Four faculty members from the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture received promotions and/or tenure in 2026. They are among 93 University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty to be honored this year.
Cody Creech was promoted to professor. He received a Bachelor of Science in business operations management and a Master of Science in plant science from Utah State University, and a doctorate in agronomy, specializing in weed science, from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Creech joined the department faculty as an assistant professor and dryland cropping systems specialist at the Panhandle Research, Extension and Education Center in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, in 2015. He was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure in 2021, and he was named the Fenster Professor of Dryland Agriculture in 2022.
He leads a research and extension program addressing wheat production, alternative cropping systems, soil and resource conservation, and crop and livestock integration in dryland cropping systems in western Nebraska. In addition, Creech is the faculty supervisor for the High Plains Agricultural Laboratory near Sidney, Nebraska, and leads the state variety testing program jointly with Amanda Easterly, research associate professor in agronomy and horticulture.
Terri James was promoted to extension educator. She received a Bachelor of Science in horticulture and a Master of Science in public horticulture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
James joined the department faculty as an assistant extension educator in community environment and urban gardening in 2016 and was promoted to associate extension educator in 2020.
She provides consumers with science-based resources on consumer landscape systems and gardening. James has coordinated the Nebraska Extension Master Gardeners Volunteer program for 17 years and has been a part of the “Backyard Farmer” panel, the longest-running locally produced television program in the nation, for 14 years. She also serves as the university’s Horticulture Club adviser.
Daniel Uden was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure. He received a Bachelor of Arts in geography from Concordia University, Seward; a Master of Science in wildlife ecology and a doctorate in natural resource sciences, specializing in applied ecology, from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Uden joined the department faculty in 2020 as an assistant professor and resilience spatial scientist with a dual teaching and research appointment with the School of Natural Resources. He is serving as the interim director of the Center for Resilience in Agricultural Working Landscapes.
One of the overarching challenges Uden is working to address is how to maximize the production of food and other essential resources while maintaining resilient landscapes. He trains students to use technologies such as GPS and satellite data and collaborates with students and fellow researchers to develop tools that help landowners and managers tackle complex challenges, including woody plant encroachment into grasslands.
Samuel Wortman was promoted to professor. He received a Bachelor of Arts in biology and environmental studies from the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota. He earned a Master of Science and a doctorate in agronomy from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Wortman joined the department faculty as an assistant professor and environmental horticulturalist in 2016. He was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure in 2020. He has a 75% teaching and 25% research appointment.
He and colleague Andrea Basche secured a $10 million USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Coordinated Agricultural Projects grant with teaching, research and extension components and on-farm cover crop research. In the education component of the grant, they developed the Plant and Landscape Systems 425/Agronomy 825 Cover Crops in Agroecosystems course. He teaches three other courses, including Plants, Landscapes, and the Environment; Plant Propagation; and Specialty Crop Innovations.
Wortman’s research is focused on the design, creation and testing of new methods, ideas and products to support local specialty crop growers and improve sustainability of local food systems through the Grow Local Innovation Lab. He also leads the Husker Produce Farm on East Campus, which is expanding access to fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables for the Lincoln community through a $90,000 grant from the We Give Blood Drive competition, Abbott and the Big Ten.
See a complete list of all University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty receiving promotion and/or tenure in 2026.
