Posted August 29, 2024 by Tiffany Lee
In case you missed these stories highlighting research and creative activity at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the Office of Research and Innovation’s communications team has compiled a roundup of some top research stories from research.unl.edu and other sources.
Onetime UCARE student Benes now mentors two students in research
Who: Jim Benes, postdoctoral student in geography; Jasmine Pham, sophomore mathematics major; Joe Stalder, senior geology major
What: In the same lab where he once worked as an undergraduate, Benes now mentors Pham and Stalder, giving him a dual perspective of the university’s Undergraduate Creative Activity and Research Experience program. Benes, whose research focuses on the fire history of the northern Great Plains, is a first-generation college student who didn’t originally intend to go to school. But after he was laid off, his boss encouraged him to use Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits for college, which is where he met Nebraska’s Sherilyn Fritz, who served as Benes’ UCARE mentor and encouraged him to go to graduate school. Now, Benes is the mentor, guiding students in conducting research that may help shape future fire management strategies.
“Here I am with them now doing the same thing I used to do as a first-generation student,” he said.
Writer: Dan Moser, Office of Research and Innovation
Schnable expands work to ID corn genes, predict hybrid performance
Who: James Schnable, Nebraska Corn Checkoff Presidential Chair and professor of agronomy and horticulture
What: With a $650,000 grant from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, Schnable will scale up work aimed at demonstrating that an RNA-based method could outperform current DNA-based approaches in identifying the functions of individual corn genes and predicting the physical properties of plants. With the new funding, Schnable’s team will expand its testing grounds to include five additional states beyond Nebraska and will use hybrids that are more up to date. This next phase – the largest study to date focused on an RNA-based approach to corn gene identification and phenotype prediction – is crucial for developing a commercially viable product that will help predict the performance of corn hybrids in new environments.
“By being able to test across many environments with really farmer-relevant genetics, we want to make the transition from a fundamental discovery to a technology that people can actually use,” Schnable said.
Writer: Tiffany Lee, Office of Research and Innovation
Wang earns early career honors to develop ‘disruptive’ semiconductor technology
Who: Jun Wang, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering
What: As data centers and electric vehicles become more commonplace, particularly in Nebraska, power grids will need to deliver significantly more electricity than ever before. With a $500,000, two-year grant from a Department of Energy early career innovator program, Wang is combining three of his patented innovations to create a new power module. The module, called MetaPak (multicell electrical-transient-accelerated press-pack), will enhance power-grid resilience with 30 times faster switching frequency and five times higher power density than current devices. Wang’s project was one of 23 selected by the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy Inspiring Generations of New Innovators to Impact Technologies in Energy program.
“Our infrastructure has great power, but there’s a gap between what we can supply now and what we’ll be required to supply in the future. We are bridging that gap with new packaging, new topology and new intelligence together to change the existing infrastructure,” Wang said.
Writer: Karl Vogel, College of Engineering
Who: Shari Veil, Jane T. Olson Dean of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications; Valerie Jones, Fred and Gladys Seaton Professor of advertising and public relations; Ming Wang, associate professor of advertising and public relations
What: With a $101,376 grant from the Nebraska Research Initiative, the college established the Social and Traditional Media Analytics and Research Tools Lab as a hub for social and traditional media research. The lab builds on the success of the college’s Public Insight Lab, which provided large-scale social and traditional media data access and analysis for faculty and students. The SMART-Lab will extend that trajectory, providing in-depth media data, social and traditional media data scraping and mining, research support, training and applied industry services. Jones will co-direct the center with Wang, an international expert in social media analysis.
“The SMART-Lab represents a significant step forward for our college and the entire university,” Veil said. “By providing centralized access to media data and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, we are positioning ourselves at the forefront of media research and data analysis. This initiative will not only enhance our research capabilities but also provide innovative experiential learning opportunities for our students.”
Writer: College of Journalism and Mass Communications
Husker research points to increased water use efficiency for crops
Who: Kasia Glowacka, assistant professor of biochemistry
What: In a new Journal of Experimental Botany article, Glowacka’s team demonstrated that using genome modification to boost a key plant protein enabled plants to reduce their water use by up to 30% under drought-mimic conditions, without a change in plant biomass. The researchers boosted the amount of PsbS, a protein involved in a safety valve biological process called non-photochemical quenching. More PsbS reduced opening of the stomata – the pores by which a plant absorbs carbon dioxide – leading to improved water use efficiency. The team’s next step is a follow-up study focused on genome modification to improve crop production under water limitation.
The findings are “really exciting, because we don’t see a minus for the growth,” Glowacka said. “So, it’s a good starting point. It’s proof that this works.”
Writer: Geitner Simmons, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Study targets effects of substance misuse on hearing, balance
Who: Michelle Hughes, audiologist and professor of special education and communication disorders; Patrick Habecker, research assistant professor with the Rural Drug Addiction Research Center; Amanda Chiao, pediatric audiologist and professor of surgery, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
What: With a multi-site grant from the National Institutes of Health, Hughes and Chiao are exploring the implications of substance use disorders on hearing and balance and pinpointing factors that increase hearing- and balance-related risks for people with SUDs. The work builds on pilot data the team collected with grant support from the university’s Rural Drug Addiction Research Center. Hughes leads the Nebraska subcontract for the NIH project, collaborating with RDAR’s Patrick Habecker to collect comprehensive hearing and balance data from people with SUDs and those without. They will use statistical analyses to examine how other social, demographic or comorbidity issues may relate to greater risk of hearing or vestibular loss. The goal is to expand clinical knowledge and help health care providers assess and treat those with SUDs.
“For this subject matter, there is so much untapped knowledge out there,” she said. “Nobody else is doing this work – certainly not on this scale. That’s what’s thrilling about it; it’s very cutting-edge, and it focuses on a population that is widely marginalized.”
Writer: Chuck Green, Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools
New project will explore, secure Ag-IoT technology
Who: Nirnimesh Ghose, assistant professor of computing; Mehmet Can Vuran, Dale M. Jensen Chair and Professor of Computing; Yufeng Ge, professor of biological systems engineering
What: The Agricultural Internet of Things is opening new doors for farmers and ranchers engaged in smart and precision farming practices, including task automation and data collection to guide farming efforts. But the technology to secure this data has not kept pace. Ghose’s team is developing security solutions that will enable smart, scalable and secure wireless operations in modern farm settings. With support from the National Science Foundation and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, the researchers are designing a novel technique for identity authentication and message integrity verification, which will solve interference issues between simultaneous transmissions by authenticating all devices at a farm site with a location-based, zero-interaction protocol.
“It is very important for our national economy that we maintain the security of agricultural farms, and no one is more interested in it than we are, being an agricultural community,” Ghose said.
Writer: Victoria Grdina, School of Computing
