Nebraska in the national news: January 2026

University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty offered expertise on California’s drought recovery and U.S. trade policy for national news stories in January. The stories were among 30-plus featuring Husker faculty, staff, administrators, students, centers and programs during the month.

• Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the university’s National Drought Mitigation Center, was interviewed for a Jan. 9 CBS News story on California being drought-free for the first time in 25 years. “This is the first time we have seen that since December of 2000,” he said. “It’s been quite a while since there’s been no abnormally dry conditions or worse being depicted in the state.”
• Jill O’Donnell, Haggart-Work Director of the Clayton Yeutter Institute of International Trade and Finance, was interviewed for a Jan. 13 segment on RFD-TV. She discussed how changes to U.S. trade policy are affecting ag producers in the Midwest. “Certainly, there is opportunity around the globe, particularly in places like parts of Asia or parts of Africa that have large, glowing middle classes … but there are also headwinds, and this relates to geopolitical uncertainty that we’re seeing, supply chain disruptions and increased competition from countries such as Brazil.”
• Cory Walters, associate professor of agricultural economics, was quoted in a Jan. 20 Associated Press article on how President Donald Trump’s ever-shifting trade policy could affect a recent soybean purchase agreement with China. “Everything is changing — the land rental market, the fertilizer market, the seed market — and it’s all pinching the farmer when they go to do their cash flows,” Walters said. “The ability to make a decision is tougher now because of all the uncertainty in the market.”

Additional national news coverage in January included:      

• Rodney D. Bennett stepped down as chancellor of the university on Jan. 12, and Katherine S. Ankerson became interim chancellor. Stories on the transition appeared in at least 15 Nebraska media outlets, as well as The Chronicle of Higher Education, Forbes, The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, the Women in Academia Report and other outlets.
• Silicon Prairie News featured Ankit Chandra, biological systems engineering, founder of the department’s Spur Ventures initiative, in its Prairie Portraits series on Jan. 5. Spur Ventures seeks to foster industry and startup collaborations with university faculty and students through entrepreneurship education and research-and-development opportunities.
• A recent analysis by Chandra and Ishani Lal, analyst in the Department of Agricultural Economics, was featured in a Jan. 28 AgTech Navigator article on why many agtech startups failed in 2025. Chandra predicted that “tight margins, slow adoption and cautious investors” will continue into 2026, but rebound signs are clear in water and energy efficiency, AI decision support, evidence-backed biologicals and low-CAPEX automation and sensing.
• Cheryl Horst was recently announced as the new executive director of NUtech Ventures, the university’s tech transfer organization, after about a year and a half of serving as the interim executive director. Silicon Prairie News published a Jan. 10 article on Horst.
• Pianist and composer Gabriela Montero returned to the Lied Center for Performing Arts for a program on Jan. 26, Broadway World reported. The concert featured a live improvised piano score performed alongside a screening of the 1917 film “The Immigrant,” as well as works by Sergei Prokofiev, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Igor Stravinsky.
• Dirac Twidwell, agronomy and horticulture, was interviewed for a Jan. 14 Silicon Prairie News article on Stone Pillar International, a company that aims to use drone technology to target woody encroachment in the Great Plains. Twidwell is the principal investigator of the university’s Eastern Redcedar Science Literacy Project and a co-inventor of a university-affiliated patent of drone technology to manage and fight wildfires. Another co-inventor, Carrick Detweiler, School of Computing, co-founder and CEO of Drone Amplified, and the university’s annual Nebraska Ag and Spray Drone Conference were also mentioned in the article.
• Ethan Dittmer, a doctoral student in natural resource sciences, was quoted in a Jan. 14 Outdoor Life article on the debate surrounding hot cropping — flooding standing crops to create food and shelter for ducks, and prime spots for duck hunters. Dittmer emphasized that mallards are hardy ducks that require severe cold-weather events to push them south. “I don’t see there being considerable evidence that corn is short-stopping ducks,” he said. “The vast majority of academic research shows, for mallards, it’s weather.”
• Stephanie Rouse, community and regional planning, co-host of the podcast “Booked on Planning,” wrote a Jan. 19 review for Planetizen of “Livable Streets 2.0” by Bruce and Donald Appleyard. “In ‘Livable Streets 2.0,’ Bruce Appleyard deepens our understanding of how speed, volume and street design quietly erode social ties and negatively impact the health of individuals living on heavily trafficked streets,” she wrote.
• Musician, sound engineer and Husker alumnus J. E. Van Horne Jr. recently made a $500,000 gift to create a scholarship for South Dakota high school students who want to attend the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the Yankton (South Dakota) Press and Dakotan reported Jan. 19. The J. E. Van Horne Jr. South Dakota Scholarship will be awarded to graduates of South Dakota high schools who are in good academic standing and enroll in the Nebraska College of Business.
• A deficiency in sulfur, an essential nutrient for plants, may be limiting crop yields in many regions around the world. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln, University of Colorado, Boulder, International Fertilizer Association and The Sulphur Institute are beginning a joint initiative to comprehensively communicate the extent and severity of the sulfur deficiency. Patricio Grassini, agronomy and horticulture, is a principal investigator on the project, and Walter Carciochi, adjunct professor in agronomy and horticulture, is helping coordinate outreach to researchers. Farms.com ran a Jan. 20 article on the project.
• Max Perry Mueller, classics and religious studies, discussed his latest book, “Wakara’s America: The Life and Legacy of a Native Founder of the American West,” on the Jan. 20 episode of KUER’s “RadioWest” program. He discussed the Timpanogos Ute leader’s complex life and enduring influence.
• Eric Berger, law, was interviewed for a Jan. 22 Talking Points Memo article on the U.S. Supreme Court not ruling yet on whether the Trump administration can issue indefinite tariffs under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act. “Given the complexity of the case and the schedule on which [the Supreme Court] normally operates, this is not at all an unusual delay,” Berger said.
• Silicon Prairie News published a Jan. 22 article on the 2026 cohort of Nebraska Innovation Fellows — consisting of Bill Berzonsky, Jon Turkus, Dr. James Willcockson and Chris Wong. The fellowship gives innovators and builders the tools, resources and mentors to transform their ideas into working prototypes. Isaac Regier, design coordinator of Nebraska Innovation Studio’s new Frontier Tech Lab, was quoted in the article.
• Jim Jansen, an agricultural economist with Nebraska Extension, was interviewed for a Jan. 22 Brownfield Ag News story on a Lincoln County, Nebraska, ranch recently selling for a record $56 million. He said strong cattle prices are contributing to an increase in rangeland and pasture values.
• The National Academy of Sciences has awarded James Schnable, agronomy and horticulture, the 2026 NAS Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences. The award recognizes research by a mid-career U.S. scientist who “has made an extraordinary contribution to agriculture or to the understanding of the biology of a species fundamentally important to agriculture or food production.” The Lincoln Journal Star and Tri-State Livestock News ran articles on Schnable’s honor.
• Robert Hutkins, professor emeritus of food science and technology, was interviewed for a Jan. 27 MedPage Today article titled “Are fermented foods really that good for you?” “It’s important to note that many fermented foods have health benefits, independent of fermentation, associated with their nutritional quality (i.e., as sources of protein, vitamins, minerals and fiber),” he said. “And while the live microbes in fermented foods may contribute additional benefits, in the context of gut health, not all fermented foods contain live microbes (e.g., due to processing steps).”
• In an evolving role, Ashley Ahrens, assistant extension educator, will participate in a pilot partnership between Nebraska Extension and the Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center. Tri-State Livestock News ran a Jan. 29 article on Ahrens’ expanded role.
• Forty first-year students in the College of Engineering have been chosen to the 2025-26 cohort of the Peter Kiewit Foundation Engineering Academy. The academy provides students with resources and support to pursue careers in engineering, computing and construction, shaping the future workforce of Nebraska. Midlands Business Journal ran a Jan. 30 article on the new cohort.

University Communication and Marketing tracks faculty, administration, student and staff appearances in the national media and reports upon them month by month. If you have additions to this list, contact Sean Hagewood, news coordinator, at shagewood2@unl.edu or 402-472-8514.