2025 Conference: WILD GREAT PLAINS

With millions of acres of fenced cropland, the Great Plains doesn’t seem like a wild place, but there is much to learn from the pockets of wildness left and the efforts to restore and protect the region’s landscape. This conference will examine the concept of wildness and examine what wild areas mean to human visitors and residents.

Wild Great Plains will cover topics like restoration of bison herds, Indigenous-led environmental practices, grassland animals, urban wilderness, psychological aspects of nature, conservation action, and our connection with wildness. Alongside panel sessions, the conference will also feature workshops on topics including nature photography, mindfulness, and nature journaling.

This conference is meant for a wide audience and welcomes the general public, scholars, students, business owners, community leaders, and lifelong learners.

The 50th annual Great Plains conference funding is provided by Humanities Nebraska and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment and these UNL entities: the School of Natural Resources, the Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor, the Cather Project, the Office of Research and Innovation, the Department of Ethnic Studies, and the Faculty Senate Convocations Committee. Become a sponsor.

Locations:

• April 8: poster session at the Great Plains Art Museum, 1155 Q St.
• April 9 & 10: Nebraska Innovation Campus Conference Center, 2021 Transformation Dr.
• April 9 workshops and dinner: Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center, 11700 SW 100th St, Denton, NE (additional ticket required)

Schedule is subject to change. Contact us at [email protected]

UNL students use code GPstudent at checkout for $25 conference ticket. Does not include dinner/workshops.

Brandon Cobb (Cherokee Nation)

Cobb joined The Nature Conservancy’s team as an Indigenous Partnerships Program Manager in 2022, a new role for the Nebraska chapter. Cobb is from Edmond, Okla., and is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. He graduated from Yale University with a degree in Environmental Science and a concentration in sustainability and natural resource use. As a 2022 Claire M. Hubbard Young Leaders in Conservation Fellow, Cobb chose to develop guidance for building and maintaining relationships with Tribal nations, primarily in Nebraska. From there, he organized and led the first Nebraska Intertribal Conservation Summit. As a result of that Summit, TNC created Cobb’s new position, and he is now actively advancing projects among Tribes both in and outside of Nebraska. These projects include Buffalo restoration with the Ponca Tribe, cultural fire with the Ioway Tribe, and co-management with the Washoe Tribe. Recently, Cobb served on a panel called “Restoring Indigenous Food Sovereignty” with Nebraska Public Media and the Durham Museum and was a speaker at the Intertribal Buffalo Council’s annual membership meeting.

Michael Forsberg

Forsberg is a Nebraskan whose 30-year career as a photographer and conservationist has been dedicated to wildlife and conservation stories in North America's Great Plains, once one of the greatest grassland ecosystems on Earth. His images have been featured in publications including Audubon, National Geographic, Nature Conservancy, and Sierra magazines. His fine art prints are in public and private collections, and his solo exhibitions have traveled nationwide. In 2011, Forsberg co-founded Platte Basin Timelapse (PBT) in partnership with UNL and Michael Farrell Photography and Fine Art. Today, it operates as a conservation storytelling project to inform scientific research, build educational content, and tell stories of a Great Plains watershed in motion. A documentary film for PBS, titled , based on the project and Mike's traverse across the Platte Basin watershed, was released on PBS nationally in 2019. Forsberg serves as faculty at UNL and is a Fellow with the Center for Great Plains Studies and the Daugherty Water for Food Institute.

Ferin Davis Anderson

(Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa/Ojibwe/Anishinaabe/Mitchifs in North Dakota)

Anderson is the co-author of Wildfire: The Culture, Science, and Future of Fire, a STEAM book exploring the science of wildfires, the history of fire in the United States, and the relationship Indigenous people have with fire. Anderson is an enrolled citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa/Ojibwe/Anishinaabe/Mitchifs in North Dakota. She is also the Natural Resources Manager for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s Land and Natural Resources Department. Anderson is responsible for stewarding and restoring natural areas for the SMSC. She works to weave Indigenous knowledge and western science to implement holistic land stewardship practices. This includes using fire as an ecological and cultural tool to achieve beneficial and healing outcomes. Witnessing Indigenous people revitalize and reconnect with this practice has been one of the greatest gifts of her career. Anderson was also part of a team that helped bring bison back to the SMSC – a relative that will help the Community connect with the land and their culture.

Corina Newsome

Newsome, Associate Conservation Scientist at the National Wildlife Federation, is a wildlife biologist dedicated to the integration of environmental justice and conservation science and practice. Newsome earned her bachelor's degree in zoo and wildlife biology from Malone University and, after several years as an animal care professional, went on to earn her master's degree in biology from Georgia Southern University. With a specific passion for avian conservation, Newsome’s research focuses on answering landscape ecology questions that help us better understand how we can help birds thrive in a changing world. Newsome’s fascination with birds extends beyond her research and into the communities where she lives and works, serving as beautiful vehicles through which she connects herself and others to the world around them.

​In addition to her work as a wildlife scientist, Newsome is committed to increasing the representation and visibility of Black science professionals for the next generation of STEM experts, and centering the leadership and perspectives of Black, Indigenous, and communities of color in wildlife conservation, environmental education, and exploration of the natural world. Photo by Katherine Arntzen.

Info: Stop by the registration table for your name badge and conference program in the Great Plains Art Museum lobby.

Info: Enjoy food and drinks in the lobby. Poster session is in the main gallery (no food or drink allowed).

Info: Check in near the front door of the Nebraska Innovation Campus Conference Center.

Info: "Beyond Buffalo: Following our Relatives towards Right Relations" - This presentation will give an overview of The Nature Conservancy, our work in restoring Buffalo to Tribal lands in partnership with the Intertribal Buffalo Council and Tanka Fund, and the importance of this work, both with our partners but also within our organization. Attendees will learn about the important cultural relevance of Buffalo, the impacts Buffalo have on prairies, and how The Nature Conservancy has been working to support the transfer of Buffalo from our preserves back to Native lands. Cobb joined The Nature Conservancy’s team as an Indigenous Partnerships Program Manager in 2022, a new role for the Nebraska chapter. Cobb is from Edmond, OK, and is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Through his work with TNC, he is actively advancing projects among Tribes. These projects include Buffalo restoration with the Ponca Tribe, cultural fire with the Ioway Tribe, and co-management with the Washoe Tribe.

Info: Platte Basin Timelapse producer and instructor Carlee Moates will talk about their team's vision for documenting a watershed and advocating for the conservation of the Great Plains.

Info: This panel highlights several exciting and dynamic outdoor educational programs for youth that promote healing in the outdoors, increase accessibility to the outdoors for urban youth, and ignite curiosity of the wild diversity of the Great Plains ecosystem.

Info: "Into Whooperland - A Photographer's Journey with the Rarest Crane in the World" - Forsberg spent the last five years camera-in-hand exploring the natural history of whooping cranes across the continent, meeting people that love them, and discovering how these tall, magnificent and rarest of cranes are navigating our 21st Century world. In this multimedia presentation, he'll take you on a wild, wonderful, and sometimes heartbreaking journey from their wintering grounds along the Texas Gulf Coast to their remote nesting grounds in northern Canada, and on migration through the heart of the Great Plains. Forsberg is a Nebraskan whose 30-year career as a photographer and conservationist has been dedicated to wildlife and conservation stories in North America's Great Plains, once one of the greatest grassland ecosystems on Earth.

Info: Join UNL Psychology and Child, Youth & Family Studies faculty Schutte and Torquati to learn about the impact nature has on our brains, especially when we're young.

Info: This panel introduces local efforts to increase and connect areas of native habitat such as conservation easements that link greenways and remnant prairie. We will discuss why connecting these wild lands is important and how it is being accomplished in our disappearing tallgrass prairie biome.

Info: Limited to 15 participants. Join Platte Basin Timelapse producers on a photographic exploration of Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center. Learn tips and tricks for your photography adventures.

Info: Limited to 15 participants. Join artist and outdoor educator Grace Gaard to learn about the practice of nature journaling and connect with the landscape. Notebooks and drawing/coloring materials will be provided, but feel free to bring your own supplies.

Info: Limited to 20 participants. Go on a prairie adventure with Spring Creek Prairie Audubon staff. Learn about the prairie and the species that inhabit this place.

Info: Limited to 15 participants. Explore Spring Creek Prairie through your senses with mindfulness guide Sue Kohles.

Info: Great Plains-themed dinner at Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center. Dinner by chef Anthony Warrior (Absentee Shawnee/Mvskoke-Father; Sicangu Lakota-Mother). Menu coming soon.

Info: Check in near the front door of the Nebraska Innovation Campus Conference Center.

Info: Anderson is the co-author of "Wildfire: The Culture, Science, and Future of Fire," a STEAM book exploring the science of wildfires, the history of fire in the United States, and the relationship Indigenous people have with fire. Anderson is an enrolled citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa/Ojibwe/Anishinaabe/Mitchifs in North Dakota. She is also the Natural Resources Manager for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s Land and Natural Resources Department.

Info: When and how did the concept of "wilderness" originate? Can it be considered a wild environment, untouched by human civilization? Or is it a human-made construction of nature? Explore these questions and more in this panel, hearing from several viewpoints of Indigenous studies, history, geography, and ecocriticism of the Great Plains.

Info: The history of bison on the Great Plains is one of the region's biggest comeback stories. Learn about current efforts to ensure this animal's future on the plains.

Info: Newsome, Associate Conservation Scientist at the National Wildlife Federation, is a wildlife biologist dedicated to the integration of environmental justice and conservation science and practice. With a specific passion for avian conservation, Newsome’s research focuses on answering landscape ecology questions that help us better understand how we can help birds thrive in a changing world.

Info: Join scientists doing new research on several Great Plains species of the plains including the kangaroo rat, snakes, melanistic fox squirrels, and prairie plants.

Info: Join four artists whose work translates wild species and places into artistic practices. Martindale's artwork focuses on Sandhill cranes found in Nebraska. Yarbrough is an artist and the founder of the Tallgrass Artist Residency in Kansas. Maciuba is the 2025 Elizabeth Rubendall Artist in Residence and Running is an Omaha artist focused on human-built systems in the natural world.

Info: This session explores the dynamic relationship between ranching, conservation, and the wildness of the Plains. This panel brings together ranchers and conservationists with insights into regenerative grazing, wildlife and prairie conservation, ecotourism, and collaboration, demonstrating how working lands can support rural livelihoods and biodiversity while fostering deeper understanding, awareness, and appreciation of the region’s natural and cultural heritage. Through their experiences across the Great Plains and beyond, panelists will share stories, offer insights, and discuss both challenges and opportunities facing ranchers, conservationists, and the public.

Info: When people think of wildlife on the Great Plains, they are likely to think of bison, pronghorn, and similar animals that require wide-open spaces. But much of the wildlife on the Great Plains resides within urban areas. And, despite burgeoning human populations and spiraling sprawl, this wildlife is increasing both in volume and variety. This panel examines a number of wildlife species that reside in Lincoln and Omaha. Some of the species are long-time natives, and their populations are rebounding from historic lows, and some are new arrivals migrating, in part, due to climate change and the maturing of the urban forest.

Host or Publisher Center for Great Plains Studies