financials - office of research & economic...

33CHANGING WORLD PERSPECTIVES

UNL faculty earned a record $122.5 million in research funding during the fiscal yearthat ended June 30, 2009. Funding increased 13 percent from $108.3 million a yearearlier. Of the total research funding in FY 2009, nearly $84 million was awarded bythe federal agencies shown in the chart below. Total external funding for sponsoredprograms, which includes research and other activities, also set a record of $192.3 million,up from $176.6 million in the previous fiscal year.

Financials

ANNUAL R E PORThttp://research.unl.edu 2 0 0 8 – 2 0 0 9

Five-YearTotal SponsoredPrograms Funding

(in millions)

Five-Year TotalResearch Funding

(in millions)

FY 2009 Research Funding by Federal Agency

Record Research Funding


Today, more than ever, change is global. The complexchallenges we face in water, food, energy, climateand other areas are worldwide concerns that demandnew perspectives and partnerships.

At the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, our researchenterprise has grown significantly, and we’re buildingon our successes. We’re achieving record funding andestablishing leadership in emerging research areas, fromnutrigenomics to the systems biology of social behavior.This annual report highlights some of these successes.

We’re harnessing this momentum to advance newinitiatives with an innovative perspective on researchthat responds to our changing world. We are reachingbeyond our institutional, state and national bordersto build partnerships that seek solutions to globalchallenges and enhance our state's economy.

The University of Nebraska is establishing a GlobalWater for Food Institute to bring an international,multidisciplinary research approach to one ofthe most urgent questions facing our world:

How can we grow more food with less water? Thischallenge requires not only the best minds in scienceand engineering, but the most creative thinkers inpolicy, law and human behavior. UNL’s NationalScience Foundation-funded IGERT program alsoexemplifies this approach. It brings together studentsand faculty from the natural, social and computersciences and law, and U.S. and European partners,to study new ways to manage stressed watersheds.

This new perspective requires building productivepartnerships with federal agencies, private enterprise,foundations and others. Partnerships are at theroot of UNL’s Nebraska Innovation Campus, theprivate-public research campus being developedat our university. It will provide a collaborative,synergistic environment for developing novel ideas,tools and technologies that solve problems andcreate economic opportunities for our state.

I invite you to read this report and imagine thefar-reaching solutions that innovative, collaborativeresearch can bring to complex global challengesthat lie before us.

New Perspectives

New Perspectives 1

Self-aligning Nanotubes 2

Harnessing Nanotechnology’s Potential 4

Grad Program Wades into Water Issues 6

Water for Food: A Global Challenge 7

Sensor System Detects Track Troubles 8

Better Packing Peanuts 10

Precast Pole System Eases Installation 10

Investigating Blasts’ Impact on Brain 11

Partnering on Math Achievement 12

Improving Child Welfare Services 14

Exploring Complex Social Dynamics 15

Focusing on Rural Schools’ Unique Needs 16

A Gut Feeling 18

Of Mice and Health 19

On the CoverThese images reflect the diversity and global reach of research at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. From discoveriesin nanoscience, nutrigenomics and software engineering to innovative initiatives in math achievement, child welfare,water and climate change, UNL faculty are engaged in meeting the challenges of a changing world.

Deciphering Nutrigenomics Puzzle 20

Shear Heads NU Press 22

Anderson Leads Industry Relations 22

Supercomputing Power Expands 23

Shaping Climate Change Research 23

Debugging Complex Software 24

Laying Innovation Campus Groundwork 26

Enhancing International Partnerships 27

Tackling Human Trafficking 28

Opera’s Winning Ways 29

Determined to Make a Difference 30

Stimulus Bolsters Research 31

More Research Highlights 32

Financials 33

Table of Contents

Chancellor Harvey Perlman (left) andVice Chancellor Prem Paul

Prem S. PaulVice Chancellor for Researchand Economic Development

2 3

“This process can

dramatically improve

the cost-effectiveness

and productivity

of using carbon

nanotubes as basic

building blocks for

fabricating devices

and structures.”

Yongfeng Lu

Carbon nanotubes,with their uniqueelectrical properties,have long heldpromise forrevolutionizingelectronics andoptics. But findingways to make thesecylindrical structuresthat are 10,000 times thinner than a humanhair cheaply and precisely enough forcommercial use is a daunting challenge.

A team led by Yongfeng Lu, an electricalengineering professor at UNL, has taken agiant step forward.

To date, carbon nanotubes are grown using amethod called chemical vapor deposition. Theprocess can produce millions of nanotubes ata time, but lacks precision and alignmentcontrol, which limits its use in preciseapplications. Researchers need a simpletechnique for manipulating nanotubes sothey align in useful ways.

With funding from the National ScienceFoundation, Lu and colleagues in UNL’s LaserAssisted Nano-Engineering Lab discovered

a method that produces precisely alignednanotubes in a single step. Lu’s team heatssmall areas of electrodes by focusing a laserto concentrate light on regions much smallerthan light wavelengths. The one-step processmakes multiple carbon nanotubes at a time,each one self-aligned and exact.

There’s no need for expensive instrumentationor complex processes to manipulate carbonnanotubes after growth.

“Therefore, they can be easily integrated intodevices and circuits,” said Lu. “This processcan dramatically improve the cost-effectivenessand productivity of using carbon nanotubesas basic building blocks for fabricatingdevices and structures.”

Lu hopes to scale up the process to producelarge numbers of self-aligned nanotubes, whichcould lead to their use in new applicationssuch as biosensors, tiny molecular motors ormemory cells. NUtech Ventures, formerlyUNL’s Office of Technology Development,is exploring commercialization options.

For Lu, a leader in laser-based materialsresearch, the new technique is one of manyinnovations in nanoscale laser-material

interactions and microprocessing technologies.Lu envisions using his research on laser-basedtechnologies to one day mass producenanodevices and circuits using carbonnanotube structures.This pioneeringcarbon nanotubetechnique movesLu a step closerto that goal.

Self-aligning Nanotubes

Illustration of self-aligning carbonnanotube production

CHANGING WORLD PERSPECTIVES


chemist that may seem obvious, but for aphysicist, if we aren’t talking, it may be apainful learning curve.”

MRSEC researchers share equipment as wellas expertise. For his research, physicist AxelEnders built an ultrahigh-vacuum chamber toexclude oxygen when creating nanomaterialsand a unique low-temperature scanningtunneling microscope that makes atoms ofnanostructures visible. Both aid broaderMRSEC research.

“Collaborating with others is very inspiring.Now, we can do things that any one of uscould not do alone. MRSEC is one of thereasons I came to UNL,” said Enders, whorecently won a prestigious National ScienceFoundation CAREER award.

Established in 2002 with a $5.4 million NSF grant,MRSEC received an $8.1 million, five-year renewalgrant in 2008. Its research, which focuses onquantum and spin phenomena in nanomagneticstructures, has garnered international attention.

MRSEC’s research has potential applicationsin advanced computing, data storage, energyproduction, handheld electronic devices, sensorsand medical technologies. The center also hasa strong education and outreach programand collaborates with industry, nationallaboratories and scientists internationally.

“Our long-term goal is to be the leadinginterdisciplinary center for integratedresearch and education in nanomagnetism,”Tsymbal said.

4

Harnessing Nanotechnology’s PotentialFrom medicine and electronics to energy andthe environment, nanotechnology promises tochange our world. Researchers at UNL’sMaterials Research Science and EngineeringCenter (MRSEC) are exploring how to harnessthis nanopower.

More than 20 UNL physicists, chemists andengineers collaborate to study new magneticstructures and materials as small asone-billionth of a meter. Understanding theproperties and performance of nanomaterialsis a key step toward using them to createadvanced technologies, said physicist EvgenyTsymbal, MRSEC’s director.

For example, physicist ChristianBinek studies magnetism for use inspintronics, which exploits the spinof electrons in addition to theirconventional electrical charge. Thiscould lead to exponentially smaller,faster and more powerful computersand electronic devices.

Multidisciplinary collaboration isessential, Binek said. “We arecombining materials that don’thappen in nature, which might becausing a chemical reaction thatproduces unwanted results. For a

Axel Enders

Above: Christian Binek (left) with graduate students Yi Wang and Srinivas Polisetty


In a time of rapid population growth, increasingdemand for limited water supplies and unknownrisks of climate change, producing morefood with less water is one of the greatestglobal challenges.

In 2009 the University of Nebraska and the Bill& Melinda Gates Foundation hosted the Futureof Water for Food conference to bring togetherexperts from around the world to discuss theresearch and leadership needed to meet thischallenge. More than 300 representativesof universities, industry, government andnongovernmental organizations from the U.S.and nations ranging from Australia to Zambiaparticipated in the May 4-5 conference at UNL.

Jeff Raikes, CEO of the Bill & Melinda GatesFoundation, set the stage with his keynoteaddress “Fighting Poverty with Water.”

“Water is key. It’s a critical issue,” Raikes said.“So it's time for all of us to come together anddemand of ourselves… new innovations, newapproaches, because collectively you have thepower to help hundreds of millions of peoplemove from extreme poverty.”

Other speakers included Peter Rogers, HarvardUniversity; Simi Sadaf Kamal, the HisaarFoundation, Pakistan; Richard Allen, University ofIdaho; Robert Glennon, University of Arizona; andJim Goeke, UNL. Panel discussions focused onkey issues in science, technology, policy and thehuman dimensions of water use for agriculture.

Water for Food: A Global Challenge

6

Grad Program Wades into Water IssuesIn our increasingly thirsty world, managing wateris complex and important. A new interdisciplinarygraduate education program at UNL is preparingfuture scientists, policymakers and naturalresource managers to tackle global water issues.

A $3.1 million, five-year grant from the NationalScience Foundation’s Integrative GraduateEducation and Research Traineeship Program(IGERT) funds the program, “Resilience andAdaptive Governance in Stressed Watersheds.”It integrates the scientific, socio-economicand legal aspects involved in studying and

Over the next five years, 26 doctoral traineeswill explore every aspect of managing stressedwatersheds, starting with Nebraska’s PlatteRiver. Research focuses on understanding andenhancing the resilience of over-appropriatedwatersheds in the Great Plains, whereagricultural production and critical habitatsrely on fluctuating water resources. Studentsalso will study watersheds in Poland andHungary in cooperation with the program’sinternational partner, the International Instituteof Applied Systems Analysis in Austria.

About 20 UNL faculty in natural, social andcomputer sciences and law helped developthe curriculum and will work with graduatestudents. Local, state and federal organizations,some of which are formal partners in UNL’sprogram, will help shape an interdisciplinarycurriculum and research externships orpractice-based learning.

“The program will help fundamentally changeacademic culture by coalescing students,faculty and partners from many scientificdisciplines around a common goal ofsustainably managing over-appropriatedwatersheds,” Allen said.

The conference laid the groundwork for a GlobalWater for Food Institute being established byNU and located at UNL. This research institutewill be dedicated to helping the world efficientlyuse its limited water resources to ensure thefood supply for current and future generations.Participants discussed how the institute candevelop innovative science, technology andtools to meet this challenge. The conferenceproceedings will be available online in fall2009 at waterforfood.nebraska.edu.

The Robert B. Daugherty Charitable Foundationand the University of Nebraska Foundationprovided support for the conference.

Science and technology panel

Jeff Raikes

managing complex systems of people and nature.Doctoral students from natural, computer andsocial sciences disciplines will study stressedwatersheds in the U.S. and Eastern Europe,testing their training with real-world experiences.

“Resolving increasingly complex water issuesrequires the best and clearest scientificinformation from interdisciplinary andintegrative science, and the best well-trainedscientists we can provide,” said wildlifeecologist Craig Allen, who leads UNL’smultidisciplinary IGERT program.

Craig Allen

“We’re getting better at localizing and prioritizing spots thatwould not have otherwise been found.”

9CHANGING WORLD PERSPECTIVES8

With thousands of miles of railroad tracks passingthrough often remote country, finding problemspots is a needle-in-a-haystack challenge.

Using knowledge gained from his previous workin robotics, UNL mechanical engineer ShaneFarritor and colleagues developed a rail sensorsystem that finds those needles before theycause devastating and costly derailments.

A laser sensor, mounted on a railcar, searchesfor problems by measuring the track’sstiffness. At a weak spot, the track bowsunder the passing car’s weight. The sensormeasures the shape of the rail, and anonboard computer sends the information,including GPS coordinates, to Farritor’s UNLlab. Researchers have tested the device onmore than 25,000 miles of track.

“When you go out there, you’ll know why wegot that measurement,” said Farritor. “We’regetting better at localizing and prioritizing spotsthat would not have otherwise been found.”

Railroads visually inspect and measure tracksto identify problems, but “no one has madepractical measurements of the vertical stiffnessbefore. We think it’s one of the more importantparameters there is because the track has tosupport those heavy trains,” Farritor said.

The device operates independently during atrain’s regular operation, which should make itinexpensive. The Department of Transportation’sFederal Railroad Administration funds thisresearch. The Union Pacific and BurlingtonNorthern Santa Fe railroads have providedaccess to their rails and other support. UPdonated a coal car for the project.

Heavy loads from extensive freight train trafficacross Nebraska and the region cause substantialtrack wear, making the freight rail industry aprimary potential beneficiary of this technology.The sensor also could detect problems oncommuter rails, potentially saving lives.

Farritor is refining the sensor and expects tohave a commercially viable product soon. UNLrecently licensed a series of rail measurementtechnologies to MRail Inc., a Nebraska startupcompany. Inventors are UNL engineers Farritor,Joseph Turner, Richard Arnold and Sheng Lu.

Sensor System Detects Track Troubles

Shane Farritor

Part of sensor system on railcar


Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, theinfamous weapons used against troops in Iraqand Afghanistan, cause the most injuries.

With a nearly $3.3 million Department ofDefense grant, a team of 10 UNL engineers iscollaborating with the U.S. Army to investigatethe effects that pressure waves from IEDblasts have on the brain. Researchers suspectthese blasts may cause mild to severetraumatic brain injuries that may only becomeapparent months or years later.

“We are answering a national and even aninternational need,” Namas Chandra, professorand associate dean of engineering who leadsthis initiative, said of this research.

Traumatic brain injuries may result fromatmospheric pressure changes caused byblast waves. High pressure passes throughhelmets and skulls, damaging the brainat the cellular level.

Even mild traumatic brain injury with few initialsymptoms may cause slow deterioration overtime, but these injuries are still poorly understood.

To study these effects, UNL engineers aredeveloping a simulated human head and

10

Investigating Blasts’ Impact on Brain

building a blast facility to generate controlledpressure waves. The unique approach usesexperiments, modeling and simulation tounderstand wave impact at the cellular level.They hope the research will one day lead tobetter personal protection devices.

UNL engineers bring extensive expertise andyears of research in materials, personalprotection systems and blast wave simulationto this research. The collaborative projectincludes Army and Department of Energyresearch laboratories and others.

Precast Pole System Eases InstallationThere is wide interest in the project, and Chandraexpects the two-year grant will lay groundworkfor continued research.

“This work will really put Nebraska on the map oftraumatic brain injury work. We are not goingto answer all of the questions, but we are goingto figure out a significant part of the puzzle.”

Each year, an estimated 1.4 million Americanssuffer traumatic head injuries. Ultimately, thisresearch could help protect the public as wellas U.S. troops.

Better Packing Peanutsprocess to create peanuts made mostly ofstarch with a small amount of polystyrene.

“The physical properties of our material aremore like polystyrene but without the staticproblem,” said Marvin Jaques, senior licensingmanager for NUtech Ventures, formerlyUNL’s Office of Technology Development.“The manufacturing process is similar to thestraight starch product.”

While the UNL product isn’t biodegradable,it’s made primarily from renewable resources,holds up to water and is static-free. Uses ofUNL’s technology could include insulatingfoam sheets or other plastic foam applications.

Durable plastic packing peanuts protect fragileitems during shipping, but static cling makesthem a pain to handle.

Starch-based peanuts made from renewablecorn are static-free and biodegradable. Theydissolve in water, a plus for easy disposal but adrawback in wet or humid conditions.

UNL Industrial Agricultural Products Centerengineers invented a technique that combinescornstarch and petroleum-based polystyreneto make packing peanuts with the bestcharacteristics of both. Milford Hanna, thebiological systems engineer who heads thecenter, and his team developed a patent-pending

StarchTech Inc., a Minnesota-based manufacturerof biodegradable starch packing peanuts, hasan exclusive contract with UNL to commerciallyproduce the hybrid packing peanuts.

segments of precast concrete. Each segmentis reinforced with post-tensioned strands offiberglass-reinforced plastic rebar for addedstrength. Segments can be used alone orjoined to create a single tower up to 120 feettall or a tripod reaching 240 feet. The resultis a lighter, stronger, taller pole that is easyto transport and assemble on site.

Tadros, a researcher at the University ofNebraska’s Peter Kiewit Institute, developed amanufacturing process that ensures the poles

As utility poles need replacing because of ageor natural disasters, utility companies are seekingalternatives to traditional wooden poles.

Precast concrete poles are gaining popularitybecause they’re strong, less expensive than steeland require less maintenance than wood, butweight and size can make installation difficult.

A segmental concrete pole system, developedby UNL civil engineer Maher Tadros, makesinstallation easier. His invention employs 30-foot

are less susceptible to vertical cracking underextreme conditions than concrete poles madewith other production methods.

UNL has patented the technology, whichhas potential applications for utility poles,telecommunications and wind turbines.

Superior Power Poles Inc., a Texas company,has an exclusive license to produce the polesusing UNL’s technology.

Robert Weber (left) and Milford Hanna

Namas Chandra


Until 10 to 15 years ago,many educators believed thatin-depth math education couldwait until high school. Researchhas dramatically changedthose attitudes.

NebraskaMATH, a statewidepartnership led by UNLresearchers, aims to narrow

the achievement gap for at-risk students inkindergarten through third grade and improvemathematics achievement for all students.

A $9.3 million grant from the National ScienceFoundation provides resources for teachersto take graduate mathematics courses thatstrengthen their skills.

“Our goal is to invest in teachers,” said JimLewis, project leader and mathematicsprofessor. “In turn, we hope they are betterprepared to challenge their students andbecome leaders within their districts.”

The first teachers began classes in June 2009.Three hundred teachers are expected toparticipate during the five-year project, whichhas the potential to benefit 40,000 K-3students and 10,000 high school studentsacross Nebraska.

An important element of the project is studyinghow different approaches in K-3 math education,such as math coaches and classroom teacherswho work as math specialists, affect youngchildren’s learning. Ruth Heaton, associateprofessor of teaching, learning and teachereducation, leads this multidisciplinary research.

“Our goal is to better understand whatmathematical attitudes, knowledge andhabits of mind K-3 teachers need to possessto best help young children acquire strongmathematical foundations,” Heaton said.

NebraskaMATH includes two other programs:one helps algebra teachers reach at-risk students;

another offers professional developmentopportunities for new mathematics teachers.

The initiative builds on UNL’s successful Math inthe Middle program, another NSF-funded projectthat enabled 125 middle-level mathematicsteachers to earn master’s degrees.

The NebraskaMATH partnership includes GrandIsland Public Schools, Lincoln Public Schools,Omaha Public Schools, Papillion-La VistaPublic Schools and Nebraska’s EducationalService Units. Lewis said it is a truly statewideeffort that can serve as a national modelfor collaboration between state universitiesand K-12 schools.

12

“Our goal is to

better understand

what mathematical

attitudes, knowledge

and habits of mind

K-3 teachers need

to possess to best

help young children

acquire strong

mathematical

foundations.

Ruth Heaton and Jim Lewis

Darla Berks, Lincoln Public Schoolsteacher and NebraskaMATH mentor

”

Partnering on Math Achievement

Achieve


Why does one person vote republican andanother democrat? Why do some people tendto trust a stranger more readily than a spouse?

Answers aren’t found just in a person’senvironment, experiences or genes, but in acombination of many influences. An innovativenew initiative – Systems Biology of SocialBehavior – is bringing together UNL researchersfrom diverse disciplines to explore complexsocial dynamics.

“It’s a little weird to have political scientistsworking with geneticists,” admits the initiative’sdirector, political scientist Kevin Smith. “Butthere’s a growing recognition that we’reunlikely to fully understand why people oranimals do the things they do socially withinthe confines of a single discipline.”

This research one day could expand knowledgeabout how we learn and make decisions, andhelp people understand each other’s differences,which might help us better manage conflicts.

For example, Smith and colleagues study theroots of ideologies. “There’s a lot of workindicating that political attitudes are partiallyinherited. It’s not just what mom and dad talkabout at the dinner table.”

By studying identical twins and physiologicalresponses such as visual tracking and brainactivity, researchers are linking ideologicalbeliefs across a wide spectrum, from socialinteractions to cognition and even to DNA.

While research often focuses on narrow aspectsof human social behavior, this initiative envisionsa comprehensive approach. Researchers willincorporate genetics, neuroscience, physiology,affect/emotion, cognition and group dynamicsto understand the systems biology behindhuman social behavior.

UNL is well positioned to tackle such complexquestions, thanks to nationally knownresearchers in biology, neuroscience, cognitionand political science who are willing to workcollaboratively outside their disciplines,Smith said.

UNL also plans to train a new generation forcross-disciplinary research through a graduateprogram that will require students to takeclasses and work outside their fields.

“This is a way to make disciplinary boundariesa little more permeable,” said Smith, and toprepare students to work collaboratively.

Exploring Complex Social Dynamics

14

For a family in crisis, navigating the vast childwelfare system can be daunting.

Child welfare agencies have the expertise tohelp. However, limited resources and lack ofcommunication among agencies sometimesdelay assistance for children and families.

A new UNL-based center is working toimprove the quality and effectiveness of childwelfare services in Nebraska and the region.The Midwest Child Welfare ImplementationCenter partners with state and tribal childwelfare agencies to identify obstacles tohelping families and to recommend significantchanges for improving services. The goal:helping agencies function more effectivelyand ensuring all children have safe, stableand permanent homes.

“There are families falling through the cracks.Do we have the right kinds of services and,if so, are families finding out about them?”said Michelle Graef, project co-leader andresearch associate professor in UNL’s Centeron Children, Families and the Law, whichadministers the center.

UNL researchers provide consultation andsupport to state and tribal child welfareagencies in Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana,Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota,Ohio and Wisconsin.

For example, the center may examine how anagency recruits and retains employees, how wellit coordinates with law enforcement and the courtsystem, or how quickly it connects families withmedical or mental health services. Improvementprojects are tailored to agencies’ individualneeds and tribes’ cultural values.

A five-year, $8.7 million grant from the U.S.Department of Health and Human ServicesChildren’s Bureau funds the effort. UNL isone of five regional implementation centersestablished to better coordinate resources andexpertise provided by the Children’s Bureau’straining and technical assistance network.

“We’ll know our work has been successful iffamilies receive the services they need and fosterchildren get to permanent homes more quickly,”said Mark Ells, project leader and researchassistant professor in the Center on Children,Families and the Law.

Improving Child Welfare Services

Mark Ells and Michelle Graef

Kevin Smith (standing) and graduate student Douglas Oxley

“We are just now starting to understand the rural context as somethingthat’s unique and distinct that needs to be addressed in its own right.”


Focusing on Rural Schools’ Unique NeedsRural schools offer many advantages, includingfamily involvement, community support andclose relationships, said Susan Sheridan,professor of educational psychology who leadsthe center. However, geographic isolationcan hinder teachers’ access to formalprofessional development programs andlimit informal peer mentoring that sharpenstheir classroom skills.

“Rural teachers don’t always have access tothe most up-to-date, research-based programsand strategies that are available in cities withuniversities and research centers closelyaligned to the schools where the research istaking place,” Sheridan said.

Researchers are working with rural schoolsto identify and test methods of deliveringprofessional support that enable teachersto bring the most effective instructionalstrategies into their classrooms. More than

500 Nebraska teachers will participate in thisresearch through training, one-on-one coachingand practicing new research-based methods.

Payoffs could be far-reaching. Nationally, nearly10 million youth attend school in rural areas.In Nebraska, almost 30 percent of studentsattend rural schools, and 87 percent of thestate’s school districts are considered rural. Atleast 5,000 Nebraska students will benefit fromtheir teachers’ involvement in this research.

“We are just now starting to understand therural context as something that’s unique anddistinct that needs to be addressed in its ownright,” Sheridan said.

Facing page, from left: James Bovaird, Gina Kunz,Todd Glover, Susan Sheridan and Gwen Nugent

Rural schools have unique needs and challenges,yet research about how rural educationalsettings influence student learning anddevelopment is limited.

UNL’s new National Center for Research onRural Education aims to close that knowledgegap. Established in 2009 with a five-year,$10 million grant from the U.S. Department ofEducation Institute of Education Science, it isthe only such center in the U.S. It will providethe research, infrastructure, leadership andexpertise to focus on rural education needs.

Improving student learning in reading,science and math is the goal. To achieve this,researchers are studying how best to provideprofessional development support to ruralteachers. Answers could guide improvementsin professional development and instructionalpractices for rural teachers across Nebraskaand the nation.

Innovate


A tiny mouse living high in the mountains isproviding evolutionary clues that might somedayhelp people with blood and lung disorders.

UNL evolutionary biologist Jay Storz iscomparing the genetics of deer mice livingat high altitudes with those of their relativelyoxygen-rich lowland kin to understand howanimals evolve to adapt to low-oxygenenvironments. These evolutionary insightscould lead to treatments for health problemssuch as chronic obstructive pulmonarydisease, or COPD, the fourth leading causeof death in the U.S.

With funding from a $1.3 million, five-yearNational Institutes of Health grant, he isinvestigating hemoglobin, a protein that bindswith oxygen in the lungs and transports itthroughout the bloodstream. When oxygen isscarce, animals must take greater advantageof the available supply. High-altitude mice haveevolved the ability to maximize the uptake ofoxygen they breathe by more efficiently capturingthe available oxygen in their hemoglobin.

“The hemoglobin system in high-altitude deermice illustrates the solution that evolution hascome up with to deal with hypoxia (oxygendeficiency),” Storz said.

The ability to capture and circulate moreoxygen could help people with disorders suchas anemia, cardiovascular disease and COPDthat reduce oxygen transport efficiency.Understanding the mechanisms responsiblefor evolutionary adjustments in hemoglobinfunction can be used to design therapies,such as blood substitutes, that can eitherincrease or decrease hemoglobin’s ability tobind oxygen in humans.

Storz collaborates with UNL School of BiologicalSciences colleague Hideaki Moriyama. They’recombining evolutionary biologywith biotechnology to identifygenetic mutations responsible forchanges in hemoglobin functionand to understand how thosemutations work together toproduce changes.

Storz led an international teamthat recently identified mutationsin four hemoglobin genes thatenable high-altitude deer miceto tolerate chronic hypoxia.Findings were reported in theProceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences.

18

Scientists working at the intersection ofagriculture and human health envision UNLas a pipeline for new products that makefor healthier people. It all runs through thegut – quite literally.

Experts in gastrointestinal microbiology,bioinformatics and statistics, immunology,allergies, metabolomics, quantitative genomics,physiology and nutrition have teamed throughUNL’s Gut Function Initiative to understand themicroorganisms that live in the gastrointestinaltract. Ultimately, they hope to transform thatunderstanding into new crops, products andpractices, including so-called functional foods,that improve health and fight disease.

Building on UNL strengths in food science,nutrition, and crop and livestock production,the initiative aims to put the university on theleading edge of this emerging research. Grantsfrom the National Institutes of Health and theU.S. Department of Agriculture support this work.

“This is a new interface between agricultureand human health,” said food microbiologistAndy Benson. “The newest ideas to emerge atthis interface can be quickly integrated intothe engines of agricultural production.”

Of Mice and HealthA Gut Feeling

The goal is simple: find ways to maximize goodmicrobes and minimize bad ones. Gettingthere is astoundingly complex. Researchersestimate the gut has 10 times more microbesthan there are cells in the human body.

Scientists must understand how to encouragebeneficial microorganisms that aid digestion,stimulate cell growth, train the immune system,break down toxins and defend against disease,and to discourage microorganisms linked toobesity, coronary disease, cancer, inflammatorybowel disease and other diseases.

A key is UNL’s new gnotobiotic facility, one ofabout 10 nationwide, where scientists breedmice in a sterile environment and experimentwith introducing specific bacteria into their GItracts to learn about each microbe's function.

“Many of the most significant discoveries inhuman medicine are likely to occur in the GIecosystem in the next 10 to 20 years,” Bensonsaid. UNL’s team has the food and nutritionscience expertise to make some of thosediscoveries and the agricultural expertise toturn that knowledge into new crops or products.

Andy Benson

Jay Storz

Setting traps in Colorado

Deer mouse

20 21CHANGING WORLD PERSPECTIVES

“We believe nutritional genomics will be the future of nutrition andthe future of health care and preventive medicine.”

The days of one-size-fits-all dietaryrecommendations are numbered. Tomorrow’srecommendations will match foods with yourunique genetic makeup to prevent disease.

That’s the promise of nutrigenomics, theintricate interaction among food, genetics,health and disease. Deciphering this complexgenetic and nutritional puzzle requiresmultidisciplinary expertise.

At UNL, the new Nebraska Gateway toNutrigenomics, or NGN, integrates researchin this emerging field. The initiative, launchedin October 2008, involves 28 faculty membersfrom 11 UNL departments.

“We believe nutritional genomics will be thefuture of nutrition and the future of healthcare and preventive medicine,” said Tim Carr,a nutrition science professor who co-directsthe initiative. “We want to be leaders in thefield. We believe it’s going to be good forNebraska and all of the Midwest.”

Nutrigenomics involves identifying the uniquegenetic makeup of individuals or populationgroups and determining their geneticpredisposition to birth defects and diseases

such as cancer, cardiovascular disease ordiabetes. Scientists also must understandhow foods’ diverse components interact withdifferent genetic scenarios.

Armed with that information, a person couldeat an individualized diet rich in nutrients tocounter a specific genetic predisposition andprevent disease.

For example, scientists know somesingle-nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs –variations in the DNA sequence of onenucleotide – increase the risk for certaindiseases. For one known SNP, a diet rich infolate may reduce heart attack and birthdefect risks.

For many other SNPs, the connection betweengenetics and disease remains unknown.Scientists need to explore other geneticfactors to determine whether or how dietaryinterventions influence them.

The NGN is enhancing UNL’s research efforts.“We’re creating synergies among faculty andacross departments,” said Janos Zempleni,director of the initiative and associateprofessor of nutrition science. Grants fromthe National Institutes of Health, NationalScience Foundation, U.S. Department ofAgriculture and other agencies support NGNfaculty research.

Deciphering Nutrigenomics Puzzle

Tim Carr (left) andJanos Zempleni


are vital to research in a number of disciplines,including water, bioinformatics, transportationand climate research. The center includes UNL’sPrairie Fire and Red supercomputers and PKI’sFirefly supercomputer. Having hardware intwo locations provides redundancy importantfor security, data storage and integrity, saidDavid Swanson, the UNL computer scientistwho directs the new center and previously ledUNL’s Research Computing Facility.

“To realize our potential, we must have thecomputing capacity to support our faculty. Thatis the promise of the University of Nebraska

Holland Computing Center – that faculty in alldisciplines will have the computing resourcesthey need to put Nebraska on the map,” NUPresident James B. Milliken said.

The Holland Center expansion was madepossible by a gift from Omaha businessmanand philanthropist Richard Holland.

A climate change conference report, focusedon the importance of sustaining agriculturalproduction in the face of climate change, ishelping UNL and U.S. Geological Surveyscientists shape plans to comprehensivelystudy climate change across the High Plains.

The report, Sustainability in a Time of ClimateChange: Developing an Intensive ResearchFramework for the Platte River Basin and theHigh Plains, details the issues, perspectives andresearch recommendations from the 2008

conference and companion workshop. UNL andUSGS jointly hosted the conference at NorthPlatte, Neb., which drew about 150 UNL andUSGS researchers, representatives from stateand regional organizations, farmers, ranchers,resource managers and policymakers to discussregional challenges of a changing climate.

The report is shaping the research agenda as UNLand USGS researchers continue collaborationson specific research plans. It also has been sharedwidely with decision-makers and federal agencies.

“UNL and USGS believe that by combining ourexpertise and building on our existing activitiesin this region, we can develop a comprehensiveresearch plan that will help us find resilient,science-based solutions to the challenges weface in a changing climate,” project leaderswrote in the report's foreword.

The report is available online at:research.unl.edu/docs/climatechangereport_final.pdf

22

Shear Heads NU PressAnderson LeadsIndustry Relations

Shaping Climate Change Research

Being named ForeWordMagazine’s IndependentPublisher of 2008 is among the latest indicatorsof the quality and talent at the University ofNebraska Press, said Donna A. Shear, whobecame UNP director in March 2009.

Victoria Sutherland, ForeWord’s publisher,called UNP “a publisher that excelled in its

role of keeper of the cultural heritage, auniversity publisher that has deliberatelymade a place for itself in the world of tradeas the curator of consistently wonderfulbooks in several special markets.”

Shear said she sees opportunities for UNP tobuild on its strengths by expanding its regionalpublishing program throughout the GreatPlains. She also hopes to explore opportunitiesin electronic publishing.

A veteran of scholarly publishing, Shear cameto UNL from the Northwestern University Pressin Evanston, Ill., where she was director. Sheholds an MBA from the University of Torontoand a bachelor’s degree in political sciencefrom Rutgers University.

UNP is a nonprofit scholarly and generalinterest press that publishes 160 new andreprint titles annually under the Nebraskaand Bison Books imprints, and 25 journals.As the largest and most diversified universitypress between Chicago and California, withnearly 3,000 books in print, the Press is bestknown for publishing works in indigenousstudies, western American history, literarytranslation and sports history.

UNL is expandingpartnerships withbusiness, industry andprivate foundations.

“We have someexciting opportunitiesto build existing and new private-publicpartnerships to advance the university andenhance economic development for Nebraska,”said Ryan Anderson, who joined UNL asdirector of industry relations in late 2008.

He is especially interested in expandingindustry relationships in areas of researchstrength, including life sciences, agriculturalbiotechnology, transportation, energy, waterand nanoscience. He also will foster private-sector relations to develop the NebraskaInnovation Campus at UNL.

“Industry and our university both benefitfrom collaborations,” Anderson said.

Anderson came to UNL from the Universityof Nebraska Foundation where he worked incorporate and foundation relations anddevelopment, most recently as director offoundation relations. He has a bachelor’sdegree from UNL.

Supercomputing Power Expands

The recently expanded Holland ComputingCenter doubles the University of Nebraska’shigh performance computing capacity andpositions the university to become a leadingregional resource for computing research. Thecenter integrates supercomputing resourcesat UNL’s Research Computing Facility andat the University of Nebraska’s Peter KiewitInstitute in Omaha, in a single universitywidehigh performance computing center thatserves all campuses of the university system.

Researchers benefit from improved capacityto perform complex computer simulations that

Donna Shear

Ryan Anderson

David Swanson


Debugging Complex SoftwareWhen Myra Cohen’s computer softwarecrashes, it’s a good day.

In fact, the more software bugs the UNLcomputer scientist finds, the better she’sdoing her job. Cohen develops testingprocedures for complex software, and she hasbeen catching lots of bugs.

“In testing, it’s good to find a fault,” Cohen said.“We’re looking for more ways to efficiently andeffectively run tests to uncover more problemsbefore they get out to the public.”

Poor software quality adds up to tens of billionsof dollars in financial losses annually in theU.S., according to the National Institutes ofStandards and Technology. Glitches in medical,military or other essential software couldput lives at risk.

Two prestigious grants help fund Cohen’sresearch on better ways to debug complexsoftware systems. She is the first UNL facultymember to receive a $320,000, three-yeargrant through the Air Force Office of ScientificResearch’s Young Investigator Program, whichfunds young researchers with exceptionalability and promise in basic research. Shealso has a $400,000, five-year National

Science Foundation CAREER Program award,which supports outstanding pre-tenure faculty.

Cohen has been testing highly configurablesoftware, such as Web browsers, that allowusers many preference options. Changingpreferences alters the underlying program,so testing only default settings, as is normal,may not suffice. She's developing a techniqueto more comprehensively and reliably testthe myriad combinations of options inconfigurable software.

With the Air Force grant, she is expanding herresearch to develop tests for entire productlines, such as cell phones, which combinehardware with software. Instead of testing eachnew model from scratch, Cohen’s techniquesuse information from the previous model totest the new one, allowing efficient testingacross entire families of products.

She likens it to car assembly lines. If every carhas the same engine, but different tires, itmay be necessary to test only the new tires.

Improved product line testing techniquesshould benefit software companies, themilitary, medical technologies, and shipand airplane industries.

“We’re looking

for more ways

to efficiently

and effectively

run tests to

uncover more

problems before

they get out to

the public.”

Myra Cohen


New research and education partnershipsforged with China and India are expandingUNL’s tradition of global engagement.

During the last year, UNL administrators andfaculty met with university, government andindustry officials in China and India to discusscollaborative research and education programs.UNL officials signed agreements with majoruniversities in each country to create jointdegree programs and research partnershipsin areas such as agriculture, engineering,transportation, virology and water.

In early 2009, UNL officials visited severaluniversities and research organizations inIndia, building partnerships and layinggroundwork for broader collaborations.

Officials from UNL and Anna University inChennai, one of India’s top engineering schools,agreed to launch a joint engineering doctoralprogram and collaborative research. A researchagreement with the International Crops ResearchInstitute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, known asICRISAT, will expand research opportunitiesand give UNL plant science graduate studentsthe chance to conduct research in India.A partnership with India’s Ministry of FoodProcessing Industries will bring Indian

government researchers to UNL to learn aboutfood processing practices.

In China, a UNL delegation attended a ConfuciusInstitute board of directors meeting, discussedpartnerships with officials from Zhejiang andXi’an Jiaotong universities and met with officialsinvolved in ongoing collaborative AIDS research.UNL previously established partnershipdegree and faculty exchange programswith Xi’an Jiaotong and Zhejiang citycolleges and launched a ConfuciusInstitute site in 2007.

Agricultural developmentis a priority for China,and UNL agriculturalscientists are workingwith Chinese scientistsfrom Zhejiang Universityto establish an experimentstation and irrigationdemonstration project.

In a separate project, UNL and HohaiUniversity scientists are partnering oninternational water research to develop acyber-infrastructure for global water research.The U.S and Chinese National ScienceFoundations help fund this project.

UNL officials also met with representativesfrom the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’sGlobal AIDS Program in China. UNL scientistswork with the U.S. and Chinese CDCs onHIV/AIDS research. The National Institutesof Health funds this research by UNLvirologist Charles Wood.

Enhancing International Partnerships

26

Plans are taking shapefor Nebraska Innovation Campus,

a private-public research communitydesigned to strengthen Nebraska’s economy

and enhance UNL research.

Innovation Campus will be developed onabout 250 acres adjacent to UNL neardowntown Lincoln. Officials envision creatingprivate and public research and technologyspace where entrepreneurs and privatecompanies work closely with UNL faculty andstudents in an innovative environment. Theproject will build UNL’s research capabilities,strengthen private-public collaborations,attract businesses that create jobs andexpand Nebraska’s economy.

“As we share our vision for Innovation Campuswith people across the country, we’re findingenormous enthusiasm,” said UNL ChancellorHarvey Perlman. “It reinforces our belief thatthis is a unique opportunity to harness theeconomic potential of our research to benefitNebraska for generations to come.”

UNL laid groundwork for the campus in 2009,hiring consultants, meeting with potentialpartners and expanding efforts to buildrelationships with business and industry. Ata Research Strengths Summit in June, facultyand industry representatives discussed UNL’sresearch capabilities and industry interests,and identified key strengths and considerationsfor Innovation Campus.

The university selected SmithGroup/JJR of AnnArbor, Mich., as the master planner, and NoddleDevelopment of Omaha, Neb., as the businessstrategy planner for the project. The master planand business development strategy are dueDec. 1. In January 2010, UNL will obtain theInnovation Campus site, which previously housedthe Nebraska State Fair. The fair is moving toGrand Island, Neb. Early in 2010, the universitywill select a developer for Innovation Campus.

The site has between 1 million and 4 millionsquare feet of space suitable for construction.Private companies and UNL will develop thismixed-use space as demand increases andprivate and public funds become availableover the next 20 or more years.

Laying Innovation Campus Groundwork

Chancellor Harvey Perlman(right) at Anna University

Signing ICRISAT research agreement

Touring ICRISAT

28

Opera’s Winning Ways


Tackling Human TraffickingAs a UNL marketing professor, slavery was noton Ron Hampton’s radar. But after a studentfrom Ukraine mentioned the problem in thatcountry, Hampton flew there to investigate anddecided to study human trafficking from amarketing perspective.

After meeting some victims and publishingresearch on the marketing aspects of trafficking,Hampton and UNL marketing colleague,Dwayne Ball, recruited other UNL faculty to studyand raise awareness of this global problem.The multidisciplinary team includes experts ineconomics, ethnic studies, history, journalism,law and library sciences, among others.

Human trafficking, the movement of humansacross borders to enslave them, fuels the sextrade, organ extraction, forced labor and otherforms of debt bondage. Though illegal, slaveryremains the third largest and fastest growingindustry worldwide.

Experts estimate 27 million people currentlyare enslaved globally, including as many as200,000 in the U.S. A lack of reliable dataon trafficking exacerbates the challenge ofguiding policy and anti-trafficking efforts.

“It’s happening daily all over the world,” includingplaces like Nebraska, Hampton said, and policies,including those in the U.S., are lacking.

The UNL team aims to focus on humantrafficking research needs and findingsby hosting an annual interdisciplinaryconference that brings together researchersand representatives from government andnongovernmental agencies. The first, inOctober 2009, will develop a research agenda.

Researchers hope to create a multidisciplinarycenter at UNL as an information clearinghousefor academics, government officials and others.

Law professor Josephine Potuto said thatcentering the project in Nebraska instead of alarger city “allows for a broader investigationof a larger number of subjects that might getlost if it were put someplace else.”

By generating interest and research in humantrafficking, the team hopes to find novelapproaches and policy solutions that will oneday help end human trafficking globally.

For the third time in10 years, UNL’s School ofMusic won the National Opera AssociationAward for Best Production, an honor thatunderscores the ongoing quality of its opera.

Opera director William Shomos, professor ofmusic, attributes the success to the school’sfocus on its students and choice of productionsin which they can excel.

“Our mission is to serve the students andprovide them the opportunities to spread theirwings, to explore, to discover who they areand how they fit into this art form,” he said.

Attention to students’ growth, not competitions,translates into high-quality performances. “Theawards are nice, but it’s not what drives us.”

Winners are chosen by a panel of operaprofessionals without knowing which schoolssubmitted the video productions. UNL’s winning2008 performance was Dead Man Walking,inspired by Sister Helen Prejean’s book, whichalso was made into a 1995 movie.

Awards are but one measure of the school’ssuccess. Numerous students, like Kelly Ellenwoodand John DeHaan, have gone on to prestigiouscareers starring on Broadway and as inter-nationally acclaimed singers. Recent graduateKen Floyd now sings for the Metropolitan Opera.

Star alumni include many popular high schoolchoral directors who bring their enthusiasmand artistic talent to teach a new generationof students.

Shomos said tremendous community supportand loyal audiences contribute to studentsuccess. “The UNL Friends of Opera is a groupof not only opera enthusiasts, but also studententhusiasts who really give of their time and

their treasures to help make this program asstrong as possible,” he said.

To give back, the opera program reaches outto Lincoln’s young people with performancesincluding the annual Amahl and the NightVisitors about overcoming life’s obstacles.Students are enthralled and UNL is creatingaudiences for the future.

Ron Hampton

Scene from Dead Man Walking

29


UNL faculty are aggressively pursuing fundingavailable through the American Recoveryand Reinvestment Act of 2009 to expand theirresearch and scholarship, and to help stimulatethe nation's economy.

The stimulus package, which providesunprecedented funding for research,infrastructure and education, is designed tojump-start the economy and create or retainjobs. Prem Paul, UNL vice chancellor forresearch and economic development, saidstimulus funding will lead to new technologiesand information with short- and long-termeconomic benefits. “Money spent on researchcreates and retains jobs,” Paul said. “Thesedollars will be spent in Nebraska and willtruly have multiple benefits for our economy.”

UNL faculty are successfully competing forstimulus funding, Paul said. Examples ofearly success included:

• A $375,670, two-year grant from theNational Institute of Allergy and InfectiousDiseases to Robert Powers, associateprofessor of chemistry, for research toenhance his team’s functional annotationscreening technology by nuclear magnetic

resonance spectroscopy (FAST-NMR) assay.Perfecting this tool will help researchersdetermine the function of proteins identifiedby gene sequencing and their therapeuticpotential in developing new drugs.

• A $360,000, three-year grant from theNational Science Foundation to JeffreyShield, professor of mechanical engineering,to establish a Research Experiencesfor Undergraduates (REU) program innanomaterials and nanoscience. Sponsoredby the Nebraska Center for Materials andNanoscience, this REU will build on UNL’sresearch strengths in nanotechnology. Itwill bring to campus students from collegesand universities that lack a strong researchemphasis, especially those in the upperMidwest, as well as students fromunderrepresented groups for 10 weeksof intensive research with UNL faculty.

• A $300,002, three-year NSF grant to Li Tan,assistant professor of engineering mechanics,for research exploring how best to producefree-standing nanoparticle fibers that couldbe used to make far more efficient organicphotovoltaic cells.

Stimulus Bolsters Research

30

Determined to Make a DifferenceIt’s a remarkable journey from an uncertainchildhood as a Sudanese refugee to UNLgraduate student and Fulbright grant winner.For Nithal Kuwa, it’s the path to her dreamof improving African health care.

Kuwa is in Zambia studying HIV drug resistancein children. This follows her master’s degreeresearch with Charles Wood, UNL molecularvirologist and AIDS researcher who directs theNebraska Center for Virology. She’ll graduatein December 2009. For her Fulbright, Kuwa isworking with researchers in Wood’s lab inZambia and volunteering at a local counselingand testing center.

“What I am going to do will be important forthe development of better drug regimensfor children,” Kuwa said.

Babies born to HIV-positive women whoreceive drugs to prevent transmissionsometimes inherit the virus anyway. Kuwais investigating whether those children aremore likely to develop resistance to HIVtreatment later. About 1.8 million childrenin sub-Saharan Africa live with HIV/AIDS.

As Wood’s graduate student, Kuwa studiedimmune response to a herpes virus that often

CreditsThe 2008-2009 Annual Report is published by the

University of Nebraska−Lincoln Office of Research and

Economic Development. More information is available

at http://research.unl.edu or contact:

Prem S. Paul

Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development

301 Canfield Administration Building

University of Nebraska−Lincoln

Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0433

(402) 472-3123 • [email protected]

Writers/Editors:

Vicki Miller, Monica Norby, Ashley Washburn, Elizabeth

Banset, Office of Research and Economic Development

Contributing Writers:

Gillian Klucas, Daniel R. Moser

Some articles are based on earlier stories by:

Kelly Bartling, Sara Gilliam, Steve Ress, Tom Simons

Photography/Illustrations:

Joel Brehm, Brett Hampton, Craig Chandler,

Alan Jackson/Jackson Studios, Lincoln Public Schools,

UNL School of Music

Design: Sym Labs

causes an aggressive cancer in HIV/AIDSpatients. Wood studies HIV and HIV-associatedviruses, focusing on transmission and theirroles in immunosuppression and cancerdevelopment. Through his lab and clinic atthe University of Zambia, Wood works closelywith local scientists on HIV/AIDS.

Born in Sudan at the beginning of its civilwar, Kuwa spent most of her childhood livingin Ethiopia and Kenya before arriving inLincoln, Neb., in 2000 as a teenager withher mother and siblings.

She excelled academically. During collegeshe was so moved by her summer volunteeringin a Sudanese hospital she decided to oneday return to Sudan to help. Following herFulbright experience, she plans to pursue adoctorate in public health.

“I hope that my being there and seeing theirfaces will give me motivation to put evenmore into my work,” Kuwa said. “Hopefullyin the future, I’ll make a difference insomeone’s life.”

Nithal Kuwa


UNL Research FairThe 2009 UNL Research Fair highlightedfaculty and student achievements in research,scholarship and creative activities. The eventis a springtime campus tradition, featuringfaculty recognition events, presentationsfrom prominent speakers, opportunities tomeet federal agency officials, graduateand undergraduate poster sessions, andeducational opportunities for faculty andstudents. The seventh annual fair featuredpresentations and workshops on diversetopics including federal stimulus funding,international opportunities and working withindustry and privatefoundations. Featuredspeakers includedWilliam Y.B. Changand Cerry Klein, bothNSF; Sabine O’Hara,Council for theInternational Exchangeof Scholars; AnthonyDeCrappeo, Councilon Government Relations; TobinSmith, AAU; Sidney McNairy andPeggy McCardle, NIH; and SivaSureshwaran, USDA.

project leader, said kids learn science andtechnology concepts while they have fun buildingand programming small robots. The programtargets fifth through ninth graders. The teamis scaling up materials and training to makethem available across the U.S.

Biotech Pilot ProjectUNL is participating in a U.S. Department ofAgriculture pilot project to develop qualitymanagement standards for field releases ofregulated genetically engineered crops. USDA’sAnimal and Plant Health Inspection Serviceselected UNL as the only university to work withfour private companies on the biotechnologyquality management system pilot project todetermine if regulations are reasonable oroverly burdensome for universities and industry,and how they could be fine-tuned. UNL carriesout more field releases of genetically engineeredorganisms than any other university, said DanDuncan, assistant dean of UNL’s AgriculturalResearch Division. Field trials are an importantpart of the university’s biotechnology pipeline thatmoves research advancements from lab to field.

Robotics and Science EdNebraska 4-H’s robotics and GPS/GIS scienceeducation curriculum soon will be available toyouth nationwide, thanks to a nearly $2.5 milliongrant from the National Science Foundation. The4-H Robotics and Geospatial Project aims to getyoung people excited about science, technology,engineering and mathematics now and for therest of their lives. The UNL-developed curriculumhas been offered mostly to Nebraska youth.Brad Barker, 4-H technology specialist and a

32

First Space Law GradsThe inaugural class of the nation’s first spaceand telecommunications law degree programgraduated in 2009 from UNL’s College of Law.Seven students earned Master of Laws degreesand most landed jobs or internships in the spacelaw field. The space and telecommunicationsindustries are major contributors to the globalmarket and share overlapping legal concerns.UNL launched the space and telecommunicationsprogram to meet rapidly growing education,research and information needs. The program’sfirst Washington, D.C., space and telecommuni-cations law conference in November 2008featured leading experts and government officialsinterested in the field. More than 115 participantsdiscussed topics including legal and policyaspects of government space programs, riskmanagement and insurance law, wirelesstechnology issues and international concerns.

Annual conferences are hosted in Lincolnand Washington, D.C.Web: law.unl.edu/spacelaw

Digital WhitmanWalt Whitman’s Civil War writings are becomingavailable online thanks to research by UNLEnglish professor Kenneth Price. A leadingWhitman and digital scholar, Price co-directsthe Walt Whitman Archive, a comprehensiveonline resource, and co-directs UNL’s Centerfor Digital Research in the Humanities. Witha $300,000 National Endowment for theHumanities grant, Price’s team is electronicallyediting, arranging, annotating and publishing,often for the first time, key documents that givevoice to Whitman’s experience of the war. Priceintends to complete the interdisciplinary project by2011, in time for the sesquicentennial of the war’soutbreak. Price alsoearned a prestigiousDigital InnovationFellowship from theAmerican Council ofLearned Societiesand a grant from theNational HistoricalPublications andRecords Commission to support this work.Web: whitmanarchive.unl.edu

Museum AccreditationIn 2009 the University of Nebraska StateMuseum again earned accreditation by theAmerican Association of Museums, the highestnational recognition afforded U.S. museums.AAM accreditation signifies excellence to themuseum community, governments, funders,outside agencies and the public, said museumdirector Priscilla Grew. The museum has beencontinuously accredited since 1973.Web: www-museum.unl.edu

Schubert EarnsCAREER AwardMaterials scientistEva Schubert isthe latest UNLfaculty member toearn a NationalScience FoundationCAREER award,which helps outstanding pre-tenure facultydevelop as teacher-scholars and researchers.Schubert is one of a few people in the worldstudying the potential of a unique type of nano-materials known as hybrid chiral nanostructures.Her research aims to improve the functionalityof these materials and test how they performin electronic devices. Potential applicationsinclude storage for library databases, securityscanners and biomedical devices.

More Research Highlights

Understanding Super HydrophobiaSuper hydrophobia – the property that makeswater bead and roll off plants and enableswater striders to walk on water – has longperplexed scientists. Research by UNL chemistXiao Cheng Zeng and colleagues at Japan’sRIKEN institute reveals clues to how thisphenomenon works. Their findings could helpengineers develop super hydrophobic materialsfor self-cleaning countertops, walls and fabrics,water-walking micro-robots and other uses.Using a superfast computer, researchers rantens of thousands of simulations of virtualraindrops falling on surfaces covered by pillarsresembling the microscopic hair-like structuresfound on water striders or plant leaves. Theydiscovered there is a critical pillar height,depending on structure and chemical properties,beyond which water droplets cannot penetrate.Their findings were published in the Proceedingsof the National Academy of Sciences.

Nebraska LecturesA behavioral ecologist and a scholar of WaltWhitman described their work during the2008-09 Nebraska Lectures: Chancellor’s

Distinguished Lecture Series.In his fall lecture, Alan C. Kamil,the George Holmes UniversityProfessor of Biological Sciencesand professor of psychology,

discussed how birds use their cognitiveabilities to survive in “Bird Brain! Complimentor Insult?” The spring lecture featured KennethM. Price, Hillegass University Professor of19th-century Literature and co-directorof UNL’s Center for Digital Research in theHumanities. In his lecture, “‘I pass so poorlywith paper and types’ – The Making andRemaking of Walt Whitman in a DigitalAge,” he discussed how Whitman creativelyused photography and print media to spreadhis ideas. The Office of the Chancellor, theResearch Council and the Office of Researchand Economic Development co-sponsor theselectures featuring prominent faculty.

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