Wildlife Ecology and Management (WLDE)
The Wildlife Ecology and Management (WLDE) degree program provides a broad biological education that is specifically designed to meet the needs of students interested in careers involving wildlife ecology, management, and conservation. Graduates are employed within state or federal wildlife agencies, environmental consulting firms, private conservation organizations, and private land management companies.
The learning objectives of the program are to provide students with:
- Knowledge of wild animal biology, behavior, and ecology, including their interactions with other species and their environment.
- Understanding the strategies and methods for conserving wildlife populations and habitats, including habitat loss, fragmentation, invasive species, and climate change.
- Knowledge of techniques for managing wildlife populations, including population monitoring, habitat management, and population control methods.
- Understanding the broader environmental context in which wildlife populations exist, including ecosystem dynamics, biodiversity conservation, and environmental policy.
- Knowledge about human and wildlife interactions, including conflicts over resources, conservation ethics, and human impacts on wildlife.
Students are required to participate in a six-week wildlife summer practicum taken the summer before their senior year. In addition to required lab courses, the summer practicum experience enables students to acquire practical skills in field research methods, such as wildlife survey techniques, animal tracking, and data collection.
The major is designed to prepare students to meet the standards to apply for and successfully attain certification as Associate Wildlife Biologists (AWB) by The Wildlife Society (TWS) upon graduation.
| Freshman | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | ||
| BIOL 1020 Principles of Biology & BIOL 1021 Principles of Biology Laboratory | 4 | History or Social Science1 | 3 | ||
| History1 | 3 | ENGL 1120 English Composition II | 3 | ||
| WILD 2050 Wildlife Conservation History and Law*,3 | 3 | Fine Arts | 3 | ||
| ENGL 1100 English Composition I | 3 | BIOL 1030 Organismal Biology & BIOL 1031 Organismal Biology Laboratory | 4 | ||
| FOWS 1010 Introduction to Renewable Natural Resources3 | 1 | Social Science | 3 | ||
| 14 | 16 | ||||
| Sophomore | |||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | ||
| Physical Science Elective | 4 | BIOL 3030 Evolution and Systematics | 3 | ||
| WILD 3280 Wildlife Ecology, Conservation, and Management or 3287 Honors Wildlife Ecology, Conservation, and Management*,3 | 3 | CHEM 1040 Fundamental Chemistry II | 3 | ||
| CHEM 1030 Fundamentals Chemistry I | 3 | CHEM 1041 Fundamental Chemistry II Laboratory | 1 | ||
| MATH 1610 Calculus I | 4 | BIOL 3060 Ecology | 4 | ||
| CHEM 1031 Fundamental Chemistry I Laboratory | 1 | Literature or Humanities1 | 3 | ||
| 15 | 14 | ||||
| Junior | |||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer | Hours |
| ENGL 3040 Technical Writing | 3 | Social Sciences | 3 | WILD 4910 Wildlife Sciences Summer Practicum*,3 | 8 |
| STAT 2510 Statistics for Biological and Health Sciences | 3 | COMM 1000 Public Speaking4 | 3 | ||
| Taxon-specific Elective | 4 | WILD 4400 Problem Solving in Wildlife Sciences*,3 | 2 | ||
| FORY 3100 Dendrology2 | 3 | Literature1 | 3 | ||
| WILD 5750 Analysis for Environmental and Health Sciences*,3 | 4 | ||||
| 13 | 15 | 8 | |||
| Senior | |||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | ||
| WILD 5280 Avian Ecology and Management*,3 | 2 | FOWS 5270 Natural Resource Policy*,3 | 3 | ||
| WILD 4340 Conservation Genetics*,3 | 3 | WILD 5290 Mammalian Ecology and Management*,3 | 2 | ||
| Taxon-specific Elective | 4 | BIOL 5140 Plant Ecology | 4 | ||
| WILD 5880 Wildlife Habitat Assessment and Management*,3 | 4 | UNIV 4AA0 Achieve the Creed | 0 | ||
| WILD 4890 Wildlife Population Science*,3 | 3 | ||||
| Natural Resource Elective/ROTC | 3 | ||||
| 13 | 15 | ||||
| Total Hours: 123 | |||||
- 1
Student must complete a sequence in either Literature or History.
- 2
Systematic Botany (BIOL 5120 - 4 hours in spring) may be substituted for Dendrology.
- 3
These courses are part of the WLDE major and must be completed with a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better
- 4
Environmental Interpretation (FOWS 2010) may replace COMM 1000. However, an additional humanities core must then also be taken.
Courses with an asterisk (*) must be completed with a grade of “C” or better.