Faculty and staff with Extension appointments in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering provide service to our region and the state.
Faculty in our department have a statewide extension responsibility, while faculty located in the Research and Extension centers serve their districts.
The Smith-Lever Act of Congress passed in 1914 established a legal and fiscal basis for establishing cooperative extension work as the arm of the land-grant college system to provide educational programs in agriculture, home economics and related subjects for persons not enrolled in the land-grant college. Enabling legislation passed by the Nebraska Legislature in 1915 authorized extension work to be carried on in the counties in cooperation with the University of Nebraska and the U.S. Department of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources. It provides for a method of county organization and authorizes use of state and county tax support.
Note: Clicking on an area on the map will open a new page to the Research and Extension Center for that region. From that page, you can navigate to services and other county offices.
Four Research and Extension Centers
Nebraska has four Research and Extension centers subdivided into multi-county Extension Programming Units (EPUs). The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is located in the Southeast District.
The University of Nebraska Extension programs are in broad areas of agriculture and natural resources, family and consumer sciences, 4-H and youth development, and community resource development. Over half of Extension's resources currently focus on priority initiatives in:
- Agricultural Profitability and Sustainability
- Children, Youth and Families
- Food Safety, Health and Wellness
- Community and Leadership Development
- Natural Resources and Environment
The Extension Dean and Director has administrative responsibility for Nebraska Extension with assistance from two assistant deans, a 4-H program leader, department heads/chairs, and district directors. The program reaches rural and urban clientele through the use of electronic technology, meetings, demonstrations, publications, workshops, mass media, and consultation.
Extension Objectives
The primary objective in extension is to develop technology transfer programs which disseminate the results of research on biological systems through adult and youth programs. The primary issue programs being delivered by our extension faculty include:
- Sustainable agricultural systems
- Pesticide applicator training
- Farm and home safety
- Nitrogen and water management to minimize nitrates in groundwater
- Safe and adequate domestic water supplies
- Pesticide management to protect water resources
- Integrated solid waste management
- Soil and water conservation
- Management Systems Evaluation Area (MSEA) to improve water quality
- Livestock waste management
- Improve animal well-being in Nebraska
