Grassland Studies seminar series begins Sept. 17

The Center for Grassland Studies will begin its 24th annual fall seminar series with a lecture by Dirac Twidwell Jr., an associate professor in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture who will speak about modern challenges in environmental science from 3 to 4 p.m. Sept. 17 in the Nebraska East Union. The talk, "Transforming Range Curriculum in the 21st Century," is free and open to the public.

The seminar series will include eight other presentations on topics related to producer perspectives of systems management, ranch profitability given increased precipitation variability, and flexible stocking and the history of grassland science at Nebraska.

The series also features Chuck West, this year's Frank and Margaret Leu Distinguished Lecturer. West is program director and Thornton Distinguished Chair in the Department of Plant & Soil Science at Texas Tech University and an internationally known expert in forage ecophysiology.

“We are fortunate to have someone of Dr. West’s background and expertise to visit with us about managing our forage and pasture resources for livestock production at a time when the Center for Grassland Studies and IANR are growing our programs in Integrated Beef Systems,” said Steve Waller, interim director of the Center for Grassland Studies.

Each seminar will take place from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Nebraska East Union and will also be available online for viewing afterwards. The lectures are free and open to the public.

Dates and topics for the series are as follows:

• Sept. 17: "Transforming Range Curriculum in the 21st Century", Dirac Twidwell, Jr., Department of Agronomy and Horticulture
  
• Sept. 24: "Ranching and Conservation: The Sandhills Task Force's Landscape Impact", Shelly Kelly, Program Director at Sandhills Task Force
  
• Oct. 1: "Producer Perspective of Systems Management", Tyrell Anderson, Producer, Oshkosh, NE
  
• Oct. 8: "Ranch Profitability Given Increased Precipitation Variability and Flexible Stocking" ... Chris Bastian, University of Wyoming, Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics
  
• Oct. 22: "Evaluation of Grazing Systems in the Southern Great Plains" ... Twain Butler, Noble Research Institute, Ardmore, OK
  
• Oct. 29: "History of Grassland Science at Nebraska",Cheryl Dunn, Research Manager Curator Herbarium, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture
  
• Nov. 5: "The Legacy of Nine-Mile Prairie", Dave Wedin, School of Natural Resources
  
• Nov. 12: "Forage and Pasture Systems", Chuck West, Program Director and Thornton Distinguished Chair, Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
  
• Nov. 26: "Macro-scale Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Nutrient Pulses in Relation to Grazing Strategies", Amanda Shine, Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture

More details at: https://go.unl.edu/a7dw