The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (commonly referred to as Nebraska, UNL or NU) is a public research university located in the city of Lincoln in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is the state's oldest and largest university and the flagship campus of the University of Nebraska system, which includes two other campuses in Omaha and Kearney. The university was chartered by the legislature in 1869 as a land-grant university under the 1862 Morrill Act, two years after Nebraska's statehood into the United States. Around the turn of the century, the university began to expand significantly, hiring professors from eastern schools to teach in the newly organized professional colleges while also producing groundbreaking research in agricultural sciences. The "Nebraska method" of ecological study developed here during this time, which pioneered grassland ecology and laid the foundation for research in theoretical ecology for the rest of the 20th century. The university is organized into eight colleges, located on two campuses in Lincoln with over 100 classroom buildings and research facilities. Its athletic teams, called the Huskers is a member of the Big Ten Conference.