Sampson Graduate Assistantship

Sampson Graduate assistantship

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Sampson Graduate Assistantship

A single, competitive graduate assistantship awarded annually (July 1 through June 30) with a stipend of $27,500 for a Ph.D. candidate and $24,000 for an M.S. candidate, in addition to tuition remission.

Eligibility

  • A student regularly enrolled in or that has been admitted to the Graduate College of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
  • The student must have specific research interest that focuses on Nebraska pasture or range management.
  • The student must have high potential for research accomplishments in a chosen thesis/dissertation topic relating to studies in pasture or range management.
  • Previous recipients are eligible and considered along with all other applicants.

Selection Criteria and Submission of Application

The Sampson Award Committee is comprised of the Head, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture; Director, School of Biological Sciences; Director, School of Natural Resources; and Director, Center for Grassland Studies. The Award Committee will make the final selections. Detailed selection criteria can be found in the application form below. The online application deadline is on or before the end of business on April 15. Award notifications take place in April.

Sampson Assistantship Application Form

Current Arthur W. Sampson Fellows

Kate Bird

  • Master of Science in Natural Resource Sciences
  • Project: Stakeholder-driven approaches to rangeland management and decision-making in the Nebraska Sandhills
  • Advisor: Craig Allen

Katharine Hogan

  • Doctoral Candidate in Natural Resource Sciences, Applied Ecology Specialization
  • Project: Functional Response to Drought and Management: Plant Community Dynamics within Nebraska’s Working Grasslands
  • Advisor: Craig Allen

Kyle Martens

  • Master of Natural Resource Sciences, Human Dimensions Specialization
  • Project: Rancher Preferences for Conservation Programs in Nebraska’s Grasslands
  • Advisor: Mark Burbach

Daniel Bauloye

  • Master of Natural Resource Sciences
  • Project: Early warning regime shift detection through monitoring them in Halsey Nebraska National Forest
  • Advisor: Daniel Uden
PAST ARTHUR W. SAMPSON FELLOWS & THEIR RESEARCH
YearNameDegreeAdvisor(s)A.W. Sampson ProjectThesis/DissertationOther Outputs
2020 Alison Ludwig Master's Degree in Agronomy and Horticulture with a minor in Natural Resource Sciences Dirac Twidwell, Craig Allen The Endangered American Burying Beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) in the Loess Canyons of Nebraska: Habitat Characteristics, Multi-scale Regime Shifts, and Ecological Resilience American Burying Beetle, Plant Richness, and Soil Property Responses to Collapse of Juniperus virginiana Woodlands with Fire Alternative Stable State Theory and Regime Shifts
2020 Travis Millikan Master's Degree in Agronomy and Horticulture with a specialization in Range and Forage Mitch Stephenson Influence of Grazing Management on Rangeland Plant Communities in the Nebraska Sandhills Influence of Grazing Management on Rangeland Plant Communities in the Nebraska Sandhills
2020 Selby Boerman Master's Degree in Animal Science with an emphasis in Cow-Calf Production and Grazing Behavior Mitch Stephenson, Travis Mulliniks The Impact of Milk Production on Behavioral and Grazing Factors Affecting Calf Performance
2020 Dillon Fogarty Doctorate of Philosophy in Agronomy and Horticulture with a specialization in Applied Ecology Dirac Twidwell Impacts and Management of Woody Plant Encroachment
2019 Anastasios Mazis Doctorate in Natural Resource Sciences, Applied Ecology Specialization Tala Awada Development of Novel Plant Fluorescence Based Techniques for Remote Assessment of Grasslands and Pastures Health and Resilience
2019 Danielle Berger Master’s in Natural Resource Sciences, Applied Ecology Specialization Larkin Powell; John Carroll Nebraska Prairie Grouse in Decline: Is Loss of Habitat Responsible? Prairie Grouse Population Trends and their Historical Drivers in the Nebraska Sandhills
2019 Dillon Fogarty Doctorate in Agronomy & Horticulture, Applied Ecology Specialization Dirac Twidwell Impacts and Management of Eastern Redcedar Invasions in the Great Plains CGS Podcast: Sustaining Nebraska's Grasslands
2019 Ethan Freese Master’s of Applied Science, Science Communication Specialization Mark Balschweid Science Education in the Prairie Corridor on Haines Branch Special Project: A Year in the Prairie Corridor CGS Podcast: A Watershed in Motion
2019 Tara Harms Master’s in Agronomy & Horticulture, Range & Forage Science Specialization Mitchell Stephenson; Jerry Volesky Use of Early-season Fire to Remove Excess Biomass from Sub-irrigated Meadows/Effect of Grazing in the Fall and Winter on Hayed Regrowth of Sub-irrigated Meadows Influence of burning and grazing management practices on subirrigated Sandhill meadow hay production Spring Meadow Management Practices: What’s a Rancher to do?
2019 Elizabeth (Widder) Christenson Master’s in Agronomy & Horticulture, Range & Forage Sciences Specialization Daren Redfearn; Rob Mitchell Enhancing Current Research by Grazing Cool-season Annual Cover Crops Evaluating Opportunities for Integrated Crop Livestock Systems in Eastern Nebraska
2019 Elnazsadat Hosseiniaghdam Doctorate in Agronomy & Horticulture, Soil & Water Sciences Specialization Haishun Yang; Martha Mamo Modeling the Spatial and Temporal Variation of Soil Carbon and Nutrient under Different Stocking Density in Nebraska Sandhills Quantifying the Combined Effect of Abiotic Factors on the Decomposition of Organic Matter in Semiarid Grassland Soils CGS Podcast: Evaluating Soil Responses to Mob Grazing System on Sandhills Sub-irrigated Meadow
2018 Martina La Vallie Master’s in Agronomy & Horticulture, Range & Forage Sciences Specialization John Guretzky; Walter Schacht Establishment of Perennial Legumes with Sorghum-Sudangrass as a Companion Crop Establishment of Perennial Legumes with an Annual Warm-Season as a Companion Crop
2018 Laura Rubeck Master’s in Agronomy & Horticulture, Range & Forage Sciences Specialization Walter Schacht Travel for Presentation of Research Results Determining the Effects of Flash Grazing on the Microbial and Physiochemical Aspects of Water Quality within Riparian Stream Special Project: Effects of management-intensive grazing on streambed water quality The Effects of Flash Grazing on Water Quality in a Riparian Stream
2018 Aaron Shropshire Master’s Degree in Agronomy & Horticulture, Range & Forage Sciences Specialization Walter Schacht; Jerry Volesky The Effect of Ultrahigh Stocking Density Grazing on Nebraska Sandhills Meadow Grazing Strategy Effects on Utilization, Animal Performance, Aboveground Production, Species Composition, and Soil Properties on Nebraska Sandhills Meadow Evaluating Methods of Estimating Forage Intake by Grazing Cattle
2018 Elizabeth (Widder) Christenson Master’s in Agronomy & Horticulture, Range & Forage Sciences Specialization Daren Redfearn; Rob Mitchell Enhancing Current Research by Grazing Cool-season Annual Cover Crops Evaluating Opportunities for Integrated Crop Livestock Systems in Eastern Nebraska
2017 Amanda (Sanford) Shine Master’s in Agronomy & Horticulture, Range & Forage Sciences Specialization Martha Mamo; Jerry Volesky Macro-scale Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Nutrient Pulses in Relation to Grazing Strategies Use of UAV Imagery and Nutrient Analyses for Estimation of the Spatial and Temporal Contributions of Cattle Dung to Nutrient Cycling in Grazed Ecosystems
2016 Lucia Corral Hurtado Doctorate in Natural Resource Sciences, Applied Ecology Specialization Joseph Fontaine The Nebraska Canid Project: Canid Community Distribution & the Potential Impacts of Development in Western Nebraska Spatial and Temporal Structure of a Canid Community in Nebraska
2015 Kayla Tarr Impacts of Drought Timing on Response of Grassland Plant Communities
2014 Kayla Tarr Demonstrating Grazing Land Resilience to Drought in the Central and Northern Great Plains
2010 Kathy (Roccaforte) Denning Master’s in Biological Sciences/Ecology, Evolution & Behavior Sabrina E. Russo, Diana Pilson Evaluating Mechanisms of Reproductive Isolation between Erythronium albidum (Liliaccae) and Its Rare Congener E. mesochoreum Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Assessing Patterns of Hybridization and Multiple Mechanisms of Reproductive Isolation between Erythronium Albidum and Its Congener E. Mesochoreum
2009 Swapna Purandare Doctorate in Philosophy/Ecology, Evolution & Behavior Brigitte Tenhumberg, Jennifer Brisson Information Value of Sensory Cues in Foraging Behavior of Ladybird Beetle Larvae Hippodamia convergens (Oleoptera: Coccinellidae) Investigations into sensory ecology and gene evolution of the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum)
2008 Matthew Giovanni Doctorate in Agronomy/Applied Ecology Larkin Powell, Walter Schacht Vegetation Structure & Grassland Bird Relationships in the Nebraska Sandhills Demographics and habitat selection for the western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) in the Nebraska sandhills
2007 Neal Bryan Impacts of Increasing Tree Density on Grassland Parameters in the Nebraska Sandhills Grad/PostDoc Development
2006 Neal Bryan Impacts of Tree Density Increase on Grassland in the Nebraska Sandhills Grad/PostDoc Development
2005 James O. Eckberg Master’s in Biological Sciences/Ecology, Evolution & Behavior Local & Regional Spatial Dynamics of Insect Herbivores in the Invasiveness of Bull Thistle (Cirsium vulgare) in Nebraska Pastures & Range Soil Water & Climate Native insect herbivory on invasion dynamics of Cirsium vulgare (bull thistle)
2004 John Marquardt Role of Interseeded Legumes in Soil Carbon, Soil Nitrogen, and Herbage Production in Pastureland
2003 Bryce Bauer Master’s in Agronomy/Range Forage Science Yield & Forage Quality of Cool and Warm-season Plant Communities on Wet Meadows
2001 Justin Morris Master’s in Agronomy/Range Forage Science Synergistic Effects of Drought and Defoliation on Fragile Grasslands Water-stress by Defoliation Effects on Two Warm-season Grasses in the Nebraska Sandhills
2000 Eric Mousel Doctorate in Agronomy/Range Forage Science Walter Schacht, Patrick Reece Summer Grazing Strategies Following Early-Season Grazing of Big Bluestem
1999 Mark Schroeder Effect of Restored Hydrologic Conditions and Applied Perturbation Treatments to Plant Communities within a Degraded Sand Hills
1998 Christopher Nordstrom Griffiths
1997 Daniel Beran Doctorate in Agronomy/Philosophy Robert Masters, Roch Gaussoin Native Grass & Legume Establishment for Rangeland Improvement & Restoration Grassland improvement strategies with imidazolinone herbicides
1996 Daniel Beran Native Forb Establishment for Rangeland & Pasture Improvement & Restoration
1995 John Brejda Doctorate in Agronomy/Philosophy/Range Forage Science Lowell Moser, Ken Vogel Enhancing Switchgrass Establishment & Production using Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhiza & Diazotrophic Bacteria Evaluation of arbuscular mycorrhiza populations for enhancing switchgrass yield and nutrient uptake
1994 John Ortmann Doctorate in Agronomy/Philosophy Walter Schacht Ruminant digestive influences on germination and establishment of prairie plants