University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty members provided expertise on topics ranging from America’s political divide to a quirk of human digestion for national news stories in October. The stories were among 35-plus featuring Husker faculty, staff, students, centers and programs during the month.

John Hibbing, Foundation Regent University Professor of political science, wrote a Sept. 11 opinion piece for CNN.com on why the United States has such a sharp political divide and what can be done to bridge the gap.

“Our best hope is that people will be willing to compromise, even with those they believe to be fundamentally wrong,” he wrote. “The good news is that the insider-outsider issues at the core of our political divisions all have middle grounds and thus are ripe for compromise, but this does not mean it will be easy.”

Andrea Watson, research assistant professor in animal science, was interviewed for a Sept. 13 Live Science article on why humans can’t fully digest corn kernels. Watson said the yellow kernels found in one’s waste are really just the outer coating, which consists of a tough fiber called cellulose that humans don’t have the proper enzymes or gut bacteria to digest. Cellulose makes up only about 10% of corn, she said, and the rest is useful nutrition.

“The more you process it, the easier it is to digest,” she said.

Related stories appeared in Mental Floss, The Takeout and several other media outlets.

More coverage:

The Nebraska Repertory Theatre and the St. Louis Black Repertory Company have launched a two-year partnership that aims to bring about positive social change at the university and beyond. The collaboration will feature two virtual events this fall, a full-scale production to be staged in Lincoln in fall 2021 and a special event in spring 2022. The Lincoln Journal Star and American Theatre published articles on the partnership.

A recent study conducted by Husker researchers found that elementary teachers nationwide believe that, on average, just three out of five of their students were prepared to advance to the next grade level when schools shut down this spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was conducted by Michael Hebert, Marc Goodrich and Jessica Namkung, all special education and communication disorders. Stories appeared in eight Nebraska media outlets, including the Lincoln Journal Star and NET News, and Public News Service.

“Concrete Atla(nti)s” by Hannah Christy and Craig Findlay, architecture graduate students at Nebraska, was named the student grand prize winner in Architizer’s 2020 One Drawing Challenge. The drawing offers a glimpse of recycling activities within the aging walls of a repurposed missile silo. The students will receive a prize of $2,500 and a range of professional drawing tools.

Eric Thompson, economics, director of the Bureau of Business Research, discussed the 2020 Nebraska Thriving Index during a Sept. 8 segment on RFD-TV. The index indicates rural Nebraskans experience a high quality of life but face challenges in areas such as education attainment, cost-competitiveness and infrastructure.

A 2004 study by Husker sociologists was cited in a Sept. 8 article in 360 magazine on New York City’s Marsha’s House shelter for young LGBTQ+ adults. The study found that 41% of homeless and runaway LGBTQ+ adolescents interviewed had major depression, compared to 28% of homeless heterosexual adolescents interviewed.

Stephen Baenziger, Ismail Dweikat and Tom Hoegemeyer, all agronomy and horticulture, were featured in a Sept. 9 Germination magazine article on commercializing crops. The university recently hosted a virtual meeting of the National Association of Plant Breeders.

The documentary “The Art of Dissent” by James Le Sueur, history, screened as part of the virtual Newburyport Documentary Film Festival in mid-September. Le Sueur participated in a virtual Q&A session Sept. 24. The Boston Globe highlighted the film in a Sept. 9 article on the festival.

A research team led by Xu Li, civil engineering, has run experiments to evaluate ways to prevent field runoff of antibiotics to reduce resistance in livestock. New Food magazine published a Sept. 9 article on the research.

New research by Brian Couch, biological sciences, and national colleagues has suggested that faculty who use innovative teaching practices communicate primarily with each other, limiting the spread of those practices to other faculty who could benefit from them. Stories on the research appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Phys.org, Science Codex and several other media outlets.

Shab Mohammadi, postdoctoral research associate in the School of Biological Sciences, was interviewed for a Sept. 16 New York Times article about a new study on Australia’s Dendrocnide, or stinging, trees. Three widely divergent groups of organisms — spiders, cone snails and Dendrocnide — produce a toxin that’s very similar, she said. It’s a stunning example, she added, of different branches of the tree of life converging on the same solution. Smithsonian.com published a similar story with Mohammadi featured.

Lauryn Higgins, advertising and public relations, was featured in a Sept. 16 Her Campus article titled “5 adulting lessons you don’t learn until after graduation.” “Not getting my ‘dream’ job out of college helped me decide to pursue my master’s degree, and in turn, has opened so many more doors for job opportunities,” she said. Higgins noted that the same can apply to one’s love life — getting one’s heart broken can lead to a better relationship.

An Atlanta-area home renovated by DSNWRK architects Jennifer Pindyck and Lloyd “Bud” Shenefelt was featured in a Sept. 16 Dwell article. Shenefelt is now an assistant professor of architecture at Nebraska.

Longtime friends of Priscilla Grew, professor emeritus of Earth and atmospheric sciences and director emeritus of the University of Nebraska State Museum, have honored her contributions to geology by naming a mineral for her: priscillagrewite-(Y), a garnet discovered in Jordan. Phys.org ran a Sept. 16 article on the honor.

Dirac Twidwell, agronomy and horticulture, was interviewed for a Sept. 17 BEEF magazine article on the Rangelands Analysis Platform, a free online tool that provides a comprehensive view of how vegetation is shifting in the western half of the United States. “Technology like RAP is an early warning system to help ranchers get ahead of any problems,” he said. “It’s another tool to protect rangelands and ensure agricultural operations are profitable.”

A Husker study on lice in cattle was cited in a Sept. 21 BEEF magazine article on the topic. The study showed that a moderate to high lice population in feeder calves significantly decreased average daily gains by 0.21 pounds in the untreated group of animals versus those that were treated. David Boxler, associate extension educator with the West Central Research and Extension Center in North Platte, was interviewed for the story.

Frans von der Dunk, space law, was interviewed for a Sept. 21 7NEWS segment on Russia recently claiming ownership of Venus. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty — of which Russia is a part — prohibits national appropriation of outer space, he said. “This is simply a no-go, legally speaking,” he said.

John Wilson, retired Nebraska Extension educator, was interviewed for a recent University of Nebraska Medical Center article on preventing fires in combines and fields. “If you didn’t get your combine thoroughly cleaned out after last year’s harvest, make sure you clean it before going to the field this year,” he said. “One of the main causes of combine fires is accumulated residue that ignites when a combine belt or pulley heats up due to friction with crop residue.” Wisconsin State Farmer ran the article Sept. 21.

New research led by Richard Wilson, plant pathology, has pinpointed the relevant gene and a compound essential to the infiltration of rice blast fungus, suggesting new ways to potentially combat the fungus. Technology.org ran a Sept. 21 article on the research.

The University of Nebraska, Homestead National Monument of America and Nicodemus National Historic Site are collaborating on a study of Black homesteaders on the Great Plains. Over the last three years, the effort — partially funded by the National Park Service — has produced ethnographies of six African-American homesteader communities. National Parks magazine featured the collaboration in its fall 2020 issue. Richard Edwards, emeritus professor of economics and emeritus director of the Center for Great Plains Studies, was interviewed for the story.

University of Nebraska system President Ted Carter discussed the Rural Prosperity Nebraska program during a Sept. 22 segment on RFD-TV. Housed within the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the new program aims to help Nebraska’s rural communities grow and thrive.

John Hay, Nebraska Extension educator, wrote a recent CropWatch article on things for landowners to consider before leasing land for solar development. Energy Central and Iowa Farmer Today ran the article.

The Lied Center for Performing Arts hosted “NEWSical the Musical” on Sept. 26, Broadway World reported. The show featured socially distanced seating, and all patrons, volunteers and staff were required to wear face coverings while inside the venue. (Sept. 23)

The U.S. Drought Monitor — produced jointly by the university’s National Drought Mitigation Center, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture — was cited in a Sept. 26 NPR story on California’s wildfires. Large swaths of the state are experiencing moderate to severe drought conditions, according to the monitor. More than 30 media outlets picked up the story.

Bruce Anderson, Nebraska Extension forage specialist, was interviewed for a Sept. 30 Successful Farming article on growing small grains for silage. “It’s an option that works well in a cover cropping system,” he said. “You can plant rye, winter wheat or triticale as a cover crop and either graze it or harvest it as silage the next spring in May or June. That gives you enough time for double-cropping — by planting a corn crop for silage or even planting soybeans after harvesting the cereal crop.”

Nathan Mueller, cropping systems educator with Nebraska Extension, wrote a Sept. 30 article for Progressive Forage on using diverse crop rotations to optimize soil health. “A healthy, functioning soil provides numerous local ecosystem benefits in your own community, including improved water quality, flood and drought mitigation and other benefits that can improve both human health and wealth,” he wrote.

Faculty, administration, student and staff appearances in the national media are logged at http://newsroom.unl.edu/inthenews.
 If you have additions to this list, contact Sean Hagewood at shagewood2@unl.edu or 402-472-8514. If you have suggestions for national news stories, contact Leslie Reed at lreed5@unl.edu or 402-472-2059.