About ESCAPE

Why we developed ESCAPE
As biologists and educators, we are concerned about the impact of exotic species and the level of public awareness about the problem. We conceived of ESCAPE as a means of educating a broad audience on various aspects of the exotic species problem through active investigation of multiple real-world examples. We hope that ESCAPE will be useful to teachers, students, and others who wish to explore the impacts of exotic species on North American ecosystems.

Who is behind ESCAPE
Dr. W. Wyatt Hoback is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, where he teaches classes in General Biology, Ichthyology, Entomology, Human Ecology and Conservation Biology. He also is an adjunct professor of Entomology with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he has developed web pages and teaching modules for a distance education class on insect taxonomy and natural history.

Dr. Kerri M. Skinner is an Assistant Professor of Biology and Teacher Education at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. During her postdoc she worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service at the Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory in Sidney, Montana. She has developed a database and accompanying web site that allows users to view the regulatory status of over 540 noxious weeds.

Dr. Leon G. Higley is a Professor of Entomology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he teaches classes in Pest Management, Insect Appreciation, Ethics, and Insect Ecology. His research focusses on insect plant interactions and integrated pest management.

Graduate Assistants Suraiya Afzal, Mathew Brust, Suhasini Kotcherlakota, and Sribhagyam Srinivasan worked on ESCAPE with Drs. Hoback and Skinner.

Project Support
The development of this web site was supported by a grant from the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (Project Award No. 2001-38411-10784), by the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and by the USDA Agricultural Research Service.

How to cite this resource
Hoback, W.Wyatt, Kerri M. Skinner, and Leon G. Higley. 2003. Exotic Species Curriculum for Agricultural Problem-solving Education. Kearney, NE: University of Nebraska. Home Page: http://www.unk.edu/acad/biology/hoback/escape/home.html (Version 15DEC2003).