Officials at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln say they plan to hire 36 people in the school's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The institute's chancellor, Ronnie Green, says in a news release Monday that the new positions will involve key topics such as more efficient food production and improved management of water and other natural resources.
Green says the hiring follows several years without hiring as university officials had to cut budgets.
He called the hiring a "calculated, strategic move that's going to pay off big in the long run" and would help the university emerge as a leader in food production issues.
The university didn't specify the total cost of the new positions.
