Research Projects

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Research projects listed on this page represent a sampling of project from the last year. Please use the search box above to investigate our research project archive.

NIMBUS researchers have earned two grants to push the boundaries of what robots can do and expand human understanding of how climate change is impacting agricultural, aquatic and wildland systems.

NIMBUS receives $2M to advance robotics’ role in climate change research

NIMBUS researchers have earned two grants to push the boundaries of what robots can do and expand human understanding of how climate change is impacting agricultural, aquatic and wildland systems. (3/27/2023)
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Husker scientists have contributed to a wide-ranging research collaboration in California that is pursuing innovative methods in the study of wildlife ecology.

Husker researchers contribute to innovative study of California mountain lions

Husker scientists have contributed to a wide-ranging research collaboration in California that is pursuing innovative methods in the study of wildlife ecology. (3/22/2023)
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Nebraska’s Karrie Weber, Jeff Westrop and colleagues have established that nitrate, a compound common in fertilizers and animal waste, can help transport naturally occurring uranium from the underground to groundwater.

Study confirms nitrate can draw uranium into groundwater

Nebraska’s Karrie Weber, Jeff Westrop and colleagues have established that nitrate, a compound common in fertilizers and animal waste, can help transport naturally occurring uranium from the underground to groundwater. (3/22/2023)
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Matt Joeckel, a professor in the School of Natural Resources at Nebraska, headed the field work for a collaborative project at Utah’s Cedar Mountain Formation. The scientists expanded knowledge of ancient carbon-cycle changes relevant to understanding present-day environmental conditions.

Joeckel's analysis of ancient carbon cycle deepens understanding of modern Earth

Matt Joeckel, a professor in the School of Natural Resources at Nebraska, headed the field work for a collaborative project at Utah’s Cedar Mountain Formation. The scientists expanded knowledge of ancient carbon-cycle changes relevant to understanding present-day environmental conditions.  (2/24/2023)
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Though planting the eastern redcedar tree in grasslands often began as an effort to establish windbreaks against dangerous gusts and detrimental erosion, the woody vegetation has since spread well beyond those shelterbelt origins. In the past 20 years, Nebraska has seen the planting and expansion of more eastern redcedar than almost any other state. Even the Nebraska Sandhills, a semiarid region once thought too dry for eastern redcedar, has experienced a 30-fold increase in the tree’s presence over the past two decades.

Spread of redcedar tree may threaten quantity, quality of Nebraska's water

Though planting the eastern redcedar tree in grasslands often began as an effort to establish windbreaks against dangerous gusts and detrimental erosion, the woody vegetation has since spread well beyond those shelterbelt origins. In the past 20 years, Nebraska has seen the planting and expansion of more eastern redcedar than almost any other state. Even the Nebraska Sandhills, a semiarid region once thought too dry for eastern redcedar, has experienced a 30-fold increase in the tree’s presence over the past two decades. (2/24/2023)
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John Benson, associate professor in the School of Natural Resources, is leading a comprehensive study of Nebraska’s elk population. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, a partner in the project, is providing $831,942 in federal grant funds for the research work, set to extend to 2028.

Husker researchers, Game and Parks partner on statewide elk study

John Benson, associate professor in the School of Natural Resources, is leading a comprehensive study of Nebraska’s elk population. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, a partner in the project, is providing $831,942 in federal grant funds for the research work, set to extend to 2028.  (2/10/2023)
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FINDING COULD GUIDE SAMPLING OF GROUNDWATER FOR CONTAMINANT LINKED TO HEALTH ISSUES A stray observation would lead Husker alumna Mikaela Cherry to hunt for a link between a groundwater contaminant and the irrigation pipes that crisscross rural Nebraska. She appears to have found it.

SNR Alumni: Mikaela Cherry - Rust-coated irrigation pipes hint at lack of nitrate in groundwater

FINDING COULD GUIDE SAMPLING OF GROUNDWATER FOR CONTAMINANT LINKED TO HEALTH ISSUES A stray observation would lead Husker alumna Mikaela Cherry to hunt for a link between a groundwater contaminant and the irrigation pipes that crisscross rural Nebraska. She appears to have found it.  (12/7/2022)
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The National Drought Mitigation Center has received $1 million in funding from U.S. Air Force Weather for the first phase of a defense project to predict civil unrest around the globe.

Drought center kicks off $1 million defense project to predict unrest

The National Drought Mitigation Center has received $1 million in funding from U.S. Air Force Weather for the first phase of a defense project to predict civil unrest around the globe. (7/12/2022)
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Most of the residents of Mead and the surrounding area have heard about AltEn and the environmental crisis created there. Of the few hundred people who responded to a survey from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, 80% said they had heard about the plant being the source of a cocktail of pesticides that has spilled into the surrounding countryside. But to Jesse Bell, the director of the Water, Climate and Health Program at UNMC, the next data point — even at a preliminary stage — is even more alarming.

AltEn research team shares preliminary findings, promises further study

Most of the residents of Mead and the surrounding area have heard about AltEn and the environmental crisis created there. Of the few hundred people who responded to a survey from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, 80% said they had heard about the plant being the source of a cocktail of pesticides that has spilled into the surrounding countryside. But to Jesse Bell, the director of the Water, Climate and Health Program at UNMC, the next data point — even at a preliminary stage — is even more alarming. (6/17/2022)
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Rivers transport important nutrients across landscapes and into larger bodies of water. Among those nutrients are nitrogen and phosphorous, which stimulate the growth of crops but, when accumulating in water, may also yield “dead zones” that deprive marine animals of oxygen.

Study finds change in Niobrara’s nutrients following 2019 flood

Rivers transport important nutrients across landscapes and into larger bodies of water. Among those nutrients are nitrogen and phosphorous, which stimulate the growth of crops but, when accumulating in water, may also yield “dead zones” that deprive marine animals of oxygen. (6/16/2022)
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The University of Nebraska (UNL) is conducting a research project at the Cooper YMCA with the goal of developing a treatment technology that reduces algae and weed growth in urban ponds.

A Water Quality Improvement Project at Cooper YMCA, Lincoln NE

The University of Nebraska (UNL) is conducting a research project at the Cooper YMCA with the goal of developing a treatment technology that reduces algae and weed growth in urban ponds. (5/27/2022)
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Mike Forsberg, a Nebraska conservation photographer, has been travelling the "whooper highway" for the last month following the migration path of the whooping cranes, an endangered species since 1970.

From Texas to Fort Smith, conservation photographer documents whooping crane migration

Mike Forsberg, a Nebraska conservation photographer, has been travelling the "whooper highway" for the last month following the migration path of the whooping cranes, an endangered species since 1970. (5/2/2022)
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For the first time in more than 10 years, the university set fire to grassland at the Barta Brothers Ranch near Rose, Neb., and burned 150 acres on March 18, 2022. The burn was part of the collaborative adaptive management project that the university’s Center for Resilience in Agricultural Working Landscapes and its Center for Grassland Studies have led at the ranch since 2020.

University burns patch of Sandhills grassland in test of fire and grazing

For the first time in more than 10 years, the university set fire to grassland at the Barta Brothers Ranch near Rose, Neb., and burned 150 acres on March 18, 2022. The burn was part of the collaborative adaptive management project that the university’s Center for Resilience in Agricultural Working Landscapes and its Center for Grassland Studies have led at the ranch since 2020.  (4/4/2022)
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Significant Workshops

Implications of a Changing Arctic on the Water Resources and Agriculture in the Central U.S. (2015)

The focus of this workshop was on how the significant climatic and environmental changes being observed in the Arctic may be affecting changes in mid-latitude weather and the implications of these changes on the frequency of extreme weather and climate events (e.g., severe weather, droughts, floods, heat waves) in the Central U.S.

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Climate Change Implications for Nebraska (2014-2016)

In September 2014, the University of Nebraska published a report summarizing climate change impacts to the state. This comprehensive report summarized the current understanding of climate change science, projected changes in climate for Nebraska and the implications of these changes for some of the state’s primary sectors. Eight roundtable discussion focusing on areas such as wildlife, human health, energy availability were conducted and summarized.

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