NSRI director will discuss environmental research and its connection to national security

An image of Meghan Jackson, director of food, agriculture and environment security at the National Strategic Research Institute.

WHAT: University of Nebraska at Kearney Science Café

HOSTED BY: Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society

TITLE: “Only YOU Can Speak for the Trees, Bees and Seas! (to protect national security, of course!)

TOPIC: What do flying cows have to do with national security? And how does research on climate change protect our country? Join Meghan Jackson, director of food, agriculture and environment security (FAES) at the National Strategic Research Institute, as she unravels these fascinating connections. Discover how foreign animal diseases reshape global security, why environmental research is crucial for national defense, and how groundbreaking ideas transform into funded research programs. Through compelling real-world examples, Jackson will reveal how the University of Nebraska System is tackling these global challenges.

PRESENTER: Jackson has served as the FAES director for the National Strategic Research Institute and Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources since September 2024. Prior to that time, her career focused on supporting the nation’s transboundary animal disease facilities. While at Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) in Orient, New York, Jackson facilitated several seminars and exercises for first responders and supported laboratory operations at the nation’s only foot-and-mouth disease lab. In 2019, she led the first national African Swine Fever Outbreak Laboratory Response Course, hosting more than 40 federal and state agencies.

During her final years at PIADC, she supported the preparations for scientific mission transfer to the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kansas. Jackson created and led multidisciplinary teams composed of members of leadership, engineers, veterinarians, microbiologists and other laboratory operation experts in support of the facility’s stand-up.

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental science and policy from Clarkson University and Master of Public Health degree from Wright State University in emergency management, with an accompanying graduate certificate in CBRN defense.

TIME: 5 p.m.

DATE: Thursday, Feb. 6

PLACE: UNK Regional Engagement Center, 2204 University Drive

CONTACT: Katherine Moen, UNK associate psychology professor, 308.865.8236, moenk@unk.edu

A UNK student and faculty member conduct research at a south-central Nebraska prairie.