SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. – Getting first-hand experience in agriculture research while assisting the full-time staff at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center is the mission of a long-standing program at the facility.

Each year, students from the University of Nebraska apply for internships and graduate studies positions at the Center in Scottsbluff. And, each year, the students – who hail from across the globe – contribute to the Center’s primary focus while learning what it takes to be an agriculture research scientist.

“We like to expose students – undergraduate and graduate – to agricultural research, the methods of doing research,” said Dr. Jack Whittier, PREC director. “The other thing is, there’s fewer and fewer farm kids, if you will, who have that kind of agriculture experience and background. And we always need hands and feet for people to help do the research work, implement the protocols and learn as they go.”

Diverse experience

Currently, three students are working alongside researcher, entomologist Dr. Jeff Bradshaw: Intern Henry Gonzales from El Salvador, master’s student Bethany Thomas from Axtel, Neb., and doctoral candidate Jeffrey Cluever from Orange Park, Fla. Though their backgrounds and experiences differ, all three are receiving an intense introduction to the scientific process.

“There’s a phrase in education now which you hear a lot – experiential learning,” Bradshaw said. “I would say these Research and Extension Centers are one of the best places to have diverse, experiential learning for these students.

“The interns we have here – whether they’re from Ruanda, from Chadron or even closer – they have basically a one-stop shop experience here to integrate into an entomology program, a weed science program, a plant pathology program, around the crops we focus on out here,” he said. “In all of those systems, we will find most of our researchers will pair up, team up, to figure it out.”

It’s that diversity of both experience and opportunity that makes the Centers unique, Bradshaw and Whittier said. As the three students pursue their projects, which often require a mix of disciplines – from entomology to cropping systems to weed science and more – access to the variety of experts at the local Center opens doors that might not be available in other venues, they said.

Procedurally, students are “co-advised” by a faculty member on the campus in Lincoln and by a staff member at the center in the Panhandle. That team effort helps the students as they “navigate the waters of graduate school,” Bradshaw said.

“I’ve had collaborators in the past who had different appointments than myself,” he said. “I have research and extension components to my appointment. I have collaborators who don’t have the extension appointment. It’s a diversity of experience.”

Expanding horizons

And it’s that diversity the students say benefits them the most.

“I’ve been introduced to many topics and to many areas,” said Gonzales, who earned his bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences from Zamorano University in Honduras. He came to the University of Nebraska to hopefully gain experience with entomology, particularly in how it relates to ecosystems, he said, using insects as an indicator of the overall health of larger environmental systems.

“I’m very interested in entomology, a way to use insects to improve the quality of the ecosystems, in terms of environmental impacts,” Gonzales said. “That’s one of the reasons I came here – to learn a little bit more about entomology. I’ve learned a lot of things here I didn’t learn at Zamorano.”

Thomas, too, wanted to expand her horizons through the graduate program at the Panhandle Center. She’s currently working with Bradshaw on a project studying the wheat stem sawfly, a significant pest in wheat around the Panhandle and across the Midwest.

Thomas started her college career in a pre-medicine program before switching over to the study of insects, she said. The diversity of interactions between plants and bugs is what attracted her.

“I think the way insects and plants interact is fascinating,” Thomas said “If you look at human interactions, you can only study it to a certain degree. If you look at plants and insects, you can get maybe a little more depth of understanding of the way they react with each other.

“Maybe, maybe not,” she said with a grin. “I don’t know. I’m working on it.”

Doctoral candidate Cluever had applied to several different post-grad programs before deciding on the University of Nebraska. While taking advantage of a travel grant to see the programs at university, Bradshaw saw his file and invited Cluever to come and work in Scottsbluff. It was ultimately the people he met which attracted Cluever to the UN-L doctoral program, he said.

“It seems the professors at UN-L seem to care about the future of your career and help you,” he said. “Nebraska is unique, in they seem to be a fairly close-knit community. It presents opportunities for advancement and to move on and make a difference.”

In addition to exposing the students to a wide variety of ag-based research and opportunities, internship and graduate programs – both at UN-L and in general – can help those students gain focus on their own futures. Even though he’s studying for his doctorate, Cluever said he appreciates the combination of working with producers through the extension component and the pure research in the lab.

“I want to do something that’s a kind of hybrid between research and extension,” he said. “I believe you can’t have one without the other.”

Thomas agreed: “Within the master’s program, you’re able to get a better idea – how does the system work? Do I enjoy the research work, or do I enjoy the classwork more? It gives you another level of new experiences to have and to hone down on what you like.”

Dual benefit

And, on top of it all, while the students benefit from the educational programs, the researchers at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center benefit from their presence, as well.

“Like anywhere, there’s a mix of backgrounds and personalities that’s healthy, that bring a perspective that’s enriched this environment,” Whittier said. Without the graduate students and interns, “our productivity and output would suffer. It’s not just hired labor – it’s this learning atmosphere.”

Bradshaw agreed: “They challenge me. They keep me on my toes – make sure I’m up to date on the latest work going on, because I can’t advise them worth a darn if I don’t keep a sharp knife.

“If I didn’t have the students, you can assume the opposite would happen. We’d not be giving our producers the cutting-edge information they need to stay competitive these days.”