KRVN Chat with the Chancellor

Ronnie Green Author

10/11/2021 Added

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Ronnie Green talks about the new Collaborative Biosecurity Laboratory on East Campus, the Nebraska Innovation Studio grand reopening, and the homecoming festivities last week.

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[00:00:00.520]Bryce Doeschot with the Rural Radio Network
[00:00:02.280]and our weekly "Chat with the Chancellor" program.
[00:00:04.240]This week, we're joined by the chancellor
[00:00:05.530]of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Dr. Ronnie Green.
[00:00:08.400]Dr. Green, good to have you back in the studio.
[00:00:09.840]Thanks for being here.
[00:00:10.673]Good to be here, Bryce.
[00:00:11.750]Well, let's talk about some of the recent events
[00:00:13.230]that have been happening on the Lincoln campus.
[00:00:14.950]First, the IANR
[00:00:16.140]and the National Strategic Research Institute
[00:00:18.750]held a ribbon ceremony, and this is to open
[00:00:21.290]the Collaborative Biosecurity Laboratory.
[00:00:23.250]Tell our listeners more about what's going on here,
[00:00:25.260]and overall, how it fits into the mission of UNL.
[00:00:28.170]Well, Bryce, as Nebraska's flagship land-grant university,
[00:00:31.850]we consider ourselves really to be unparalleled
[00:00:34.530]amongst research universities
[00:00:36.126]in opportunity, engagement, innovation,
[00:00:38.800]lifelong experiential learning.
[00:00:40.940]That's particularly true
[00:00:42.680]in agricultural research and development,
[00:00:44.880]which has been a long-standing strength
[00:00:46.680]of the University of Nebraska
[00:00:48.070]through our more than 150-year history,
[00:00:50.820]where we're always seeking bold solutions
[00:00:53.090]to really complex problems.
[00:00:55.550]One of our six aims
[00:00:57.050]in our current five-year strategic plan,
[00:00:59.150]what we call N2025 for UNL,
[00:01:02.780]is to focus our research and our scholarship,
[00:01:05.360]our creative activity, and our student experiences
[00:01:07.940]on these big kind of grand challenge areas,
[00:01:11.280]critical to Nebraska and to the world.
[00:01:13.910]And so I can think of really no better-positioned university
[00:01:17.400]to lead with a new collaborative biosecurity laboratory,
[00:01:20.640]like we cut the ribbon on here a week before last on campus,
[00:01:27.150]both in terms of us being the center of agriculture
[00:01:30.120]in the United States.
[00:01:31.040]We refer to ourselves
[00:01:32.010]as being in the middle of everywhere and everything,
[00:01:33.580]and certainly that's true
[00:01:35.010]around agriculture
[00:01:36.290]and being both a leader in the agricultural sciences
[00:01:39.060]but also in military and defense innovation
[00:01:42.370]with the National Strategic Research Institute.
[00:01:45.280]So we did just cut the ribbon on a new five-year partnership
[00:01:49.730]to help safeguard the US food supply
[00:01:51.927]and the IANR Institute of Ag. and Natural Resources
[00:01:55.620]and the National Strategic Research Institute
[00:01:58.040]at the University's Collaborative Biosecurity Laboratory.
[00:02:00.960]It's located
[00:02:02.400]in our Ken Morrison Life Sciences Research Center
[00:02:06.070]on east campus.
[00:02:07.270]Kenny Morrison, many of your listeners will remember
[00:02:10.380]as a leader in agriculture
[00:02:12.100]and around the world in many ways,
[00:02:15.320]was the benefactor that established that center
[00:02:18.070]about 12 years ago on our campus.
[00:02:21.930]The purpose of the Collaborative Laboratory
[00:02:26.600]is to increase our research and development
[00:02:29.530]in agricultural and natural resources security,
[00:02:33.690]defense, and countermeasures.
[00:02:35.420]So think about safety of the food supply
[00:02:38.840]in a biosecurity way.
[00:02:41.140]Our biological defense, bio-surveillance, bio-detection,
[00:02:45.170]and diagnostic tools that are used in that way,
[00:02:49.540]as well as pandemic preparedness related to food systems.
[00:02:53.080]And we certainly know what that looks like
[00:02:55.950]even most recently with the pandemic
[00:02:59.180]that we're experiencing.
[00:03:01.440]The lab is located, as I mentioned,
[00:03:04.240]in the Ken Morrison Life Sciences Research Center,
[00:03:06.340]which is also the home to our Nebraska Center for Virology,
[00:03:09.710]our world-renowned effort
[00:03:12.010]that we started here about 10 years ago
[00:03:14.270]with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
[00:03:17.330]gives access to that laboratory
[00:03:19.420]to other molecular life scientists across the university.
[00:03:23.590]Our biomedical engineers that will work
[00:03:25.750]with that collaborative lab as well,
[00:03:30.203]as well as members of the NCV,
[00:03:33.060]the Nebraska Center for Virology.
[00:03:35.300]Josh Santarpia is the lead for this new laboratory.
[00:03:40.400]Josh is with the Nebraska Strategic Research Institute
[00:03:44.490]as the research director for chem-bio programs within NSRI.
[00:03:49.740]He also is an associate professor
[00:03:51.460]of microbiology and pathology
[00:03:53.080]at the University of Nebraska Medical Center
[00:03:55.080]and adjunct faculty member in IANR
[00:03:57.403]here at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
[00:04:00.480]The NSRI, just for the benefit of your listeners,
[00:04:04.200]I know they've heard about it before,
[00:04:06.590]it is a big deal at the University of Nebraska,
[00:04:10.090]this falls underneath that partnership as well,
[00:04:14.070]is one of 14 university-affiliated research centers
[00:04:17.890]affiliated with the Department of Defense.
[00:04:21.533]And ours is the only one that is with a combatant command
[00:04:25.880]associated with STRATCOM,
[00:04:28.470]here in Nebraska, located in Omaha's, we're all aware.
[00:04:34.990]Our researchers and our students
[00:04:36.660]as well as our academic and private partners
[00:04:38.740]work with DoD and other federal agencies
[00:04:41.680]to meet their evolving needs in their security objectives.
[00:04:46.663]So this is a part of underneath the NSRI,
[00:04:51.630]collaboratively with our Institute
[00:04:53.300]of Ag. and Natural Resources,
[00:04:54.680]and we're very excited about it.
[00:04:56.130]Well, Dr. Green, a lot of our listeners know
[00:04:57.850]that we're having today's conversation
[00:04:59.380]from Lincoln at Nebraska Innovation Campus.
[00:05:01.460]The Rural Radio Network is proud to call NIC home
[00:05:03.500]for our Lincoln offices.
[00:05:05.250]Another entity that calls this place home, though,
[00:05:07.010]is the Nebraska Innovation Studio.
[00:05:08.930]In fact, we can see it from our window here.
[00:05:10.550]They recently hosted a grand reopening.
[00:05:12.990]What do you like and what can you tell us about that studio?
[00:05:15.970]Well, Bryce, you might remember,
[00:05:17.230]I think you were a student at the time,
[00:05:18.990]if I remember correctly, here at UNL,
[00:05:21.990]when Innovation Campus was first being conceptualized
[00:05:26.200]and the State Fair was moving to Grand Island
[00:05:28.762]and Innovation Campus was being plotted here in Lincoln.
[00:05:33.700]The last-remaining building that we preserved
[00:05:38.270]from the former State Fair grounds,
[00:05:40.800]was the 4H building,
[00:05:42.720]where the livestock arena was
[00:05:44.530]and the exhibition halls were for 4H.
[00:05:47.210]And as you say,
[00:05:48.043]I'm actually looking right across the parking lot
[00:05:50.180]in your studio
[00:05:51.820]at the west end of that facility
[00:05:54.480]that now houses Nebraska Innovation Studio.
[00:05:57.360]So when we opened Innovation Campus,
[00:06:00.230]and in 2014, we had kind of the beginning of this,
[00:06:05.840]what now is Nebraska Innovation Studio
[00:06:08.240]in a makerspace model,
[00:06:10.010]which means a place where makers could come to make things
[00:06:15.330]with tools and infrastructure available,
[00:06:19.077]and a makerspace for creativity.
[00:06:22.200]In 2014, I remember walking in that end,
[00:06:25.780]that first-floor end of the 4H exhibit hall,
[00:06:29.230]former 4H exhibit hall,
[00:06:30.610]and it was kind of cavernous, right?
[00:06:33.410]There were eight or nine pieces of equipment
[00:06:35.540]at that time in there and a lot of space,
[00:06:38.440]but we were starting, so to speak.
[00:06:42.070]Fast forward now to 2021,
[00:06:45.760]and we just a couple of weeks ago had the grand reopening
[00:06:49.260]of Nebraska Innovation Studio,
[00:06:50.870]kind of combined coming out of
[00:06:52.470]and following this time of COVID
[00:06:54.100]when there's been more restrictions there.
[00:06:56.720]And during that time, we actually grew the studio as well.
[00:07:00.710]It's now wall-to-wall packed with every form
[00:07:04.850]of infrastructure and equipment you can think of
[00:07:07.600]for creating
[00:07:09.420]everything from metalwork to woodwork to 3D printing
[00:07:14.090]to graphic design type work
[00:07:17.280]to clothwork and quilting
[00:07:18.940]and fabrication of cloth kind of related materials.
[00:07:23.940]Supported heavily with private philanthropy.
[00:07:26.610]About $2.5 million has been supported privately
[00:07:30.650]in indirect funds to help build out this studio
[00:07:33.607]and to develop it into one that's really unparalleled
[00:07:38.020]in this region of the country.
[00:07:40.470]It also has classrooms in it.
[00:07:41.990]We have four to five classes now
[00:07:44.090]that are taught in Nebraska Innovation Studio,
[00:07:46.520]and years of architecture, emerging media arts,
[00:07:48.960]and screen printing.
[00:07:50.450]So it's just exciting to have that facility here on campus,
[00:07:54.260]the engagement with the community in Lincoln
[00:07:56.420]and across the state.
[00:07:58.330]Led very ably,
[00:07:59.630]I should mention and call out David Martin,
[00:08:03.130]who is the director of Nebraska Innovation Studio
[00:08:05.770]and has been much of the genesis behind its growth
[00:08:08.250]and fully equipping it out over these past years.
[00:08:12.280]And it was actually the brainchild,
[00:08:14.450]I should give full credit here to Professor Shane Farritor,
[00:08:19.300]who is a mechanical engineering professor
[00:08:21.560]with the University,
[00:08:23.050]a big believer in makerspaces.
[00:08:25.520]He was the initial concept behind
[00:08:27.770]what has become Nebraska Innovation Studio.
[00:08:29.840]Shane himself is another resident
[00:08:31.920]here of Nebraska Innovation Campus
[00:08:33.920]with his own company that he started, Virtual Incision,
[00:08:36.660]developing robotic surgery,
[00:08:38.940]methodology, and equipment here on campus as well.
[00:08:42.230]So, exciting to see it bustling
[00:08:45.060]and back, grand reopened again
[00:08:48.270]with Nebraska Innovation Studio
[00:08:49.880]at Nebraska Innovation Campus.
[00:08:51.480]Things are always growing here
[00:08:52.380]at Nebraska Innovation Campus.
[00:08:53.930]Dr. Green, before we let you go,
[00:08:55.050]we can't forget about homecoming.
[00:08:56.220]That took place last weekend.
[00:08:57.850]Always a good opportunity for students, faculty, and staff
[00:09:00.080]to come together to celebrate UNL, right?
[00:09:01.930]It is.
[00:09:02.990]We have a lot of traditions in a university
[00:09:05.020]that is a part of the DNA of the state here like we are
[00:09:08.950]and 150 years of tradition.
[00:09:11.630]So it was great to have homecoming last week,
[00:09:14.410]a little over a week ago when we played Northwestern
[00:09:17.070]on last Saturday.
[00:09:19.270]And the traditions that involve everything from,
[00:09:24.000]what I've always thought of as the gesture competition.
[00:09:26.460]They actually call it Showtime now.
[00:09:29.560]That was part of that week
[00:09:31.010]where groups compete with one another,
[00:09:33.950]blood drives, corn stock,
[00:09:36.140]homecoming concerts,
[00:09:37.700]the parade that we experienced a little over a week ago,
[00:09:41.100]and the homecoming choir
[00:09:43.110]is always a big part of that tradition as well.
[00:09:45.820]A lot of alumni back for a lot of different events.
[00:09:48.810]I had to rest for a day after all of that last weekend
[00:09:52.410]to catch my breath myself, I got to admit.
[00:09:56.670]But today, of course, we have another game
[00:10:00.340]following homecoming, with Michigan in town to play tonight.
[00:10:04.520]Very pleased about that
[00:10:05.900]and looking forward to another great weekend here on campus.
[00:10:08.520]Before I let you go, did my eyes see correctly?
[00:10:10.720]Were you part of some of the homecoming festivities,
[00:10:12.810]perhaps a student dance or something like that?
[00:10:15.220]I get my arm twisted occasionally
[00:10:17.080]and there is a group on campus
[00:10:19.800]that is known as the Innocents Society.
[00:10:22.370]The Innocents are a long-standing tradition here
[00:10:25.020]for over a hundred years at the University.
[00:10:27.150]It's considered the chancellor's senior honorary society.
[00:10:30.942]13 members of the senior class are selected
[00:10:33.410]to be Innocents every year.
[00:10:35.550]And they were one of the teams competing
[00:10:37.800]in the Showtime competition on Monday night.
[00:10:40.290]So they did talk me into doing a little skit with them,
[00:10:42.830]where I showed my age and some dance moves probably,
[00:10:46.998]but always fun to be part of that.
[00:10:49.680]I think we had close to 2,000 students
[00:10:51.950]on the field that night.
[00:10:53.040]They actually did it outside
[00:10:55.160]for the first time in a long time
[00:10:56.780]on the Vine Street Fields on campus.
[00:10:58.560]So yeah, we had a little fun,
[00:11:00.780]and I think I actually was supposed to be Slim Shady,
[00:11:03.300]whatever that means, so anyway.
[00:11:06.277]UNL chancellor Dr. Ronnie Green
[00:11:07.870]lending a few of his minutes here
[00:11:08.870]to give us an update from the Lincoln campus.
[00:11:10.680]Dr. Green, I always appreciate seeing you.
[00:11:12.210]Good to see you, Bryce,
[00:11:13.300]and cheer for the Huskers tonight against Michigan.
[00:11:15.950]Go Big Red.
[00:11:16.783]I'm Bryce Doeschot, reporting on the Rural Radio Network.

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