Center for Great Plains Studies

Featuring Emily Rau (UNL), Salvador Lindquist (UNL), and Will Stoutamire (UNK) talking on the importance of regional study on the Center for Great Plains Studies' 50th anniversary.

This panel of scientists and artists explored why humans are so connected to our feathered friends and what the future may hold for them. Panelists: Daizaburo Shizuka, Associate Professor in Biology specializing in ornithology and behavioral ecology at UNL; Jacob Cooper, Assistant Professor of Biology specializing in ornithology at UNK; Allison Johnson, Avian Biologist, Research Assistant Professo...

On May 16, Otoe-Missouria tribal members and Lincoln-area volunteers joined together to plant the second year of the Sarah Grace (Hudson) and George Kihega Garden at Prairie Pines Nature Preserve in Lincoln, Neb. as part of the Walking in the Footsteps of our Ancestors Project. The project named the garden for two renowned Otoe-Missouria gardeners and is growing heirloom varieties of bean, squash,...

Featuring David Vail (UNK), Angel Hinzo (UNL), and Mark Brohman (Wachiska Audubon) talking on the importance of regional study on the Center for Great Plains Studies' 50th anniversary.

20 Great Plains Fellows chose the works in the "With a Little Help from Our Friends: New Perspectives on the Collection" exhibition, on view through Aug. 8 at the Great Plains Art Museum.

Featuring Laurinda Weisse (UNK), Steve Rossi (Saint Joseph's University), and John Carroll (UNL) talking on the importance of regional study on the Center for Great Plains Studies' 50th anniversary.

2026 Great Plains Futures conference keynote Ness Sándoval, talk titled "Demography as an Analytic Lens: Latino Population Growth and the Demographic Transformation of the Midwest." Dr. Sándoval focuses his research on integrating demography with spatial data science. His work primarily explores the use of big data to analyze socio-economic and demographic trends in American cities.

Carol Graham is the Conservation Program Manager with Manitoba Habitat Conservancy, her talk is titled "Success in Conservation; Partnering with Producers and Private Landowners"

Anishinaabe (Sault Tribe) youth robotics inventor Danielle Boyer talks about how culturally grounded technology can reshape education, empower communities, and revitalize languages.

"Community Usability: Designing Communities for People (And Not the Other Way Around)" by Neil Linscheid, an Extension Professor and Extension State Specialist in Entrepreneurship at the University of Minnesota.

Featuring Athena Ramos (UNMC), Ted Hamann (UNL), and Annika Johnson (Joslyn Art Museum) talking on the importance of regional study on the Center for Great Plains Studies' 50th anniversary.

Larkin Powell, director of the School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, spoke about his new book, “The Best of Intentions: A Story of Landscape Change in the Heart of the Great Plains,” at the Center for Great Plains Studies.

Featuring Jesse Bell (UNMC), Michael Farrell (UNL), and Monique Bassey (UNL) talking on the importance of regional study on the Center for Great Plains Studies' 50th anniversary.

Rebecca Nagle talks about her book, "By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land" (Harper Collins Publishers, 2024), winner of the 2025 Stubbendieck Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize from the Center for Great Plains Studies. Nagle is an award-winning journalist and a citizen of Cherokee Nation living in Oklahoma. She is the writer and host of the podcast "This L...

Featuring Liliana Bronner (UNMC), Chris Dando (UNO), and Larkin Powell (UNL)

On the 50th anniversary of the Center for Great Plains Studies, we talked with Founding Director Paul A. Olson about the early days.

It all started in Paul Olson’s kitchen. In the mid-1970s, several UNL faculty members met in the UNL English professor’s home to discuss creating a regional center dedicated to the study of the Great Plains. The talks bore fruit in 1976 when the University Board of Regents chartered the Center for Great Plains Studies. The Center had a humble beginning in offices housed in Oldfather Hall at the ce...

On this episode, we talk with the co-editors of the new edition of "Nebraska Government and Politics," a book that provides background and context to the origins of Nebraska's political culture and institutions. Robert Blair is a professor emeritus at the School of Public Administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Christian Janousek is an assistant professor in the Department of Politi...

This video documents the first year of the Sarah (Grace) Hudson and George Kihega Garden at Prairie Pines Nature Reserve in Lincoln, Neb. The Center for Great Plains Studies and the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Oklahoma are growing an Indigenous garden as part of the Walking in the Footsteps of our Ancestors project.

Learn about the vibrant histories of Japanese Americans in Nebraska from the late 19th century to the present and the community-led efforts to maintain them. This event began with a screening of Nebraska Public Media's recently aired Nebraska Stories: Rescuing the Japanese Hall episode (30 minutes), followed by a panel of Japanese American community members, John Miyoshi, Vickie Sakurada Schaepler...

Great Plains Anywhere talks with Tabitha Hughes, a doctoral student at the University of Nebraska's School of Natural Resources. Hughes is the lead author on a new study tracking the movement of elk in Nebraska, published in the journal of "Biological Conservation." We talk about the history of elk in Nebraska, where they're located now, and how they migrate through the area. Hughes is a doctoral...

Video highlights from Otoe-Missouria Day 2025 in Lincoln, Neb., hosted by the Center for Great Plains Studies and the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Oklahoma. Music by Johnnie Jae and Martin Luna.

The Community Partner in Residence program at the Center for Great Plains Studies is a new program designed to promote greater collaboration between the Center and community organizations in the Lincoln area that engage in some way with the mission of the Center. Our first Community Partner in Residence for 2025 is Big Gumdrop Outdoors, a non-profit based in Lincoln, Nebraska dedicated to educatin...

Thomas Sanchez, Associate Professor, Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology and Acting Director, Office of Latino and Latin American Studies (OLLAS) at UNO, will speak on immigration in the Great Plains in a talk titled: "Constructing Nebraska’s Good Life through (Im)migration: From Scottsbluff to Schuyler." This presentation explores the presence, history, and social experiences of immigrants, mostly...

2025 Elizabeth Rubendall Artist in Residence Amanda Maciuba speaks about the quilt she worked on during her residency at the Great Plains Art Museum.