LINCOLN, Neb. – Dr. Scott Hygnstrom, professor and Extension wildlife specialist for the School of Natural Resources, is a recipient of the 2011 Holling Family Awards for Teaching Excellence in Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The annual awards recognize outstanding teaching in UNL’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Hygnstrom is one of four senior faculty to receive the award this year. He will be honored in a ceremony on Thursday, March 3, at 4 p.m. at the Nebraska East Campus Union.
Since 1988 when he arrived at the University of Nebraska, Hygnstrom has worked to develop a teaching program focused on wildlife damage management. The program’s goal is to train biologists to work with people to solve conflicts between humans and wildlife.
Hygnstrom has taught approximately 800 students during his tenure at the School of Natural Resources. Hygnstrom’s courses combine an academic background in wildlife biology with problem-solving skills that integrate human behavior and values. In the classroom, Hygnstrom is known for experiential learning. Students work to solve specific problems, such as the management of Canada geese or feral cats, and the resulting materials often are published for use by wildlife control professionals.
His curriculum has also reached many graduate students, wildlife management professionals, property owners, agricultural producers and regulators by distribution of information through workshops, the Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management (icwdm.org) and his book “Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage.”
Over 40 former students are now employed in the field of wildlife damage management. One former student, Kurt VerCauteren, Research Wildlife Biologist with the National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins, Colo., said of Hygnstrom,
“The experiences he provides students in his labs and the contacts he ensures students get through field trips and conference participation are incredibly valuable. Now as I travel the country and world I see the breadth of Scott's impact. I often meet other former students of Dr. Hygnstrom's who now have rewarding and impactful careers in wildlife damage management.”
The Holling award was made possible by a gift from the Holling family to honor their pioneer parents. John Holling was a 1912 electrical engineering graduate of UNL and his brother Gustave Holling studied agriculture before farming the family’s land in the Wood River area.
