 20, 2025

Designing Nitrogen-Use Efficient Maize Using a Population Genomics Approach

JINLIANG YANG
Associate Professor and Charles O. Gardner Professorship of Agronomy, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Yang focuses on bridging the gap between genotypes and phenotypes. At a broader scale, his group is keen to integrate various large-scale biological data such as phenomics, genomics, transcriptomics, methylomics datasets and functional annotations to boost the power of Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) and Genomic Selection (GS).

Feb. 27, 2025

Agriculture Biotechnology — A Tool for Functional Genomics and Complementing Plant Breeding Programs

THOMAS CLEMENTE
Eugene W. Price Distinguished Professor of Biotechnology, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Clemente received a B.S. degree in biology with a minor in chemistry from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1985. He earned a master's degree in plant pathology from Oklahoma State University in 1989 and a Ph.D. in plant pathology from North Carolina State University in 1993. Following his doctorate program, he did postdoctoral training at Monsanto Company from 1993 to 1996. For 29 years, he has served as the Director of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Plant Transformation Core Research Facility. Upon retirement in June of 2025, Clemente plans on writing a memoir of his career in science.

Clemente will discuss using ag biotechnology in plant breeding.

March 6, 2025

The Role of Conservation Management in Nitrogen Balance: Findings from the UNL-NRCS Collaboration

ADEWOLE ADETUNJI
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Groundwater nitrate contamination and greenhouse gas emissions are critical environmental challenges in Nebraska's corn systems, driven largely by inefficient nitrogen use and management practices.

During this seminar, Adetunji will explore how integrated cover crop, no-till management, crop rotation and optimized nitrogen rates can improve nitrogen use efficiency, boost economic returns and reduce environmental impacts at two long-term corn tillage sites in Nebraska.

March 13, 2025

What We Learned From Three Years of Growing Tye, Vetch and Mixture in Eastern Nebraska Under Variable Precipitation Seasons

TAUANA FERRIERA DE ALMEIDA 
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Ferriera De Almeida is an agronomist, holds a master’s degree in soil science from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and completed her doctoral degree 2024. She is a key contributor to the Precision Sustainable Agriculture Coordinated Agriculture Project. She is researching the efficiency of cover crops under different management systems to improve soil health, control weeds and pests and increase cash crop yield.

March 27, 2025

Water or Wisdom? Tackling Agriculture Sustainability in Türkiye

DENIZE ISTIPLILER
Assistant Professor, Department of Field Crops, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey

Turkey, the twelfth largest plant producer in the world, faces significant agricultural sustainability challenges: natural resource scarcity, particularly water, and technical shortcomings. This presentation explores whether drought and water shortages are the main culprits or if gaps in knowledge, technology and management practices lie at the root of the problem.

April 3, 2025

Ecometabolomics and Plant Response to Climate Change

NOURE BENKEBLIA
Professor of Crop Science; Director of Laboratory of Crop Science, Department of Life Sciences, Caribbean Centre for Research in Bioscience, University of the West Indies Mona Campus, Jamaica

With over 400,000 metabolites estimated in plant species, metabolomics is being considered as a promising tool that revealed its efficiency to study the complete set of small naturally present or stresses elicited metabolites. The study led to a comprehensive analysis of metabolites and metabolic pathways in plant tissues. The relatively new research discipline of Eco-Metabolomics is the application of metabolomics techniques to ecology with the aim to characterise biochemical interactions of organisms across different spatial and temporal scales. This experimental high-throughput analysis of molecular networks is considered a central approach to characterize the adaptation of plant metabolism to the change in the environment in particular rising temperatures and carbon dioxide enrichment of the atmosphere.

April 17, 2025

Herbicide Resistance

PETER SIKKEMA

Professor Emeritus, Field Crop Weed Management, University of Guelph, Canada

Herbicides have been placed in Herbicide Groups based on their sites of action. A major driving force for this classification system is that growers have been encouraged to rotate or mix herbicides from different HG to delay the evolution of herbicide-resistant weeds; because, in theory, all active ingredients within a herbicide group physiologically affect weeds similarly. Although herbicide resistance in weeds has been studied for decades, recent research has demonstrated patterns of cross-resistance are more complex than merely stating a certain weed biotype is resistant to a HG. The objective of this presentation is to highlight the intricacies associated with cross-resistance patterns within HG.

Sept. 4, 2025

Integrating Testing Optimization Frameworks into Soybean Breeding at UNL

ARTHUR BERNARDELI

Ph.D. Candidate in Plant Breeding and Genetics, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

This presentation highlights innovations to enhance soybean breeding efficiency at UNL. Topics include optimizing multi-environment trials through implementing genomic sparse testing designs, TPE and hub definitions, advancing drone-based phenotyping for maturity and software development to streamline analytical pipelines. Together, these approaches strengthen decision-making, improve resource allocation and accelerate genetic gain.

Sept. 11, 2025

In the Name of National Security: Front Line Science for the Farm, Table and in a Tube

MEGHAN JACKSON

Director for Food, Agriculture & Environment Security, National Strategic Research Institute, University of Nebraska

What do flying cows have to do with national security? And how does your research on severe weather protect our country? Take a walk through history to discover how diseases, environmental research and groundbreaking ideas crucial for national defense transform your every day.

Sept. 18, 2025

Decisions on the Prairie: How People Shape Rangeland Futures

GWENDŴR MEREDITH

Assistant Professor, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, and School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

What do ranchers’ decisions have to do with healthy prairies? And how does social science shape the future of our food and open spaces? Explore how research on people, prairies and partnerships reveals surprising connections that turn science into public value on working rangelands.

Sept. 25, 2025

Where to go with GMOs? The Next Generation of Agricultural Biotechnology

NATHANIEL BUTLER

Director, Plant Transformation Core Research Facility, Assistant Professor, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

It has been over 40 years since the first GMO plant product, the Flavr Savr tomato, was released, and only a handful have come since — so what now? This presentation will present current approaches to getting genetically engineered plant products to market and the opportunities and challenges to the industry.

Oct. 2, 2025

Using Theories of Power to Navigate Persistent Problems: Exploring Cases of Climate-Smart Agriculture in California and Agricultural Diversification in the Corn Belt

BRENNAN RADULSKI

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University

This presentation will discuss how social science research can provide a deep understanding of complex and persistent problems by applying theories of power to analyze and interpret social science data. The presentation will draw from cases exploring food system audiences’ perspectives of 1) the efficacy of California government climate-smart agriculture programs for farmers and 2) the policy and market challenges and opportunities related to diversifying farming systems, the landscape and markets in three Corn Belt states.

Oct. 9, 2025

Beneficial Bug Bale Project: An Eloquent Strategy for Managing a 100-year Pest of Wheat

JEFF BRADSHAW

Professor of Entomology, Director of Plant Health, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

The wheat stem sawfly, Cephus cinctus, has been a major pest of wheat in North America for over 100 years. Recent work by a large group of scientists and stakeholders are evaluating the success of a unique biological control strategy for the conservation and augmentative release of braconid parasitoids for the management of the wheat stem sawfly.

Oct. 23, 2025

Farmers as Science Advocates: Cases for Creative Engagement

RACHAEL WHITEHAIR

Director of Innovation & Stewardship, Nebraska Corn Board

Producers across the nation are heavily engaged in research and science communication, contributing to the advancement of the agriculture industry and its overall sustainability. This presentation takes a closer look at some of the key models utilized by commodity organizations to grow science advocacy and involvement among farmers.

Nov. 13, 2025

Utilizing Extension to Answer Turfgrass Science Questions for Nebraskans and Beyond

AMANDA FOLCK

Assistant Extension Educator in Turfgrass Management, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln 

This seminar will show how Folck developed her work in extension to utilize the answers to turfgrass science questions for Nebraskans and beyond. This is based on examples of her current collaborations in various outreach/engagement, teaching and applied research with extension.   

Nov. 20, 2025

Experiential Plant Breeding Training in the UNL Barley Program

RAFAEL BLEY COTTICA
Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

 KATHERINE FRELS
Assistant Professor, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

The UNL barley program does more than release elite varieties. Led by graduate students, it serves as a training ground for the next generation of breeders. They gain critical experience making high-stakes decisions, ensuring they are ready to lead their own programs immediately upon graduation.

Dec. 4, 2025

VIDEO UNAVAILABLE

Bridging Landscapes: Soil Health Assessment Across Farmer Fields and the Nebraska Sandhills

S. CAROLINA CORDOVA

Assistant Professor, Statewide Soil Health Specialist, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

This presentation explores soil health assessment methods applied in both Nebraska farmer fields and the unique Sandhills landscape of National Park Halsey. Discover how on-farm evaluations and research in protected areas together enhance our understanding of soil function, sustainability and management practices across diverse ecosystems.