Nebraska in the national news: September 2026

Expertise from two College of Journalism and Mass Communications faculty was featured in a pair of New York Times articles in September. The national news stories were among 20-plus featuring Husker faculty, administrators, staff, students, centers and programs during the month.

• A recent study led by Kelsey Slater, assistant professor of sports promotion, was cited in a Sept. 4 Times article on Notre Dame’s recent jersey sponsorship deal with SoFi. The study tracked people’s eyes as they watched Major League Baseball games on television and found that on average viewers spent one second looking at jersey sponsorships. After glancing at them once, they were unlikely to look again.
• Matt Waite, professor of practice in journalism, was quoted in a Sept. 16 Times article on the dangers that helicopters face in big cities. He said that an alternative, drones, are limited not only by federal regulations, but battery life. “You can’t fly for more than about a mile,” he said. “You can’t fly for more than about 20 to 40 minutes. If it’s windy, God be with you. There are just a lot of limitations to this.”

Additional national news coverage in August included:

• The Fence Post ran a Sept. 1 article on the university’s partnership with Canadian startup PTx Trimble. The partnership has led to a new engineering facility in Seward, Nebraska, that is developing cutting-edge autonomous farming technology. Santosh Pitla, biological systems engineering, and Josh Murman, autonomous systems engineer with PTx and Husker alumnus, were interviewed for the article.
• Tom Burkey, animal science, interim dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, was interviewed for a Sept. 8 segment on RFD-TV’s “Market Day Report.” He discussed the university’s agricultural education programs, which recently ranked in the top 9% of such programs worldwide.
• Mary Jane Frogge, extension associate with Nebraska Extension, was interviewed for a Sept. 10 article in The Spruce on how long it takes to grow an avocado tree from a pit. Frogge said it takes four to six weeks for a small root to appear. Within eight to 12 months, the tree will be about two feet tall.
• Future breakthroughs in the U.S. beef industry could be harder to achieve unless public investment rebounds, Chancellor Emeritus Ronnie Green told attendees at the 58th Annual Beef Improvement Federation Research Symposium and Convention in Boise, Idaho. Tri-State Livestock News published a Sept. 10 article on his address.
• A record 830 Husker students have been selected to join the University Honors Program at Nebraska this fall. The Gothenburg Leader, Grand Island Independent, Miles City (Montana) Star, River Cities’ Reader (Iowa) and Vermillion (South Dakota) Plain Talk ran articles on the students’ achievement.
• Jessica A. Shoemaker, law, was interviewed for a Sept. 14 Associated Press article on the conflict between the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Tribes in Wyoming and local Christian pastor Sarah Lucas, who recently called Arapahoe ceremonies “idol worship.” Shoemaker said tribes have broad civil authority over non-Natives on tribal land, including to banish them. But jurisdiction over private property within reservations is litigated case-by-case.
• The university has launched the Nebraska Digital Agriculture Hub, a new initiative aimed at helping producers make better use of digital agriculture technologies — from developing new decision-support tools to improving existing technologies and training the next generation of innovators. Stories on the new hub appeared in News Channel Nebraska, Rural Radio Network, Brownfield Ag News and The Fence Post.
• Glennis McClure, extension educator in the Department of Agricultural Economics, and Shannon Sand, associate extension educator in the department, were featured in a Sept. 16 Public News Service article on what Nebraska farmers should consider before moving into the organic market. McClure said during a recent webinar that expectations should be clear up front. “We always suggest that written agreement — not just a handshake, not just something verbal — because there’s really a lot that can go into this kind of a lease,” she said.
• Scott Hutchins, undersecretary for research, education and economics with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was interviewed for a Sept. 17 RFD-TV story on the department’s research partnerships with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The department works with the university through programs such as the Agricultural Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture, he said.
• John Fech, Nebraska Extension educator, wrote a September column for Golf Course Management titled “Why tree roots cause trouble for golf courses.” He discussed the myriad problems caused by poorly placed trees and the pros and cons of different root pruning methods.
• A team of Nebraska Engineering students was among four university teams to compete in the Race to Build event at Bristol Motor Speedway, WJHL reported Sept. 17. Four homes were built for families in northeast Tennessee through the competition. Emmeline Watson, assistant professor of practice in the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, and Keirsten Colton, a senior construction management major at Nebraska and team member, were interviewed for the story, which was picked up by Yahoo! News.
• The Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources hosted a Sept. 22 Heuermann Lecture featuring Mike Johanns, former U.S. secretary of agriculture, Nebraska governor and U.S. senator. The lecture was titled “Rural Vitality, Agricultural Innovation and Nebraska’s Future.” Stories on the lecture appeared in KHGI, The Fence Post and Tri-State Livestock News.
• The university held a Sept. 23 ribbon cutting to celebrate the completion of 35 new, state-of-the-art Nebraska Mesonet weather stations funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Supporters of the mesonet were recognized, and attendees were able to see a station up close. Stories on the event appeared in KOLN/KGIN, the Lincoln Journal Star, The Fence Post and Tri-State Livestock News.
• Kevin Smith, political science, was interviewed for a Sept. 29 Newsweek article on President Donald Trump’s upcoming campaign visit to Grand Island, Nebraska. The fact that Trump is campaigning in the state for incumbent Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts is “perhaps a sign of a tough electoral environment for Republicans,” Smith said.

Faculty, administration, student and staff appearances in the national media are logged at http://newsroom.unl.edu/inthenews. If you have additions to the list, contact Sean Hagewood at shagewood2@unl.edu or 402-472-8514. If you have suggestions for national news stories, email Deann Gayman at deann.gayman@unl.edu.