Acknowledgments

Schoobio started in 2016 as the Schoolyard Biodiversity Exchange, a program for Kansas teachers. Since then it has evolved into its current iteration as Schoobio. Funding and support for early stages of Schoobio has been provided by Project Central; the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, in particular Alaine Hudlin, Mike Rader, Ross Robins, and Keith Sexson; Johnson County Community College computing science and information systems students; and Johnson County Master Naturalists. 

Thank you to all of the outdoor educators, teachers, higher education professors, nonformal educators, students, and others who have offered feedback, insights and suggestions for improvements to the program, especially Jennifer Thomas, teacher at Turner Middle School; Deborah Chabi, teacher at Dundee Crown High School; and Rob Linne, Professor in the School of Education at Adelphi University for their contributions to the lessons. Also, thanks to Dr. John Coletta with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point for providing additional resources to augment the communications piece of Schoobio.

A special round of appreciation goes to my doctoral dissertation committee: Dr. Pamela Bork and Dr. Kele Anyanwu with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Ed.D. in Educational Sustainability program, and Dr. Keitaro Ito at the Kyushu Institute of Technology, for their enthusiasm, guidance, and support.  I am very grateful to Dr. Henry St. Maurice of UWSP for his encouragement and assistance in preparing my dissertation for publication. And of course to my dear UWSP Cohort 3 friends; we trusted the process and made things happen.

A heartfelt thank you to my family and friends for their unwavering belief in me and in Schoobio, for letting me practice my ideas and presentations on you, for not counting (out loud, anyway) the number of months or days until I would finish my doctorate. You are the best!

And finally, thank you to all students, teachers, and others taking action to increase ecological, bioculturally diverse school grounds around the world! Together we will always be part of nature, not apart from it.

--Shari L. Wilson, Ed.D., Schoobio Creator