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.
2013 symposium photos and news coverage
Educators, researchers and interested parties from across the region attended the Center's Annual Symposium this year in Kearney. See photos from the event here. And check out the coverage of the event in the Kearney Hub, 10/11 News, KHAS-TV 5 and the Omaha World Herald.
Journal award winners announced
The 2012 Frederick C. Luebke Award for Great Plains Quarterly has been given to Harvey Markowitz, Department of Anthropology at Washington and Lee University. For Great Plains Research, the Charles E. Bessey Award for the best natural science article in 2012 goes to Sharon N. Kahara, Department of Natural Resource Managment and Steven R. Chipps, U.S. Geological Survey. Leslie Hewes Award for the best social science article in 2012 goes to Robert Pahre, Department of Political Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Read the release here.
Top 50 Ecotourism Sites in the Great Plains
Last year, we surveyed 51 naturalists in nine states to determine the top 50 ecotourism sites in the Great Plains and produced a print map. Now, an interactive map of the sites is available online here. Be an ecotourist! Check out the map and help us fill in the photos. You can request a paper map by contacting cgps@unl.edu
Conservation Jam video
The Center for Great Plains Studies and The Nature Conservancy hosted a Conservation Jam on Friday, February 1. Participants from across the state took turns at the microphone, offering lessons, arguments and calls to action on topics like grassland health, groundwater protection, and what citizens can do to save what remains of native plants and wildlife in our state.
Watch the video