Life Sciences Commons^™

Strategic Discussions For Nebraska: Opportunities For Nebraska -- Food Scarcity, Mary Garbacz

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

Strategic Discussions for Nebraska is a program in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources that produces an annual publication called Opportunities for Nebraska, focusing on a different topic each year. The publication is produced in hard copy and also is available online at www.sdn.unl.edu.

The content for each publication is produced by UNL students enrolled in a Magazine Writing course each spring semester, taught by the SDN coordinator. Students conduct interviews with UNL researchers and write stories for inclusion in the publication. The interviews are captured on video and are edited into video montages, …

Evaluation And Perceived Impacts Of The North-Central Region Sare Grants, 1988-2002, Shirley K. Trout, Charles A. Francis, John E. Barbuto Jr.

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

Evaluation of government-funded programs is essential to identify ways in which initial funding makes an impact and programs can improve. The purpose of this study was to understand the value of the North Central Region's Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education (SARE) grants operated through the United States Department of Agriculture, from their inception through 2002. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, impacts were explored from the perspective of former grant recipients. Survey data were collected from 171 former SARE and 33 interviews conducted with grant recipients who represented three different grant "families"--researchers, producers and educators. Descriptive, comparative, and exploratory analyses …

Adoption Of Riparian Forest Buffers On Private Lands In Nebraska, Usa, Peter Skelton, Scott J. Josiah, James W. King, James R. Brandle, Glenn A. Helmers, Charles A. Francis

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

Pesticide and nutrient runoff from agricultural fields is a socio-environmental problem in the Midwestern United States. Riparian forest buffers (RFBs) are a proven conservation practice that effectively manage this problem, though adoption rates are low. A mail survey was conducted to determine differences between adopter and nonadopter characteristics and attitudes with regard to the use of RFBs. Data were collected from 48 RFB adopters and 261 RFB nonadopters in two Nebraska watersheds. Inferential and multivaririate statistics were used to identify differences between adapter status and producer status groups. About half (50.8%) the respondents were nonproducers. Nonproducers are agricultural landowners not …

Agroecosystems Analysis From The Grass Roots: A Multidimensional Experiential Learning Course, Mary Wiedenhoeft, Steve Simmons, Ricardo Salvador, Gina Mcandrews, Charles A. Francis, James W. King, David Hole

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

An intensive, experiential travel course in Agroecosystems Analysis was conducted in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska (United States) during summers of 1998 and 1999. The intended student audience was advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students. Pretravel readings and a week-long series of farm visits, which consisted of in-depth interviews with the farmers and their families, prepared student teams to analyze and evaluate the production, economic, environmental, and social sustainability of 10 farms. Students shared their analyses both orally and in written reports. Based on a multifaceted student evaluation process, we found that participants were highly motivated, strongly engaged with the course …