Dear Alumni,
As the New Year begins and the temperatures outside fall, we are excited to welcome back Honors students from a well-deserved break and get back to work. I always love the spring semester because by the time it is done the grass is green, the sky is blue, and we have a bunch of students to celebrate during graduation. This is an especially exciting semester with an Honors alum joining our staff and several new initiatives in the works, while we continue to offer the kind of life-changing educational experience for which Nebraska Honors is known.
As we begin the march to May, I wanted to let you know about a couple of opportunities to engage with the UNL Honors Program. The first is our annual Glow Big Red fundraising campaign. This marks the seventh twenty-four hours of giving event. From noon on Wednesday February 12 until noon on February 13 we will be raising funds for the University Honors Program (early giving is also possible, and available now). New this year, individual supporters may designate themselves a fundraiser for Honors. Fundraisers will receive a custom link to share within their networks to help increase support for Honors during Glow Big Red. https://go.unl.edu/hpgive
We wish to extend a special thank you to Zach and Mandy Rupiper, who have generously offered a challenge match. If we receive gifts from 30 donors, a $2000 gift from Zach and Mandy will be unlocked. Gifts of any size are greatly appreciated, from $5 to $500 (or more)!
All money raised during this event supports a range of student-focused Honors initiatives and programs including the Patrice Berger Experience Fund, supplies for the Honors Afterschool Clubs, support for Honors interns working with Nebraska non-profits through the Foundry Community, or helping to fund student research.
Be on the lookout for more chances to connect with Honors, both on and off campus. We are planning some events over the next year that we hope will give you a reason to visit campus or join us for a social outing. More details soon!
I wish you all a happy New Year and I hope that we can connect over our shared passion for the University Honors Program.
Warm wishes,
Tyler
Tyler R. White, PhD
Faculty Director, University Honors Program
Joining the Team: Nick Gilbert
Welcoming (Back) our Newest Team Member: Nick Gilbert
Honors is delighted to welcome Nick Gilbert back to Nebraska as the new Assistant Director for the program. Nick joins us from the University of Michigan Engineering Honors Program where he served as an Academic Advisor for the last year. Prior to that, Nick worked for two years as the Honors Program Coordinator at the University of South Dakota. Nick will be supporting student success through advising, teaching, supporting student organizations, and coordinating program-wide communications. Nick is an alumnus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Honors Program. Nick's passion for Honors education started when he served as an Honors Ambassador for the Program. He shared that "my favorite memory of my time in Honors is of socializing with other Honors students in Neihardt during my first year" and that "my favorite class was Professor Borstelmann's 395H."
Seminar Spotlight: Honors Students Foster Climate Change Hope
If you had $250 billion to right climate change, where would you begin?
This is the exact challenge taken on by students in the University Honors Program seminar, Living with Our Changing Climate (UHON 395H).
Eric Hunt, an extension educator in the School of Natural Resources, designed the project to move beyond traditional lecturing and give students the opportunity to immerse themselves in literature and data and prove what is going on with Earth’s changing climate. Hunt is particularly passionate about the project, recognizing that his students will have to live with and adapt to climate change.
“At their age, they tend to be more creative than people who get to be 50 or 60 years old, which is the typical age of lawmakers," Hunt said.
Although the project’s scope may have seemed initially intimidating, Hunt divided the task into manageable steps and assigned course participants to one of four distinct regions of the United States – West Coast, Heartland, Gulf Coast and Northeast. Each group was strategically composed of students with diverse majors and personalities to counter groupthink and create balance in climate approaches.
Aidan Hand, a senior biological sciences major, found the group dynamics to be particularly rewarding.
“My group-mates in other majors had differing ideas and perspectives that I likely wouldn't have thought of on my own,” Hand said. “Projects like this would never be done by only one person in the real world, so it's more realistic to real climate change mitigation efforts.”
Working collaboratively, each group evaluated current climate trends, gathered historical data, and determined specific social vulnerabilities within their region to develop a comprehensive set of climate mitigation strategies. The results included:
- The West Coast team focused on enhancing water resource management through conservation, infrastructure improvement, and desalination. They also proposed renewable energy expansion (solar, wind, geothermal, and wave power) and modernizing the energy grid for better integration;
- The Heartland team proposed solutions like flood management through green infrastructure and restoring floodplains, wildfire mitigation via trained personnel, natural barriers, and controlled burns, and improving agricultural sustainability with drip irrigation and transitioning crop rows to switchgrass;
- The Gulf Coast team emphasized mangrove restoration and protection as well as dead zone mitigation through runoff reduction initiatives, large-scale nutrient filtration systems, and partnerships with Gulf Coast industries; and
- The Northeast team focused on solutions like green roofs, sponge cities, and sustainable drainage systems to manage stormwater and reduce urban flooding.
Hunt already had predicted exceptional results from his students, but the project outcomes surpassed his highest hopes.
“The group projects exceeded my expectations 100%," Hunt said. "They really knocked it out of the park, and I’m very proud of all of them."
Not only did these projects yield viable climate mitigation solutions, they also helped students overcome climate fear and empowered them to act.
“This project has caused me to believe that I can make a change," said Mollie Peterson of the Northeast team. "The ideas that I share with the world matter.”
Hunt said the students' work empowered his work even more.
“You get inspired to do good work when you see young people who are motivated doing good things," Hunt said. "I think there’s a little too much doom and gloom out there, and my students really motivate me to do other aspects of my job very well.”
Moving forward, Hunt plans to share his students’ results across his professional network to potentially incorporate them into future climate plans. Course participants will also continue to develop and share their climate knowledge with others.
"The content seen in this course has already helped in everyday conversations," Peterson said. "There are so many opportunities to share what you know about the climate and to learn from others.”
Student Spotlight: Isabella Kessinger, December 2024 Grad
Isabella Kessinger was chosen to be the student speaker for the December 2024 Honors Graduation Celebration. Her remarks highlighted the value of an Honors education at Nebraska. She shared, "I’m incredibly grateful for the connections I made in the Honors Program, especially in experiences such as being an Honors peer mentor, in the Honors Future Healers experiential track, and gaining greater cultural competence studying abroad [through Honors] in Costa Rica."
Isabella also explained that "my time in the UNL Honors Program has shown me repeatedly what truly matters: compassion, perseverance, and the profound impact we can make when we choose to serve others. Over the past three and a half years, I've dedicated more than 900 hours to volunteering and patient care – not because I was counting, but because each hour was a chapter in a larger story of human connection and building the person I am today." The next chapter in Isabella's story is pursuing a medical degree, and we are eager to see her future successes!
The University featured Isabella's story in December. Read more about all her accomplishments here.
Honors Mini-courses Connect Students with Service & Innovation
From helping local seniors learn new technology to 3D printing innovative designs, students in Nebraska Honors are embracing hands-on experiences centered on enriching their education.
This year, Honors launched two new interactive courses, Community Engagement: Connections Across Generations and Create & Innovate: A Makerspace Medley, to facilitate unique learning opportunities. These zero-credit courses fulfilled an Honors requirement while helping students develop new skills and build meaningful relationships.
Andrew Brown, Assistant Director of Community Engagement for Student Leadership, Involvement & Community Engagement (SLICE) noticed that seniors in the community needed more meaningful programs and engagement with youth. Partnering with three local organizations, Aging Partners, Tabitha, and Madonna, he developed his course specifically to help fill the gap.
For sophomore mechanical engineering major Norah Deckert, the Aging Partners volunteer experience was transformative. She learned about seniors’ struggles with new technology and developed instructional methods for overcoming these barriers.
“Seeing how many people struggle with technology and phone usage when it has become such an integral part of our lives was eye-opening to me,” she said. “Growing up with modern technology, I never realized how challenging it could be for others to suddenly have to rely on technology for everything.”
Deckert worked with a diverse group of seniors, but one thing remained consistent: her newfound desire to connect with people in the Lincoln community.
“Not only did I help others with technology, but I was also able to learn about their lives. Volunteering with Aging Partners became a highlight of my week and something I really started to look forward to,” she said.
In another effort to connect students with unique learning opportunities, Sawyer Smith, Nebraska Honors Coordinator, developed Create & Innovate: A Makerspace Medley. The class met regularly at Nebraska Innovation Studio, a facility tailored to innovators with a full metal shop, art studio, wood shop, embroidery machine, and other industrial equipment. Here, students participated in different training courses designed to utilize these resources successfully and integrate them into their chosen project.
The course went beyond simple assignments, with Smith determined to create a collaborative space where students with diverse backgrounds, majors, and perspectives could interact and work together to create.
The result? A plethora of unique, fulfilling projects and the creation of an educational space that valued learning through trial and error.
“It’s so rewarding seeing all the different things students put together,” Smith said. “They all have such different interests and are from different backgrounds and majors, which is visually represented in the final projects.”
Some notable work included a 3D-printed jet engine replica, a wooden chess set, a spiral fidget toy, and a fully furnished bedroom model.
In addition to portfolio-level results and fostering unique technical skills, Smith specifically designed Makerspace Medley to allow her students to grow from the inevitable failures of innovation. Her guidance created an opportunity to problem-solve and brainstorm, unique from other course offerings.
Looking to next semester, Smith hopes that her “students keep up with their memberships and that Makerspace Medley continues pulling in students from different majors.”
Both Makerspace Medley and Connections Across Generations will be offered in Spring 2025 and continue to provide outlets for Honors students to grow.
As for the plans of course alumni, many, like Deckert, are energized to continue their newfound passions and find new ways to contribute to the Lincoln community.
“Being able to serve in my community,” Deckert said, “whether through time spent helping others or donating resources, is something I strive to continue doing weekly.”