If you're interested in a wildlife career where you can spend time outdoors studying the behavior of animals, evaluating and measuring wildlife populations or analyzing the effect of the environment on natural habitats, there are a number of degree programs to meet your needs, including wildlife biology, wildlife management, environmental science and wildlife conservation.`
Wildlife Biology
Wildlife biology degrees can be conferred at the associate's, bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. levels, and involve the study and research of animals in their native habitat. Courses in wildlife biology will incorporate biology, physics, ecology and physical geology. Texas State University in San Marcos; Lees-McRae College in North Carolina; Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff; Kansas State University in Manhattan; University of Vermont in Burlington; and the University of Wyoming in Laramie all offer degrees in wildlife biology. Texas State University offers a bachelor's degree in wildlife biology with course work that includes wildlife management, general ecology, mammalogy, biometry, plant taxonomy, ornithology and field biology of plants. Graduating students will be trained for jobs in teaching, research and wild game management.
Wildlife Management
Students in wildlife management degree programs are trained in subjects such as environmental science, wildlife habitats, natural resources management and policy, parks management and outdoor recreation. Schools with a wildlife management bachelor's or master's degree include Colorado State University in Fort Collins; Delaware State University in Dover; Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond; Auburn University; Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah; and Eastern New Mexico University in Portales. Auburn University confers a bachelor's degree in wildlife ecology and management. The degree requires 128 semester hours and includes course work in wildlife conservation history and law, principles of wildlife management, analysis for wildlife sciences, wildlife ecology and management and plant ecology. Students are also given the opportunity to work directly with wildlife such as quails, birds of prey and white-tailed deer.
Environmental Science
Environmental science is the study of the relationship between the natural world and the organisms that live in it, and incorporates a wide range of subjects including chemistry, biology and natural resource management. Undergraduate degrees in environmental science educate students in fields such as environmental biology, soil science and geochemistry and can lead to careers in forestry, conservation science and ecology. Humboldt State University in Arcata, California; Florida A&M in Tallahassee; Pace University in New York; University of Toledo; University of Texas in San Antonio; and Eastern Washington University in Cheney are among the schools that confer this degree. Pace University offers a Master of Science in Environmental Science, a 33-credit program to be completed in two years of full-time study. Course work includes environmental science core classes and electives such as wildlife ecology, animal conservation biology, topics in marine pollution and plant ecology and conservation.
Wildlife Conservation
A wildlife conservation degree trains students to analyze and resolve issues regarding conservation in wildlife ecology, wildlands and rangeland ecology. Graduating students will be trained for jobs in wildlife biology, ecology, zoology and range conservation. Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, is one of the few institutions that offers a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation and a Master of Science in Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation degree. The bachelor's degree course work includes classes in biological diversity, introduction to wildlife and wildlands conservation, principles of range management, principles of wildlife and fisheries management, conservation biology and comparative animal nutrition.
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