My Story
Hi, I'm Scott Hygnstrom, professor emeritus and extension wildlife damage specialist for the School of Natural Resources. I'm associated with the fisheries and wildlife undergraduate major and the wildlife ecology graduate specialization.
My major interests have been wildlife damage management, integrated pest management, biological management (control) of pests, wildlife-agriculture interactions, wildlife diseases, human dimensions in wildlife, and the ecology of ungulates (hoofed mammals), rodents, and predators.
Scott Hygnstrom, professor of wildlife and extension wildlife damage specialist, talks to farmers.
Wildlife damage issues are pervasive throughout society, and human-wildlife conflicts are increasing in frequency, impact and significance. Public demand for information and services in wildlife damage management is increasing across the nation.
My programs included the revision of "Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage," a book I co-edited that has been published by University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension. Written by many authors, including some in the School, at two volumes comprising 850 pages and 11,400 copies sold, it has become the leading reference in wildlife damage management.
I'm also worked on expanding the "Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management," teaching classes in wildlife damage management and wildlife diseases, surveillance of wildlife diseases in Nebraska, and research programs on deer and chronic wasting disease in Nebraska.
My most recent research involves the ecology of elk in Nebrask; the effects of frightening devices in reducing deer damage in cornfields; prairie dogs and the prairie ecosystem; the annual Urban Pest Management Conference; integrated pest management in K-12 schools in Nebraska; and economic modeling of rodents in swine facilities.
As a testimony to the needs being met by these programs, the Integrated Pest Management-Vertebrates program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln stands out as a national leader in wildlife damage management. More than 30 graduates from our program have established careers in wildlife damage management in federal, state, and private institutions.
I received my bachelor's in biology at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 1980; my master's in natural resources-wildlife from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 1983; and my Ph.D. in wildlife ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1988. I've been at this university since then.
As mentioned above, my extension publishing has included:
- Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage
- Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management
- Prairie Dogs and the Prairie Ecosystem