Lana Koepke Johnson | Agronomy and Horticulture
Nine Department of Agronomy and Horticulture students have received fellowships and scholarships for 2020-2021.
Students named recipients of Milton E. Mohr 2020–2021 awards include Joshua Miranda, agronomy master’s student in weed science, and undergraduate agronomy majors Ryan Beck (junior) and Nathan Donoghue (junior), and plant biology majors Samuel Polk (senior), Elizabeth Schousek (junior) and Caleb Wehrbein (senior).
These awards recognize outstanding undergraduate and graduate students in the sciences of biotechnology and engineering based on their academic performance and potential for accomplishments in their specific field.
Miranda was awarded a graduate fellowship. His research focus is on dry been weed management programs to take advantage of crop rotation and other cultural practices to complement the sometimes limited weed control options available in Nebraska. He is advised by Nevin Lawrence, assistant professor of agronomy and horticulture at the Panhandle Research & Extension Center in Scottsbluff.
Scholarships were awarded to Beck, Donoghue, Polk, Schousek and Wehrbein.
The Milton E. Mohr Scholarship and Fellowship Awards Program was established in 1989 for students in the College of Engineering or biotechnology degree programs. The scholarships and fellowships are made possible through an endowment to the University Foundation.
Mohr was described in his lifetime as an engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, corporate leader and instrumental in providing key leadership to young adults. In 1938, he graduated highest in his class from Nebraska with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering. In 1959, Nebraska awarded him an honorary doctorate of engineering. He was president and CEO of Quotron Systems, formerly Bunker Ramo Corporation, an electrical engineer, corporate executive and philanthropist. He was named America's Most Outstanding Young Electrical Engineer in 1948.
Graduate students Alison Ludwig, Travis Millikan and Dillon Fogarty were awarded the Arthur William Sampson Fellowship for 2020-2021.
Ludwig is pursuing a master’s in agronomy and a minor in natural resources sciences. She is studying the habitat characteristics, multi-scale regime shifts and ecological resilience of the endangered American burying beetle, Nicrophorus americanus, in the Loess Canyons of Nebraska. She is advised by Dirac Twidwell, agronomy and horticulture associate professor.
Millikan is pursuing a master’s degree in agronomy with a range and forage science specialization. His research focuses on the influence of grazing management on rangeland plant communities in the Nebraska Sandhills. He is advised by Mitchell Stephenson, assistant professor of agronomy and horticulture at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff.
Fogarty, a doctoral student, is advised by Dirac Twidwell, agronomy and horticulture associate professor, and Craig Allen, School of Natural Resources professor and Director of the Center for Resilience in Agricultural Working Landscapes.
Fogarty’s research is broadly focused on the resilience and sustainability of rangeland systems. His work seeks to better understand the impacts of Eastern redcedar invasion, assess the performance of management strategies and work with stakeholder groups to improve future management investments.
The Arthur William Sampson Fellowship is awarded annually to Nebraska graduate students conducting research in range or pasture ecology and management. Sampson is considered the "Father of Range Management". He established the fellowship in 1947 to support graduate students with a special interest in pasture and/or range management in the state of Nebraska. It is awarded through the Center for Grassland Studies and includes a 12-month graduate stipend.
