Digital Commons Network^™

Global, Continental, And Local Scale Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction Methods For Interpreting The History Of Miocene North America And The Great Plains, Willow Hue Nguy

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The Miocene of North America is characterized by dynamic changes in herbivore communities, habitat composition, and global climate. Long-term cooling and drying trends influenced large changes in floral and faunal communities. The Great Plains, North America shifted from closed-canopy biomes to open-canopy biomes with C3-grasses to biomes with C4-grasses. This shift affected the herbivore communities as browsing-adapted ungulates were replaced by grazing-adapted ungulates. Much focus has centered on the Great Plains, so it is not well understood how the changes in biomes compare to other regions of North America. The models used for vegetation density indicate open-canopy biomes since at …

Exploring Transformative Learning Experiences In Engineering Doctoral And Post-Doctoral Education: Developing Non-Technical Competencies For Early-Career Academic Roles, Ibukunoluwa Eunice Salami

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation explores the transformative learning experiences that early-career engineering faculty recounted from their doctoral and postdoctoral training and how these experiences shaped the development of non-technical competencies essential for academic success. Grounded in Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory (TLT) and the Competency-Based Professional Development Framework (CBPDF), the study examines how reflection and shifts in frames of reference supported competency growth and faculty readiness. A qualitative holistic single-case study design was employed. Data sources included semi-structured interviews with early-career engineering faculty and program learning objectives drawn from graduate handbooks. Data analysis was both deductive and inductive guided by Mezirow’s ten phases …

In-Field Tractor Operational Load Profile Generation In Support Of Advanced Tractor Testing In Mixedmode Power, Andrew Donesky

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation addresses the need to better characterize real-world tractor power requirements across drawbar, power take-off (PTO), and hydraulic modes to support more representative tractor testing. Conventional testing protocols, such as OECD Code 2, emphasize steady-state performance under controlled high-load conditions, which do not reflect the mixed and dynamic demands of modern field operations. To address this gap, a Tractor Instrumentation System (TIS) was developed, validated, and deployed to collect high-resolution, mixed-mode power data during planting, anhydrous ammonia application, and grain cart operations. The TIS integrates physical sensors, including custom load pins, hydraulic pressure/flow sensors, and a redesigned PTO torque …

Post-Fire Soil Health Assessment Of The Grasslands And Woodlands In The Semi-Arid Nebraska Sandhills, Stephanie M. Lugo

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Grasslands in the Nebraska Sandhills are shaped by natural wildfires, which help maintain the structure and function of native grasslands. In recent decades, afforestation with ponderosa pine and eastern redcedar has introduced new woodlands that altered the region’s fire dynamics and raised important questions about the effects of wildfire on different vegetation types. As wildfires become more frequent, understanding their impacts on soil health in grasslands and woodlands becomes increasingly important. This study examines the short-term effects of the 2022 Bovee Fire on physical, chemical, and biological soil properties in native grasslands and ponderosa pine and eastern redcedar afforested woodlands. …

Art Teams Year 4 Annual (Ad Hoc) Report 2024-2025, Guy Trainin, Kimberley D'Adamo, Hyeonjin Yoon, Azadeh Hassani, Zohreh Tamimdari, Jiabin Lyu, Michael Nti Ababio, Sarah Trainin

Research and Evaluation in Education, Technology, Art, and Design

This report documents the fourth year of the Art TEAMS project, a multi-year professional learning initiative focused on arts-integrated, transdisciplinary teaching practices across Nebraska K-12 schools. During the 2024-2025 academic year, the project advanced work with its second cohort of educators while maintaining engagement with the first cohort to assess the sustainability of implementation. The second cohort brought increased diversity in art forms, including ceramics, digital media, and career and technical education, demonstrating the versatility of arts integration across curricula.

Year Four activities included delivering refined professional development courses grounded in emergent curriculum design, with significant curriculum modifications based on …

Determination Of Steroid Hormones And ⍺-Zeranol In Beef Products In East Tennessee, W. Colby Huffman, S. Ellie Jaynes, Nathan C. Duncan, D. Andrew Crain

RURALS: Review of Undergraduate Research in Agricultural and Life Sciences

Hormone growth implants are commonly used in cattle to increase growth and there is some concern that these implants may result in altered hormone concentrations in the beef from implanted cattle. This study aims to (1) develop a simple, standard, cost-effective method to measure hormones in beef and (2) compare hormones in meat from cattle not exposed to growth implants (negative controls), cattle exposed to growth implants (positive controls), and from a commercial retail store. Extraction and measurement using LCMS/MS was successful in detecting 17b-estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, and a-zeranol in meat, with a trend to lower concentrations in meat not …

Examining Microbial Biomass And Soil Organic Carbon In Annual Vs. Perennial Agricultural Ecosystem Soils, Paige Kenyon, Jacob Rutz, Kelsey S. Bitting

RURALS: Review of Undergraduate Research in Agricultural and Life Sciences

Soil systems have the ability to store large amounts of carbon for both short and long periods of time, much like other carbon pools such as oceans and forests. As increased amounts of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere via anthropogenic means, including the agricultural industry, scientists have been researching how to increase the amount of carbon cycled from the atmosphere and into soils as a climate change mitigation strategy. Soil systems have the capacity to sequester carbon in part due to fungal and bacterial community activity. Differences in soil microbial biomass levels between annual and perennial agricultural systems …

Interview With Orca Award Winner James Van Etten, Unl Plant Pathology; Discoverer Of Giant Viruses, Mark Griep, James Van Etten

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Dr. James Van Etten was awarded the UNL Outstanding Research and Creative Activities Award in 1992. He was born in Virginia but grew up Peoria, Illinois. Something in his youth must have sparked an interest in science because he earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Carleton College in 1960. Carleton is a well-regarded liberal arts institution in Northfield, Minn., about 400 miles from Peoria. Next, Jim earned a master’s and doctorate at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, both in plant pathology. For his postdoctoral work in 1965 and 1966, he did postdoctoral work in the Department of Genetics …

Keurig Dr Pepper Strategic Audit, Huy Le, Ethan Zen, Sierra Perkins, Jack Hudson

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

We analyze Keurig Dr Pepper's current strategic position following its acquisition of JDE Peat's. We determine its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats within its market share and make recommendations for future business ventures and strategic positioning.

Truth Comes Before Reconciliation: An Exercise In American Truth-Telling, Hannah Fidler

Nebraska Journal on Advancing Justice

No abstract provided.

Roots In South Omaha: Navigating Identity, Culture, And Justice, Natalia Lopez

Nebraska Journal on Advancing Justice

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Nicholas L. Marti

Nebraska Journal on Advancing Justice

No abstract provided.

2025-26 Masthead (Volume 2, Issue 1), Njaj Editorial Board

Nebraska Journal on Advancing Justice

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of: Univision, Telemundo, And The Rise Of Spanish-Language Television In The United States, Elizabeth Sotelo

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Craig Allen’s Univision, Telemundo, and the Rise of Spanish-Language Television in the United States (2020) meticulously encapsulates the business challenges and subsequent success of Spanish-language television networks in the United States. Grounded in hard data, archival research, reporting, and interviews, the author expands the study beyond the U.S. to trace the initiatives’ roots to Mexico. The book’s nine chapters weave a chronological narrative that covers the period from 1961 to 2012. Throughout the book, Allen explores the beginning of Univision in San Antonio in 1961, the birth of Telemundo in 1986, the pioneers and the investments involved, and the creation …

Program Transition Success: A Practical Guide For Educators Moving Sbae Programs, Evey Choat

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

What tools, strategies, and support systems can help agriculture educators navigate leadership transitions and sustain program success when moving between schools or communities? Teacher mobility and leadership transitions within School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) present unique challenges to program continuity, community relations, and professional sustainability. Unlike other subject areas, SBAE teachers often manage multifaceted responsibilities—as classroom instructors, FFA advisors, and community liaisons—making transitions between programs especially complex. This project addresses the lack of structured support for educators navigating these transitions by developing a Program Transition Guide specifically tailored to the needs of agricultural educators in Nebraska.

Guided by Transformational Leadership Theory …

Book Review Of: Univision, Telemundo, And The Rise Of Spanish-Language Television In The United States, Elizabeth Sotelo

Alt Dialogue

No abstract provided.

New Butterfly Taxa And Findings From Genomic Analyses, Jing Zhang, Qian Cong, Jinhui Shen, Leina Song, Nick V. Grishin

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Continuing our genomics-driven exploration of butterfly taxonomy, we integrate phylogenetic trees from all protein-coding genes with existing taxonomic and phenotypic knowledge and uncover further insights into butterfly systematics. As a result, one subgenus, 44 species, and 11 subspecies are proposed as new (type species in original combinations or type localities are listed in parentheses): Porphaurea Grishin, subgen. n. (Phoenicops porphyropis Meyrick & Lower, 1902) of Chaetocneme C. Felder, 1860 in Hesperiidae Latreille, 1809; Dione (Agraulis) lamasi Grishin, sp. n. (Peru: Cuzco) in Nymphalidae Rafinesque, 1815; Lasaia (Lasaia) chiapis Grishin, sp. n. (Mexico: Chiapas), Lasaia …

Fraggin’ The Superhero Genre: Parody And Carnival In Dc’S Lobo, Ryan L. Johnson

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

This essay examines the DC anti-hero Lobo as an ideal example of the constructive, creative power of parody and Bakhtinian carnival. Unlike Bakhtin’s assertion that carnival since the Renaissance has lost its spirit of play and become purely destructive, Lobo uses grotesque violence to create just as much as he destroys social norms. Ultimately, the mini-series under consideration provide a valuable tool for students to understand carnival, parody, and its power as criticism.

Nebline, November/December 2025

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Contents

Nebraska Extension celebrates 25 years of nutrition school enrichment kits

Recipe of the month: Fruit & yogurt parfait

Celebrating the season with American persimmon by Rachel Anderson

Love gardening? Become a master gardener by Mary Jane Frogge

Extension master gardener volunteer spotlight: Carol Rustad

Garden guide: Things to do this month by Mary Jane Frogge

Choosing child care: What parents should know by Jaci Foged

Commercial/noncommercial pesticide license

Little black bugs, big bite by Kait Chapman [about pirate bugs]

What you need to know about having a well drilled by Becky Schuerman

2026 nebraska custom rates survey by Glennis …

Flea News 96 (November 2025), R. L. Bossard

Flea News

Flea News is a twice-yearly newsletter about fleas (Siphonaptera). Before including in publications any of the citations given here, please review for accuracy and correct formatting. Many of our sources are abstracting journals and current literature sources, and editors have not necessarily checked citations.

Announcements

Obituary: Lane Douglas Foil (June 16, 1949 - June 22, 2025)

Siphonaptera Literature (2025): Taxonomy, Conservation, Hosts and Distributions, Physiology and Morphology, Evolution, Ecology, Pathology and Control, Microbial Symbionts

Gamma Sigma Delta, Nebraska Chapter Newsletter, Issue #68 November 2025

Gamma Sigma Delta, Nebraska Chapter: Newsletters

President's message, Deb VanOverbeke
Membership Information
2025 Outstanding Graduate Student Award Nomination Solicitation
2025 Teaching Award nomination solicitation
2025 Research Award nomination solicitation
2025 Extension Award nomination solicitation
2025 Award of Merit nomination solicitation
Gamma Sigma Delta Committees 2025
Annual Dues Notice
Membership Info and Dues
Student Award Fund solicitation
In Memoriam: Wayne W. Oberg (September 8, 1948 - February 21, 2025); Robert M. "Bob" Scriven (June 26, 1936 - August 29, 2025)
Pledge and Honor Cords
Save the Date: Initiation and Awards Reception

A Practice-Based Framework For Teaching Geography At The Secondary Level, Kyle F. Tredinnick

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Further work is necessary to carry out the goals set forth in geography education initiatives like the Geography for Life: National Geography Standards and Road Map for 21^st Century Geography Education Project. Methods to communicate the focus of geographic lessons at the secondary level can help guide teachers who are otherwise unaware of the ability for geography to answer questions and develop solutions to problems. Research and development of effective instructional tools to teach geography is needed. This research aims to provide a practice-based model for lesson-development in geography, as supported in academic literature. Input from higher-education faculty …

Comparative Analysis Of Citrate Synthase Activity In Skeletal Muscle, Liver, And Adipose Tissue In Beef Cattle, Abigail Webb

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Mitochondrial efficiency plays a central role in determining how cattle partition nutrients toward muscle growth or adipose deposition, yet little is known about tissue-specific differences in mitochondrial density among tissues or among beef cattle. This study aimed to quantify mitochondrial density in muscle, liver, and adipose tissue samples from beef cattle and evaluate its potential relationship with metabolic efficiency. Tissue samples of semitendinosus muscle (ST), liver, and subcutaneous adipose (SC) were collected, homogenized, and analyzed for citrate synthase (CS) activity using a fluorometric assay as a proxy for mitochondrial density. Preliminary analyses revealed that the semitendinosus muscle displayed the highest …

“Tell Your Papa”: Aesthetics Of Confrontation And Visual Witnessing In Nigerian Protest Music, Omotayo Jemiluyi

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

This study analyzes the music video “Tell Your Papa” (2025), a politically charged protest song by Nigerian artiste Eedris Abdulkareem, as an exemplary case of aesthetics of confrontation, here conceptualized as a multimodal strategy in which direct address, anti-spectacle visual style, literalism, and discomfort converge to confront political power. Focusing on the song’s explicit critique of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his son Seyi Tinubu, and other prominent political figures, the analysis demonstrates how Abdulkareem renders indistinct the line between music and political discourse through a visual-sonic language that is accusatory, documentary-stylized, and unflinchingly courageous. While building on the lineage …

Witnessing Healing Through Fantasy: Trauma, Community, And Art In A Court Of Thorns And Roses, Alexandria A. Remm

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Drawing on theorists such as Bruno Bettelheim, Lucy Bonds, Stef Craps, Dominick LaCapra, and Laura Loumeau-May, this paper explores the role of trauma and healing in Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series by examining protagonist Feyre Archeron’s journey. Specifically, Feyre’s journey with trauma and how she heals throughout the series. The analysis highlights how Feyre’s recovery is deeply tied to empathy, her acts of artistic creation, and her evolving relationships with others, especially with those who have also endured their own trauma. In addition to textual analysis, the paper incorporates reader and fan responses—particularly fanart …

The Big Bang Theory’S Blurred (Tele)Vision Of Scientific Ethics: Some Thoughts For Educators Who Want To Change The Channel, Lee-Anne Broadhead, Sean J. Howard

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

This article investigates the way the popular American television program The Big Bang Theory represents the pursuit of scientific knowledge and reflects on the cultural and educational implications of the show’s contradictory problematization and valorization of the reductionist method at the core of modern Eurocentric science. Drawing on story-lines relating to military research, animal experimentation, and pharmaceutical drug trials, we consider the show’s precarious balance of implicit critique (the consistent exposé of systematically violent, often unethical research) and overt celebration (the presentation of science as “cool,” and its practitioners as flawed but endearing). This tension, we argue, enhances the show’s …

Interview With Orca Award Winner Donald Weeks; Unl Biochemistry; Biotechnology, Mark Griep, Donald Weeks

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Emeritus Professor Donald Paul Weeks was awarded the ORCA in 2014, a year before he retired. He grew up in a small farm south of Terre Haute, Indiana. In his youth, he participated in 4-H programs that must have sparked an interest in science because he earned his bachelor's degree from Purdue University in 1963. Purdue is about 90 miles north of Terre Haute. Don's doctoral work was at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana for a project about protein synthesis during maize germination. Next, he did postdoctoral work at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, where his research …

Notes On Reproduction, Seasonality, And Roost Sites For Silver-Haired Bats (Lasionycteris Noctivagans) In Western Nebraska, Joseph W. Paysen, Dawson V. Kosmicki, Keith Geluso

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

Silver-haired Bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans) are a migratory species found throughout the United States, southern Canada, and northern Mexico. Throughout their range, Silver-haired Bats roost in various tree species, generally within decaying features like cavities and exfoliated bark. Herein we report on additional reproductive and seasonal data as well as the first data on trees used as roost sites by Silver-haired Bats in Nebraska. We captured individuals along a small tributary of the North Platte River at Ash Hollow State Historical Park, Garden County, Nebraska, and tracked bats to their roosts. At this location, we documented lactation on 17 …

Nebline, October 2025

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Contents

4-H super fair helps youth become beyond ready

What's popping? by Natalie Sehi

Recipes of the month, by Kayla Colgrove: Fish bait snack mix, kicked up popcorn, and cinnamon crunch snack mix

Are your trees for the next storm? by Rachel Anderson

Garden guide: Things to do this month by Mary Jane Frogge

GRO Big Red virtual learning series

Composting demonstration

Promoting language development in young children by Hayley Jackson

Tip sheet for harvest 2025 by John Nelson

Rogers Memorial Day farm field day, September 2025

Heart of 4-H volunteer award: Rachel Wells

Join 4-H to become beyond ready …

Nebraska Transcript (University Of Nebraska College Of Law), Fall 2025

Nebraska Transcript

Dean’s message

Nebraska Law students achieve outstanding results in competitions

Nebraska Law recognized for excellence in mental health and well-being

Clifton, ’08, honored as 2025 Alumni Master

Uecker, ’25, selected as a 2025 Next Generation Leader

Unexpected path to Nebraska Law leads Haratsis, ’25, to home, calling

Client Counseling program celebrates 50 years

Big Ten law schools present series of panel discussions on rule of law

A reflection of the past six years, College’s strategic plan now complete

A culture of strengths: CliftonStrengths and the College of Law

Celebrating 50 years of Ross McCollum Hall

Johnson studies how election law …