L.J. McElravy, assistant professor of agricultural leadership, education and communication, will kick off the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture’s fall seminar series at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 7 in Keim Hall, Room 150. The talk, “Exploring Positive Psychological Capacity in Teamwork,” is free and open to the public.

Positive Psychological Capacity (PsyCap) is a developmental characteristic that is related to a number of positive outcomes in the workplace. The talk will explore how PsyCap can be used to enhance teamwork, specifically in the work environment and in the classroom.

Each talk will begin at 3:30 p.m. in Keim Hall, Room 150, and will also be available for viewing online. All seminars in the series are open to the public and refreshments will be served at 3 p.m.

Dates and topics for the series are as follows:

Sept. 14 — “Automation and Robotics in Agriculture,” Santosh Pitla, assistant professor in biological systems engineering

Sept. 28 — “Hopping to It: The Growth and Viability of the Nebraska Hop Industry,” Katie Kreuser, extension hop program coordinator

Oct. 5 — “Cover Crops in Nebraska — Expectations and Realizations,” Katja Koehler-Cole, postdoctoral research associate in agronomy and horticulture

Oct. 19 — “Leveraging Genomics, Genetics and Breeding to Understand Crop Adaption to Nutrient Stress,” Jamie O’Rourke, research geneticist, USDA-ARS, Iowa State University

Oct. 26 — “Pulse Crops Production and Industry Development in Nebraska, ” Strahinja Stepanovic, assistant extension educator, West Central Research and Extension Center, and Alexandre Tonon Rosa, graduate research assistant in agronomy and horticulture

Nov. 2 — “How to Optimize Student Engagement with Active Learning and Formative Assessments,” Brian Couch, assistant professor of biological sciences

Nov. 9 — “Synthetic Design of Plant Oil Metabolism,” Hae Jin Kim, senior research associate, Center for Plant Science Innovation

Nov. 16 — “Soil in Space and Time,” Richard Ferguson, professor and interim department head of agronomy and horticulture

Nov. 30 – “The Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture (RICA) Curriculum Update,” Joseph Dauer, assistant professor in natural resources

Dec. 7 – “Nitrogen Fertigation in Corn,” Brian Krienke, assistant extension educator in agronomy and horticulture

For more information on the series, click here.