Conservation Biology

The Conservation Biology concentration is designed to allow students to explore conservation as it applies to a diversity of species and ecosystems, as well as the social sciences that are critical to managing biodiversity and other natural resources.  In addition to the core curriculum, students must take the following courses:

Required course — 3 credits

  • WLE 323 Introduction to Conservation Biology (fall) or
  • WLE 479 – Wildlife Conservation in a Changing World (spring, odd years)

Organismal biology course — 3-4 credits

  • BIO 310 Plant Biology (spring)
  • BIO 326 General Entomology (fall)
  • BIO 327 Introduction to Applied Entomology (fall)
  • BIO 342 Plants in our World (fall, even years)
  • BIO 350 Concepts & Applications of Genetics (fall, spring)
  • BIO 353 Invertebrate Zoology (fall)
  • BIO 354 Animal Behavior (spring)
  • BIO 430 Ecology & Systematics of Aquatic Insects (fall, odd years)
  • BIO 432 Biology of the Fungi (fall, odd years)
  • BIO 433 Mammalogy (spring)
  • BIO 434 Avian Biology & Ecology (spring, odd years)
  • SMS 322 Biology of Marine Vertebrates (variable)
  • SMS 422 Biology of Fishes (fall)
  • SMS 425 Applied Population Genetics (spring, even years)

Ecology and management of ecosystems course — 3-4 credits

  • BIO 463 River Ecology (fall, even years)
  • BIO 468 Lake Ecology (fall, odd years)
  • SMS 230 Introduction to Marine Policy and Fisheries Management (fall)
  • SMS 531 Coral Reefs (spring, odd years)
  • WLE 340 Freshwater Fisheries Ecology & Management (fall, odd years)
  • WLE 423 Wetland Ecology & Conservation (fall)
  • WLE 479 Wildlife Conservation in a Changing World (spring, odd years)

Social science aspects of conservation (two courses) — 6 credits

  • ANT 235 – Cultural Perceptions of Nature (alternate years)
  • ANT 250 Conservation Anthropology: The Socio-Cultural Dimension of Environmental Issues (fall)
  • ANT 431 Folklore, the Environment and Public Policy (spring)
  • ANT 464 Ecological Anthropology (fall)
  • ECO 381 Sustainable Development Principles & Policy (variable)
  • ECO 450 International Environmental Economics and Policy (variable)
  • ECO 477 Economics of Environmental and Resource Management (every other spring)
  • EES 312 – Energy, Law & Environment: Contending with Climate Change (spring, odd years)
  • EES 324 Environmental Protection Law & Policy (fall)
  • PHI 232 Environmental Ethics (fall, spring)
  • PHI 432 Environmental Philosophy & Policy (variable)
  • SFR 444  Forest Resources Economics (fall)
  • SFR 446 Forest Resources Policy (spring)
  • SMS 552 Coupled Natural & Human Systems (spring)
  • SMS 555 Resource Management in Cross-cultural Perspectives (variable)