Bachelor of Wildlife and Fisheries Resources at West Virginia University

The wildlife and fisheries resources curriculum prepares students for professional positions as wildlife and fish biologists, natural resources conservation officers, wildlife and fisheries managers and planners, wildlife or fisheries communication specialists, wildlife and fisheries toxicologists, and environmental consultants.  The program is unique in the region as our graduates are fully trained in both the wildlife and fisheries fields.  The curriculum provides a solid basic background in biology, ecology, and natural resource management.  Students fulfilling this program will select a concentration in wildlife or fisheries (or both) to meet the requirements for professional certification as either a wildlife biologist (certified through The Wildlife Society) or fisheries biologist (certified through The American Fisheries Society).  A careful selection of restricted electives enables students to specialize in related natural resource areas and to have the opportunity for widening employment in other environmental fields.  Other options can be tailored to your objectives.  Students will be able to consult with their advisor in the selection of courses from a group of restricted electives to develop their area of emphasis.

Our major has two summer requirements:

1. Summer Camp (3 credits)
2. Internship (2 credits)

Students are expected to take Summer Camp after their first year in the program and the last class for one wee after the spring semester ends. Students can do their internship for credit during any summer.

Special Opportunities

Students will have special opportunities to enhance their education in the WVU Wildlife and Fisheries Resources Program.  The Program has student chapters of The American Fisheries Society and The Wildlife Society.  Student participation in these organizations leads to opportunities for further field experience with state and federal agency biologists, graduate students, and faculty.  A USGS Fish and Wildlife Cooperative Research Unit is also housed within our program.  This unit provides three additional faculty members conducting extensive research programs all around the country.  In addition, the WVDNR provides a liaison biologist to the Unit that provides a direct link from students to the state's natural resources agency.  Undergraduates benefit from the personnel at the Unit in several ways: the Unit and liaison provide federal and state contacts for employment opportunities; the Unit research programs may provide summer employment on fish and wildlife projects, and faculty in the Unit also teach in our program.

All of our faculty are involved with graduate training.  This active research program provides invaluable classroom experiences as faculty remain up-to-date with all the latest studies and methods in the field.  Students also benefit through volunteer experiences and summer employment opportunities for students working on research projects.

In the Wildlife and Fisheries Resources Program, you will be mentored by caring faculty members who understand what it will take to be successful in this field.  All students are required to take a Professional Experience course (internship) as part of the curriculum, but we encourage students to get as much additional experience working with professionals throughout their time in the program.  The curriculum also includes a capstone class that allows students to showcase their learning through management plans and research projects.

Career opportunities in wildlife and fisheries are expanding.  Even so, we encourage our students to consider going for advanced degrees when they finish here.  Such qualified seniors find that assistantships are readily available due to the solid course background, training, and experience they received while here at WVU.

Wildlife and Fisheries Resources

Upon the successful completion of a Wildlife and Fisheries Resources degree students will be able to:

• Comprehend the historical importance of wildlife and fisheries management, and the role contemporary agencies play in wildlife and fisheries management in the United States.
• Demonstrate expertise on the life-history characteristics of game and non-game wildlife and fishes.
• Identify and classify using common and Latin names West Virginia trees, plants, reptiles, mammals and fishes by sight and birds and amphibians by sight and sound.
• Explain and employ commonly used wildlife and fisheries management principles, methods, and techniques.
• Define, explain, and apply knowledge regarding biological and chemical processes, population ecology and population dynamics, community and ecosystem ecology, aquatic ecology (lakes, streams, and rivers), terrestrial ecology (forests andgrasslands) and wetland ecology in relation to wildlife and fisheries management and research applications.
• Demonstrate laboratory, computer and quantitative skills relevant to wildlife and fisheries science.
• Critically evaluate peer-reviewed literature and apply research findings to the conservation and management of wildlife and fisheries resources.
• Conduct a research project or compose a management plan focused on wildlife or fisheries that includes project design, collecting, analyzing and interpreting data, and reporting results as a research paper or management plan in appropriate scientific style, and presenting the project to their peers.