The UNL Speakers Bureau enters its 20th year in 2014-15 with 21 speakers and several topics from which to choose. This free service connects faculty and other university experts with Nebraska citizens through service organizations, schools and other groups who want knowledgeable, interesting speakers on a variety of topics.

The Speakers Bureau features speakers available on a year-round basis as well as during the academic year only. This website provides access to each speaker’s topic information with a form to submit to book a speaker for your event. For questions, please contact Kellie Wesslund, Speakers Bureau coordinator in the Office of University Communications, 202 Canfield Administration Building, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0424; telephone 402-472-0088 or email speakers2@unl.edu.

The members of the 2014-15 Speakers Bureau and their topics:

• Sylvana Airan, assistant director for business contracts and student services, University Housing – “My Life Growing Up in Pakistan.”

• Christian Binek, associate professor, physics and astronomy – “Magnetic Refrigeration,” “Magnetic Thin Films: From Basic Research to Spintronics” and “Physics Between High-school and High-tech.”

• Charles Braithwaite, editor, Great Plains Quarterly, senior lecturer, communication studies – “African Americans on the Great Plains,” “The Global Classroom: Using New Communication Technology to Improve Education” and “Tribal Colleges: Culture and Higher Education on the Plains.”

• Daniel Claes, professor, physics and astronomy – “Comic Book Physics 101,” “What the Heck is a Higgs Boson?!” “Are We Alone in the Universe?” and “What happened to the Faster-than-Light Neutrinos?”

• Don Costello, associate professor emeritus, computer science and engineering – “The Bronx in the Middle of the Last Century,” “Information Technology – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,” “Robotics: Status Today, Impact Tomorrow” and “Investment Vs. Gambling in a Digital Economy.”

• Ken Dewey, professor of applied climate sciences, School of Natural Resources – “Chasing Icebergs” and “Tornadoes!”

• Bob Diffendal, professor emeritus, Conservation and Survey Division – “Amazing Geological and Archaeological Sites in Southern Alberta and Southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada” and “Outstanding Geological and Archaeological Sites in the Great Plains of New Mexico and Texas.”

• Stephen Ducharme, professor, physics and astronomy, and Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience – “Can a Photon Wave?” and “Nanoscale Science and Technology.”

• Todd Duncan, assistant chief, UNL Police Department – “Designer Drugs, a Cat and Mouse Game Between Clandestine Lab Chemists and Law Makers,” “Nebraska Sex Offender Registration, It’s Complicated” and “A Non-Partisan Look at Nebraska Gun Laws.”

• Michael Hoff, professor, art history – “Ancient Roman Religion and Nebraska Football,” “Athens Under Roman Domination” and “Pirates and Romans Along the Cilician Coast of Ancient Turkey.”

• Roger Hoy, professor, biological systems engineering, director, Nebraska Tractor Testing Lab – “The Nebraska Tractor Testing Lab: Past, Present and Future.”

• Gary Kebbel, professor, College of Journalism and Mass Communications – “How to Use Social Networking like Twitter or Facebook or Foursquare as Reporting Tools,” “Reaching Youth: If it’s Not on a Cell Phone, it Doesn’t Exist” and “The Changing News Ecosystem.”

• Bradley Lubben, extension assistant professor and policy specialist – “Growing Agriculture to Meet Society’s Demands” and “More than Farm in the Farm Bill.”

• Patrice C. McMahon, associate professor, political science – “For Good or for Ill: The Return of Nation Building,” “U.S. Power in the Networked Era” and “Partners in Peace: Nongovernmental Organizations in Peace-building.”

• Tapan Pathak, extension educator for climate variability, School of Natural Resources – “Current and Future Global Climate Change: What it Means for Nebraska.”

• Wes Peterson, professor, agricultural economics – “The Future of Capitalism,” “U.S. and Global Economic Inequality” and “Huskers in Benin: Culture and Agriculture in West Africa.”

• Paul Read, professor, horticulture and viticulture – “Gardens of the World” and “Grape Expectations: Nebraska’s Developing Grape and Wine Industry.”

• John W. Richmond, professor and director, Korff School of Music – “Does Music Make You Smarter? It Depends on What You Mean!” “Finding the Next Mozart! Music Composition Education in the 21st Century” and “Speaking the Universal Language Without an Accent: UNL in Our Global Musical Village.”

• Greg Snow, professor, physics and astronomy – “Cosmic Rays from Outer Space – What Do We Know About Them?” “Did a Giant Asteroid Kill the Dinosaurs?” and “High Energy Physics and the Discovery of the ‘God Particle.’”

• Sandra Stockall, professor emeritus, University of Nebraska Extension – “You Are Who You Are Because” and “Wow, That Felt Great!”

• Joseph Weber, associate professor, College of Journalism and Mass Communications – “Teaching Journalism in China: A Semester of Surprises.”