Ag Profitability & Sustainability
We work to improve the profitability and sustainability of the agro-food system as we seek to double the food supply in the next 40 years while avoiding pollution of our lands, our water and our food supply.
We also place emphasis on addressing risk management, including: production risk, market risk, human risk, institutional risk and financial risk.
Agricultural Technology & STEM Education
We prepare educators to teach the next generation of agricultural professionals, from foundational agricultural mechanics to the automation, sensing, and artificial intelligence reshaping food production. Based at the Western Nebraska Ag-STEM Innovation Laboratory at the Panhandle Research, Extension, and Education Center in Scottsbluff, we develop hands-on, standards-aligned curriculum in which secondary students build and program microcontroller-based systems that monitor and manage real agricultural processes. Projects include the USDA NIFA–funded iLEARN: Automation in the Heartland and the NSF-funded iDARE, a collaboration with the University of Iowa, University of Arkansas, and Kansas State University. Resources align with Nebraska Skilled and Technical Sciences and national AFNR standards.
Behavioral & Environmental Economics
A relatively new field, behavioral and experimental economics are human subject experiments in which human beings make decisions in controlled experimental environments. A key feature is that they involve financial compensation. Economic experiments allow researchers to study new economic instruments and policies before they have been introduced and evaluate the result of changes to existing policies. They also allow researchers to understand how behavior changes over time, how people's attributes and traits impact their economic decision making and how human beings respond to change and behave in risky situations
Industrial Organization of the Agri-Food System
Agricultural and Food Industrial Organization is a research, teaching, and engagement program focusing on competitive issues in the food industry. The industrial organization program focuses on issues pertaining to the industrialization (fundamental transformation) of the agri-food system that is driven by changes in consumer preferences, technological progress, global competition and reduced government support to agriculture. The Journal of Agricultural and Food Industrial Organization supports research in this area.
International Trade & Development
We covers the economics of agriculture, food, and natural resources in international and global contexts, including international agricultural development, international trade policy, natural resource management, and global food security and policy.
Research funding has come from USAID, USDA NIFA, The World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, CGIAR, FAO, Nebraska Center for Energy Science Research (UNL), Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (University of Nebraska), Farm Foundation, and other international agencies. Research projects have been conducted in various countries.
Leadership for Resilient Communities
Strong, adaptive leadership is essential for navigating the challenges facing agriculture and rural communities today. Our faculty conduct rigorous, evidence-based research examining how effective leadership practices drive civic engagement, innovation, and long-term resilience across these vital spaces. This scholarship explores how leadership capacity evolves from foundational youth experiences through adult practice. This inquiry emphasizes leadership development and education, collective leadership, and the scholarship of mentoring, examining the relational frameworks and developmental dynamics that foster capable, engaged leaders equipped to guide their communities into a prosperous future.
Natural Resources
Long-term economic viability requires recognition of the role that limited natural resources contribute to economic activity and output, and the relationship people have, and the value they place, on those natural resources. This is especially true in a place like Nebraska with a strong agricultural economy, as the agricultural economy relies on natural resources such as water, land and energy.
Rural Community Economic Development Team
We focus on identifying and understanding the many challenges facing rural communities today. Our research-to-practice work has included strengthening food systems at the local and regional level, supporting entrepreneurship to foster economic growth, finding uses for new technologies to overcome lack of access to services and resources, and building local capacity to create a brighter future for residents and their children. Our research-to-practice work has been supported by grants from USDA NIFA, AMS, and RD, as well as NSF and SARE.
Science Communication
Our research examines how people encounter, understand, and engage with science in the real world. Across Nebraska and beyond, we draw on the science of science communication to understand what makes scientific information meaningful, accessible, trustworthy, and effective. As part of UNL's land-grant mission, we connect research with communities and stakeholders to support informed decision-making and address issues that matter to people and communities. We explore how stories, visual and digital media, public engagement, and other communication approaches shape public perceptions and engagement with science. Ultimately, our work aims to strengthen the evidence base for responsible and effective science communication and build stronger connections between scientists and the public.
Science Literacy
Our science literacy research explores how people make sense of science and use scientific information in everyday life and decision-making. We examine how knowledge, experiences, values, trust, and community contexts shape understanding and engagement with science. Our work emphasizes building capacity for people and communities to critically evaluate scientific information, navigate complex issues, and participate meaningfully in decisions that affect their lives. We seek to better understand how science literacy can support informed decision-making, public dialogue, and stronger connections between science and society.
Survey Research & Design
Our team includes survey research methodologists who design and conduct rigorous surveys to better understand people, communities, and the issues that matter to them. Our survey research spans topics such as community development, rural life, agriculture, science, environment, and public perceptions. We develop and test survey instruments, collect and analyze data, and translate findings into insights that can inform research, programs, policy, and decision-making.
Teaching Careers and Professional Sustainability
Our work focuses on how teachers learn the work of teaching and build sustainable careers across time. We learn from the experiences of educators as they navigate new roles, changing contexts, and key career transitions, with particular attention to teacher mobility, induction, mentoring, and retention. By understanding how teachers develop expertise and make decisions about their professional futures, we support identifying policies, practices, and support systems that help educators thrive. Ultimately, we aim to create conditions where teachers can continue growing, contribute meaningfully to their schools and communities, and sustain rewarding careers in education. Initiatives include: Beginning Teacher Program, BOMBs workshop series, and the Teacher Retention Working Group.
