Lincoln, Neb. —
What is your background before coming to the University of Nebraska Lincoln?
This is a homecoming for me returning to UNL. I was a graduate student from 2009 through 2015 in the Department of Entomology (master’s and doctorate). Following graduation, I shifted northward joining the family at North Dakota State University Extension. I served as the Crop Protection Specialist and was in Minot, North Dakota at the North Central Research Extension Center. I served there for seven years, though it spanned over eight growing seasons. For those that do not know, nearly 40 different crops are grown across North Dakota. Just a select few crops I got to work with included wheat, durum, canola, sunflower, field pea, chickpea, lentil, and soybean among others. It was my role to serve agricultural extension agents and growers statewide. This included insect and plant disease identification and teaching them about integrated pest management (IPM) resources we had in the toolbox to help problem solve these issues. I also worked with team members to complete research within this discipline to serve area growers on the problematic issues impacting them most.
What is your position at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln?
I am the Water & Cropping Systems Extension Educator for Colfax, Butler and Polk Counties.
What drew you to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln?
This is a two-part answer. (1) I returned home because of a serious illness in the family. My mother faced a kidney transplant after her kidneys began to shut down. Eight hundred miles was not working with the help that was needed at home, especially after learning I could not be the donor. However, we were lucky enough that my sister could serve in that role. That meant I needed to be at home to serve in a caregiving capacity. These unfortunates led me back to Nebraska, and shortly thereafter, back to UNL. (2) As mentioned above, I had the opportunity to grow at UNL in grad school. I understood how great of people we have here, both on the university side and the Extension side of UNL. These team members are extremely knowledgeable, and they want to make an impact across the Cornhusker State. There was no doubt in my mind how rewarding the opportunity to work with such a great team, one that truly wants to make an impact across Nebraska, would be.
What aspect of working in an educational setting do you enjoy the most?
Honestly, it is bringing new knowledge to a base that wants to learn. It is often human nature to learn something and utilize that lesson just simply by habit. Why change something that seems to be working? However, UNL researchers and educators are working hard to make life easier with the hope of reducing inputs and costs throughout Nebraska. The conversations that one can bring to growers are quite exciting to see when bringing them new information. Even more exciting is getting everyday Nebraskans the opportunity to try it for themselves. The Nebraska Extension On-Farm Research (OFR) Project does just that. It provides growers the opportunity to work side by side with Nebraska Extension to test it in their personal farm, work with Extension on note taking and visualize the end results while trying this on the full production scale. Many growers often begin incorporating these trials into full production after a few seasons of experience on the OFR level.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
My greatest achievement would probably be my time in North Dakota and NDSU. However, probably not for the reason many may think. I loved my time in North Dakota and made lifelong friends there. However, it was the experience within itself. Nebraska was always home. My eight growing seasons up north opened opportunities for me to prove to myself that I could step into a whole new world and be successful, both professionally and personally. Being able to prove that to myself was a big deal to me personally. Honestly, there is something to be said about what moving to a brand-new place can teach one about oneself as it gets you out of your comfort zone and forces you to try new things (ultimately opening the door to new people).
What is something that most people don’t know about you?
Likely, the funniest thought would be that I grew up hating insects. My sister could chase me around with them. Who would have ever believed I would have gone into entomology!
What is your life like outside of work?
I am a runner! I just love running. I love running in new places, nothing opens your eyes to new sites more than getting on the trail and just seeing what nature wants to show you. For me, skipping a day of running is like getting up in the morning and forgetting to put on clothes. When I am not on the trail or at work, I tend to get closer to home to help the family on the farm.