Wildlife Ecology and Management

Faculty

Game Management Human Dimensions of Wildlife International Wildlife Non-Game and Endangered Species Quantitative Wildlife Ecology Wildlife Damage Wildlife Disease Wildlife and Forest Management Wildlife Population Dynamics Wildlife Population Genetics

The graduate program in Wildlife Ecology and Management is designed to provide a strong background in the biological, ecological, and managerial aspects of the wildlife profession. The wildlife faculty are active in a variety of graduate teaching and research areas, including population dynamics, community ecology, physiology and nutrition, behavioral ecology, wildlife diseases and population health, habitat management, nongame and endangered species, urban wildlife management, wildlife damage management, conservation biology, and biometrics. Federal cooperative research and service units in the Warnell School bring additional adjunct faculty to the graduate wildlife program from the U.S. Department of Interior and U.S. Department of Agriculture. Several wildlife faculty have collaborative teaching and research relationships with other academic units on campus, such as the Odum School of Ecology, the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the College of Veterinary Medicine. These associations provide opportunities for interdisciplinary research projects. Graduates from this program obtain employment in public agencies, consulting firms, conservation organizations, forest industry, and in academia.

Requirements:
a) Basic requirements which must be completed either before or during a Master’s program:

  • Biological Sciences (6 semester hours)
  • Inorganic Chemistry (6 semester hours)
  • Computer Science (3 semester hours)
  • Statistics (3 semester hours)
  • Natural Resource Policy, Law or Economics (3 semester hours)
b) Program requirements which must be completed before or during a Master’s program:
  • Successful applicants in Wildlife Ecology and Management who have not had courses in the following subject areas usually will be required to include them in their program of study and, in some cases, without graduate credit: vertebrate zoology, genetics, physiology, vertebrate natural history, ecology, wildlife biology, and forest resource management.
  • Specific graduate course requirements will be determined by the student and the student’s advisory committee. The program of study will include courses specific to the student’s thesis research.
  • Students concentrating in Wildlife Ecology and Management should meet educational requirements prescribed by The Wildlife Society for certification as a Wildlife Biologist upon completion of the MS degree.
c) Requirements which must be completed either before or during a PhD program:
  • For admission to the PhD program, a completed Master of Science in Wildlife/Fisheries Management, Forest Resources, Biology, or a related field is required. The course requirements for the completion of the PhD will be determined by the major professor and the student’s advisory committee.