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Give to Lincoln Day totals

The Center and the Museum received $1,046 in donations on May 16 during the Lincoln Community Foundation's Give to Lincoln Day. Thank you to everyone who donated! If you would like to make a contribution the center's work providing community events, scholarly projects and a world-class art museum, visit our donation page.

New audio up

Priscilla Grew, director of the University of Nebraska State Museum and professor in the department of Earth and atmospheric science gave a presentation at the Center titled "Engaging Lifelong Learners in Natural History: The Land-Grant Mission of the University of Nebraska State Museum." Listen to the talk and view slides from the presentation here.

Great Plains Fellows win grants

Several Great Plains Fellows have received Rural Futures Institute grants for projects in teaching and engagement.

-- Lisa Pennisi, School of Natural Resources, along with Center for Great Plains Studies Director Rick Edwards, received one to develop a course on ecotourism, tourism marketing and community engagement with a long-term goal of assisting rural landowners and communities by developing successful ecotourism ventures.

-- Yunwoo Nam and Zhenghong Tang, both from the College of Architecture, a grant to establish a service-learning program within established curricula. Over two years, they hope to add serving-learning components to 12 existing courses.

Read the press release here and get more information about the individual grants here.

Announcing the 2015 Great Plains Symposium

The Center for Great Plains Studies is announcing a partnership with the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs for a spring 2015 event centered on Native Americans in the Great Plains. The Center's 41st Annual Great Plains Symposium will be held in the spring of 2015 with the theme of Chief Standing Bear, the Standing Bear Trail and continuing issues for Native Americans in the Great Plains today. The symposium is a two-day, interdisciplinary event attracting scholars, public officials, tribal members and other interested members of the public from across the Great Plains. Read the press release, print a flyer for the event and go to the NCIA's website.

Wes Jackson at the Center -- win perennial grain!

Wes Jackson has pioneered the technique of Natural Systems Agriculture -- an agriculture informed by nature that preserves biodiversity. See the press release for more information. After watching the video, head to our Facebook page, like our page and like the link to the Wes Jackson video and we'll randomly pick a fan to win a bag of the Kernza flour discussed in the video. Jackson says it's good for pancakes.

Great Plains Dinstinguished book prize winner

"Blackfoot Redemption: A Blood Indian's Story of Murder, Confinement and Imperfect Justice" by William E. Farr is this year's winner of the Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize. It was published in 2012 by the University of Oklahoma Press. Farr's book reconstructs the events of a Canadian Blackfoot called Spopee who shot and killed a white man in 1879. Through the narrative, he reveals a larger story about race and prejudice as the transition to reservations began.

2013 Great Plains Graduate Fellows chosen

The Center for Great Plains Studies has appointed eight UNL graduate students to its Graduate Fellows Program. The program is a place for selected students to work, meet, obtain support, learn from fellow students, engage with the Center faculty and staff, benefit from the Center's resources and progress in their studies. The students (the second round to be accepted since the program’s beginning last year) are Mikal Brotnov, William England, Joshua Ewalt, Kent Fricke, Nora Greiman, Joe Hamm, Jason Hertz and Kristin Sorensen. Click here for contact info and more about the students' work. Read the press release here.

More news and notes

See previous entries from this section here.

Climate Change in the Midwest: Impacts, Risks, Vulnerability, and Adaptation