Meghan Jackson

Meghan Jackson is Director for Food, Agriculture & Environment Security at the National Strategic Research Institute at the University of Nebraska, the DOD-designated University Affiliated Research Center sponsored by U.S. Strategic Command.

In her role, Jackson integrates the capabilities, capacity and strengths of NSRI and the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resource (IANR) at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) to contribute to U.S. food, agriculture and environment security. IANR’s long history of innovation and partnership with industry and producers, combined with NSRI’s UARC status and deep experience with chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBNR) threats, creates a unique opportunity for Nebraska to convene and execute needed research and development to protect some of the Nation’s most critical infrastructure and assets.

Prior to coming to NSRI, Jackson held roles supporting missions to protect American agriculture from the introduction of transboundary animal diseases. She worked on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) in Orient, New York, and the National Bio and Agro-defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kansas.

While at PIADC, Jackson facilitated several seminars and exercises for first responders related to rescue task force operations, biological and chemical threat response and point-of-wound care. She also conducted environmental safety and occupational health inspections of BSL-3 biocontainment facility, home to 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 Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory as it prepared to transition its scientific mission and critical biological repository to the NBAF. Once transferred to NBAF in 2021, 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. NBAF is slated to assume and expand upon the responsibilities of PIADC, including establishing the fifth global and the Nation’s first BSL-4 agricultural research facility.

Jackson holds a bachelor of science degree in environmental science and policy from Clarkson University, with minors in environmental health and safety and pre-law studies. She also holds a master's degree of public health from Wright State University in emergency management, with an accompanying graduate certificate in CBRN defense.