About Us

Supporting Nebraska's STEM Scholars

The Nebraska Science Olympiad supports over 90 teams of Nebraska's top STEM middle and high school students per year by organizing and supporting STEM competitions and working with teacher-coaches to make lasting impacts on the lives of Nebraska's young STEM talent. Our goal is to increase interest and opportunity in science and help create and support a technologically-literate workforce.

Science Olympiad Picture students exploring the world of science

Nebraska Science Olympiad

Science Olympiad is the premier team STEM competition in the nation, providing standards-based challenges to over 6,600 teams at 425 tournaments in all 50 states. The Nebraska Science Olympiad supports over 90 teams and close to 1000 of Nebraska's top STEM middle and high school students per year. The UNO STEM TRAIL Center and the Nebraska Science Olympiad Organizing Committee plans and executes the state tournament, promotes and supports invitationals, provides resources for team development, organizes volunteers, and tells our students' stories.

Deanna Johansen
Nebraska Scicence Olympiad Director

With a long history in teaching STEM education, Deanna is passionate about increasing inquiry-based learning and inspiring the next generation of scienists across Nebraska. As the director of the Nebraska Science Olympiad, Deanna is on a mission to increase Science Olympiad participation across Nebraska. You can reach Deanna at deannajohansen@unomaha.edu.

Nebraska Science Olympiad Leadership Committee

The Nebraska Science Olympiad Leadership Committee is currently in the process of being formed. If you are interested in joining the committee, please contact us. Or for more information, go to the Nebraska Science Olympiad Committee Information page. The committee’s mission is to increase Science Olympiad participation across Nebraska. This includes increasing the number of school teams, expanding the number of invitational tournaments, and boosting participation in the state tournament.

STEM TRAIL Center

The University of Nebraska Omaha's STEM TRAIL Center creates innovations in STEM education. The Center is the administrative home of the Nebraska Science Olympiad and dedicates staff time for organizational and logisitcal needs. The Center also utilizes the connections and relationships it and the university have built for improvements in fundraising, volunteer development, and team development. Its STEM education research infrastructure is also used to learn how the Science Olympiad can best serve the needs of Nebraska students and grow the Nebraska STEM workforce.