Nebraska in the national news: April 2026

Fast Company published an April 7 article on the OurStory small houses being built in Omaha’s Benson neighborhood. The article was among 40-plus national news stories featuring Husker faculty, staff, students, centers and programs during the month.

The OurStory project is a collaboration among the College of Architecture’s FACT Studio, Partners for Livable Omaha, Holy Name Housing Corporation and Spark Capital. The initiative aims to address Omaha’s growing need for affordable, age-ready housing.

The two houses — measuring just 802 and 618 square feet — were designed by students to have efficient layouts and use easily manufactured prefabricated parts so they can be constructed quickly and inexpensively.

“The goal has always been to think about this project as a prototype that could be replicated multiple times, and in different configurations,” said Jeffrey L. Day, professor of architecture, who leads the FACT Studio.

The larger house has already sold for just $190,000 — $90,000 less than the median sales price of homes in Omaha — and the smaller house will likely be even more affordable.

Day’s students are now developing a catalog of different designs using the OurStory system, offering them as pro-bono plans for people to apply to their own small house development projects.

“I double dog, triple dog dare you to build one,” said Jessica Scheuerman, founder and executive director of Partners for Livable Omaha. “That’s how easy we’re trying to make it.”

Additional national news coverage in April included:

• Storytelling nonprofit The Moth presented “American Dreams” at 7:30 p.m. April 17 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. The event featured five storytellers, including two based in Nebraska, sharing personal stories related to the theme. Broadway World published an April 2 preview article on the event.
• Dr. Janice Reis Ciacci Zanella was recently named the next director of the School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Tri-State Livestock News reported April 2. She will begin her appointment Aug. 1.
• Groundwater levels throughout Nebraska continued to decline in 2025 following several years of persistent drought. According to the recently released 2026 Nebraska Statewide Groundwater-Level Monitoring Report from the university’s Conservation and Survey Division, groundwater levels declined, on average, 0.29 feet. Articles on the report appeared in KOLN/KGIN, Beef Magazine and The Fence Post.
• Illusionist REZA returned to the Lied Center for Performing Arts for an April 18 performance. The engagement followed a sold-out appearance at the venue in 2023. Broadway World published an April 6 preview article on the event.
• Yanan (Laura) Wang, electrical and computer engineering, has received a five-year, $876,663 Department of Energy grant to support her work to build a “bridge” to create a true quantum computing network. Quantum Insider and Technology.org ran articles on the research.
• Dirac Twidwell, agronomy and horticulture, was interviewed for an April 7 segment on RFD-TV. He discussed wildfire recovery efforts in Nebraska and what ag producers should keep in mind in the days and weeks ahead.
• Twidwell was also interviewed for an April 14 Guardian article on rising temperatures and extreme drought driving more destructive spring fires across the Great Plains. He explained that stronger summer storms seed the grasses that cure by winter. If there is no protective snow cover, that browned vegetation ramps up fire risks — especially when the winds begin to blow. This year, those conditions converged to create the perfect storm in Nebraska, he said.
• Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center, and Twidwell were interviewed for an April 27 Harvest Public Media article on wildfires in the Great Plains. Fire has long been a natural feature of the plains, Twidwell noted. “Historically, from southern Canada to the Texas-Mexico border was tall grass prairie,” he said. “A third of that would have burned on average every year.”
• Mitch Stephenson, range management specialist at the university’s Panhandle Research, Extension and Education Center in Scottsbluff, was interviewed for an April 9 Tri-State Livestock News article on wildfire recovery in Nebraska. Wildfires that take place during the dormant season have a less negative effect on plants, he said. Those plants will come back because their roots, crowns and buds are underground.
• NUtech Ventures’ Cheryl Horst, executive director, and Joy Eakin, assistant director of entrepreneurship and operations, were interviewed for an April 10 Silicon Prairie News article on university tech transfer offices in the Midwest. The article also mentioned NUtech’s new express license, which allows Husker researchers to quickly launch their own startups and start fundraising.
• Mary Gerend, a junior psychology major at Nebraska, was attempting to bike 300 miles in April to raise money for the Head for the Cure Foundation, a Kansas City-based organization dedicated to supporting the community of brain cancer patients, their families, friends, caregivers and other supporters. Mary’s mother, Amy, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a Stage 4 brain tumor, last year. The Kansas City Star published an April 11 article on the fundraiser.
• Nebraska farmers, ranchers and landowners affected by recent wildfires were invited to learn about U.S. Department of Agriculture disaster assistance and recovery programs during an April 13 webinar. The webinar featured representatives from the Nebraska state offices of USDA’s Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service. It was hosted by the university’s Center for Agricultural Profitability. Stories on the webinar appeared in the Custer County Chief, KCSR/KBPY, the Omaha World-Herald and Farms.com.
• Nipuna Chamara, biological systems engineering, used artificial intelligence to win a category of the university’s 2025 Testing Ag Performance Solutions (TAPS) competition, Farms.com reported April 13. His team finished first in the highest yield category of the Mead sprinkler corn competition.
• In 2025, students in Daniella Mattos’ Agricultural Economics 376 course met with Fairbury, Nebraska, residents to discuss how the students could help with the community’s plans for growth and development. A year later, the impact of those discussions is still being felt and some goals are coming to fruition. Farms.com ran an April 13 article on the class project.
• Twenty-seven students in Kevin McMullen’s course Editing and the Publishing Industry co-edited a new annotated version of Susan Glaspell’s 1915 novel “Fidelity,” which was published by the Southern Illinois University Press last October. Third Coast Review published an April 13 review of the re-release.
• Danielle Jefferis, law, was quoted in an April 15 Guardian article on the harsh conditions inside Camp East Montana, an immigration detention facility in west Texas. “I think the environmental impact is pretty apparent,” she said. “I don’t think it takes an expert to see that if you don’t have a brick-and-mortar building that is properly plumbed and has appropriate medical units and all of the basic infrastructure (relating to) human rights, you’re going to have a serious environmental impact.”
• The fifth biennial CME Group Foundation Symposium of the university’s Clayton Yeutter Institute of International Trade and Finance took place April 21 on East Campus and centered on the theme “Toward a New International Trading System.” Articles on the symposium appeared in Rural Radio Network, Brownfield Ag News and The Fence Post.
• Research from a team including the University of Nebraska State Museum’s Ashley Poust further moved a decades-long scientific debate toward a conclusion — the Nanotyrannus, a smaller variation of the Tyrannosaurus rex, did exist. ScienceDaily published an article on the research.
• The hit Broadway musical “Suffs” will make its Nebraska debut at the Lied Center for Performing Arts May 5-10. Broadway World published an April 15 preview article on the show.
• Bedross Der Matossian, history, has been awarded a 2026 fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation — one of the nation’s most prestigious honors for scholars. Articles on the achievement appeared in KHGI, the Lincoln Journal Star and Armenian Weekly.
• In a new study, Aaron Lee M. Daigh, agronomy and horticulture, questions how soil should be defined and introduces three new approaches to soil science. Farms.com published an April 16 article on the research.
• Tim Borstelmann, Elwood N. and Katherine Thompson Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Modern World History, was interviewed for an April 20 KUNR Public Radio story on the United States’ 250th anniversary. He noted that the Bicentennial came during a period of deep national strain. “You might think about the context of 1976,” he said. “The civil rights movement, women’s rights and the counterculture created a kind of social crisis.”
• Following historic wildfires that have burned nearly one million acres of Nebraska grazing lands this spring, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln has launched a new online hub, https://wildfire.unl.edu, that integrates science, mapping and field-based documentation in one place. The resource is designed to track and monitor long-term recovery while supporting farmers, ranchers and land managers as they restore Nebraska’s native grasslands. Stories on the new website appeared in KETV, the Norfolk Daily News, The Fence Post and Tri-State Livestock News.
• > A new study by Ciera Kirkpatrick, assistant professor of advertising and public relations, found that interspersing non‑idealized portrayals of motherhood on social media alongside curated, idealized posts helped sustain positive feelings and reduce shame among mothers of young children, though it did not reduce anxiety. Articles on the research have appeared in HealthDay, the Independent and Scienmag.
• Kevin Smith, political science, was interviewed for an April 23 Roll Call article on some Republican candidates — including Omaha’s Brinker Harding — embracing President Donald Trump’s endorsement despite the risks. He noted that Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District is closely divided and that candidates must appeal to a sizable number of independents. Smith said Rep. Don Bacon “was able to do that very successfully, because though he was a Republican — and a moderately conservative Republican — he made no bones (that) he was willing to speak out against his party, and that played well with the independents in the district.”
• Husker researchers are documenting ranchers’ land management decisions as part of a $5 million research project focused on sustainable beef production and grazing systems. The project is led by Galen Erickson, animal science, in collaboration with Effie Athanassopoulos, School of Global Integrative Studies, and Gwendŵr Meredith, School of Natural Resources. Farms.com ran an April 23 article on the project.
• The Nebraska Center for Entrepreneurship hosted its annual Entrepreneur Awards April 14 at the Hudl headquarters in Lincoln. Tom Field, director of the university’s Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program, and Joy Eakin, assistant director of entrepreneurship and operations at NUtech Ventures, received awards. The winners of the 39th annual New Venture Competition were also announced during the event. Silicon Prairie News published an April 24 article on the award ceremony.
• Husker researchers led by Eric Weaver, biological sciences, director of the Nebraska Center for Virology, have developed a vaccine approach that shows promise in protecting against highly pathogenic bird flu, demonstrating strong efficacy in both mice and cattle. Stories on the research appeared in KETV, the Lincoln Journal Star, Nebraska Public Media, Omaha World-Herald, AgDaily, Farms.com, Feedstuffs, The Microbiologist, The Poultry Site and RFD-TV.

University Communication and Marketing tracks faculty, administration, student and staff appearances in the national media and reports upon them month by month. If you have additions to this list, contact Sean Hagewood, news coordinator, at shagewood2@unl.edu or 402-472-8514.