About Plant Health

UNL faculty have been named American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellows, Fulbright Scholars, National Endowment for the Humanities and National Science Foundation (NSF) Career Award winners, and numerous other nationally prestigious awards and honors. Our researchers are leaders in advancing the science of resilience in agricultural and natural ecosystems, developing best practices that will help ensure food and water security worldwide. Other teams are developing crops resilient to higher nighttime temperatures brought by climate change and studying resilience of birds’ social networks and climate-driven genetic adaptations. Faculty & Staff. 

A myriad of national and international issues challenge the economic and environmental sustainability of U.S. plant production systems, e.g. globalization, resiliency in the face of a changing climate, feeding an ever increasing population, etc. Improved student capacity (including increased student numbers and educational direction) is repeatedly cited as a necessary component in addressing these challenges. An APLU (2009) report cited an ‘increasing gap between discovery and implementation’ in the agricultural and natural resources sciences. Along with other reports (NAS 2009, NAS 2010), it cited the need for more comprehensive graduate educational programs that increase student capacity with the breadth and depth necessary to deal with increasingly complex plant production systems. In order for these production systems to be sustainable at all levels, they must be more knowledge intensive, creating a greater need for individuals with comprehensive skills necessary for management, diagnostics, and problem solving.  Read more...

Former Doctor of Plant Health Director, Dr. Gary Hein, talks with DPH alumni and current students about their perspectives on the program and its impact on their careers, and he also talks to faculty and other interested professionals about the contribution the program is making to agriculture and its economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Click here to listen...

External financial support is essential for the sustainability and growth of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Doctor of Plant Health program. Private donations can be made to the Doctor of Plant Health program through the following...read more

Agricultural sustainability is of increasing interest to stakeholders throughout the food system -- from farms, to processors, retailers, and consumers. A more sustainable agriculture may be part of the solution to ‘wicked’ challenges like climate change, food stability, and biosecurity. But what is sustainable agriculture? How can we understand sustainable agriculture in terms of  environmental, economic, and social impacts?  Learn more...

Links to relevant associations, pest information networks, government agencies, and departments within the University of Nebraska system.