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
ENGL 1100 English Composition I	3	ENGL 1120 English Composition II	3
BIOL 1020 Principles of Biology & BIOL 1021 Principles of Biology Laboratory	4	BIOL 1030 Organismal Biology & BIOL 1031 Organismal Biology Laboratory	4
History¹	3	History or Social Science¹	3
WILD 2050 Wildlife Conservation History and Law^*	3	MATH 1130 Pre-Calculus Trigonometry	3
FOWS 1010 Introduction to Renewable Natural Resources	1	WILD 2310 Biology of Plants important to Wildlife	2
	14		15
Sophomore
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours
CHEM 1030 Fundamentals Chemistry I	3	CHEM 1040 Fundamental Chemistry II	3
CHEM 1031 Fundamental Chemistry I Laboratory	1	CHEM 1041 Fundamental Chemistry II Laboratory	1
Physical Science Elective	4	BIOL 3030 Evolution and Systematics	3
STAT 2510 Statistics for Biological and Health Sciences	3	BIOL 3060 Ecology	4
WILD 3280 Wildlife Ecology, Conservation, and Management or 3287 Honors Wildlife Ecology, Conservation, and Management^*	3	Literature	3
	14		14
Junior
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer	Hours
COMM 1000 Public Speaking³	3	Literature or Humanities¹	3	WILD 4910 Wildlife Sciences Summer Practicum^*	8
NATR 2050 People and the Environment: An Introduction to Conservation Social Sciences or SUST 2000 Introduction to Sustainability	3	Social Science	3
Policy Elective	3	Communications Elective	3
Taxon-specific Elective	4	WILD 5750 Analysis for Environmental and Health Sciences^*	4
FORY 3100 Dendrology²	3	Planning Elective	2
	16		15		8
Senior
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours
Habitat Elective	3	WILD 5290 Mammalian Ecology and Management or 5280 Avian Ecology and Management^*	2
Taxon-specific Elective	4	Population Elective	3
Zoology Elective	3	Fine Arts	3
Botany Elective	4	Free Elective	2
		UNIV 4AA0 Achieve the Creed	0
	14		10
Total Hours: 120

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: 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.

Courses in bold are part of the WLDE major and must be completed with a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better