February 11, 2009

Finding and making sense of the wealth of UNL's water research just got a whole lot easier.

Visit UNL's online database on Water Research, Education and Extension and for more information on water, visit UNL Water

A new searchable database sponsored by UNL's Water Center and the University's Rural Initiative, offers information on water-related research and programming being conducted across the state.

"The site is intended as a tool for legislators, government officials and the public alike to keep track of the water-related research and programming university faculty are conducting," said Rachael Herpel, outreach and education specialist at the UNL Water Center.

The database can be accessed online at http://watercenter.unl.edu/researchdb/researchdb.asp. It can be searched by legislative district, natural resources district, county, congressional district or weed management area.

An "All Nebraska" search key allows for more advanced searching by keyword or individual researcher.

"Water research plays a big part in providing necessary information and data that will be used to help solve Nebraska's current and future water challenges, as well as many other state challenges that are related to water, or have a strong water component, such as agriculture, industry, electric power generation, recreation and others," Herpel said.

"The site lets legislators, government officials and others keep easy track of university water-related research and extension and education programs, especially research associated with a particular topic of interest or that impacts a particular (legislative) district or NRD," she added.

Included with each project report is contact information for the primary researcher and others involved with the project, as well as links to more detailed information about the project where appropriate.

Many of the research projects and programs listed cross county and district lines and the list isn't comprehensive. "But it continues to grow as individual researchers realize the benefits of having their work listed in the database," Herpel said.

In addition, many previous state surveys are being made available.

"There is a good deal of public and governmental interest in these surveys, so we thought it was a natural, via this site, to make them easier to access," said Herpel. "It's all part of developing the database into a more comprehensive library for those interested in or working in natural resources areas statewide," she said.

The database project is supported by the university's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources and School of Natural Resources.

Steven Ress
Communications coordinator, UNL Water Center