Wildlife, Fish & Conservation Biology, Bachelor of Science College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences
The Wildlife, Fish & Conservation Biology major deals with the relationships between the requirements of wildlife and the needs of people. Understanding these relationships is vital for the maintenance of ecological diversity, recreational resources, and food supplies. Students completing the major possess a broad knowledge of ecology and natural history, but with the quantitative skills to use this knowledge in critical thinking and decision-making.
The Program
The major emphasizes broad training in biological sciences, with specialization in one of four areas. The major is designed primarily for students interested in becoming professionals in the diverse fields of wildlife, fish, & conservation biology, including veterinary & wildlife health sciences. The breadth of course requirements, when combined with electives, also make this an excellent preparatory major for secondary school teaching. Certification by professional societies such as The Wildlife Society, American Fisheries Society, or the Ecological Society of America, or preparation for graduate studies may also be achieved by careful planning of electives with a faculty advisor.
Lead Faculty Advisor
Douglas Kelt
Wildlife, Fish, & Conservation Biology Major Advisor
Erica Cefalo
Students transferring to UC Davis from another institution or new students declaring the major of Wildlife, Fish & Conservation Biology must consult the major advisor so that their program can be evaluated and a faculty advisor assigned. Advising is located in 1086 Academic Surge and can be reached by email at wfcbadvising@ucdavis.edu.
Career Alternatives
The major prepares students to excel in the dynamic fields of environmental and conservation biology, emphasizing vertebrate animals—both native and invasive—in their natural environments, as well as resolution of conflicts between humans and wild animals. Positions now held by graduates of this major include wildlife biology, fisheries biology, wildlife damage management, and resource biologists and managers with local, state, and federal agencies, biologists or consultants with private industries such as environmental consulting firms, commercial fishing businesses, electrical utilities, sporting clubs or businesses, and aquaculture operations, as well as veterinarians, medical physicians, and professors/researchers who teach and/or conduct research in academic institutions.
The major requirements below are in addition to meeting University Degree Requirements & College Degree Requirements; unless otherwise noted. The minimum number of units required for the Wildlife, Fish & Conservation Biology Bachelor of Science is 111.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Written/Oral Expression | ||
| Completing UWP 001 or UWP 001V or UWP 001Y and CMN 001 or CMN 001V will simultaneously satisfy the College English Composition Requirement. | ||
| UWP 001 | Introduction to Academic Literacies | 4 |
| or UWP 001V | Introduction to Academic Literacies: Online | |
| or UWP 001Y | Introduction to Academic Literacies | |
| Choose one: | 4 | |
| Introduction to Public Speaking | ||
or CMN 001V | Introduction to Public Speaking | |
| Interpersonal Communication Competence | ||
or CMN 003V | Interpersonal Communication Competence | |
or CMN 003Y | Interpersonal Communication Competence | |
| Introduction to Performance & Digital Media | ||
| Written/Oral Expression Subtotal | 8 | |
| Preparatory Subject Matter | ||
| Biological Science | ||
| BIS 002A | Introduction to Biology: Essentials of Life on Earth | 5 |
| BIS 002B | Introduction to Biology: Principles of Ecology & Evolution | 5 |
| BIS 002C | Introduction to Biology: Biodiversity & the Tree of Life | 5 |
| Chemistry | ||
| CHE 002A | General Chemistry | 5 |
| CHE 002B | General Chemistry | 5 |
| CHE 008A | Organic Chemistry: Brief Course | 2 |
| CHE 008B | Organic Chemistry: Brief Course | 4 |
| Mathematics | ||
| MAT 016A | Short Calculus | 3 |
| MAT 016B | Short Calculus | 3 |
| Physics | ||
| PHY 001A | Principles of Physics | 3 |
| PHY 001B | Principles of Physics | 3 |
| Choose one: | 4 | |
| Applied Statistics in Agricultural Sciences | ||
| Applied Statistics for Biological Sciences | ||
| Applied Statistics for Wildlife Research | ||
| Wildlife, Fish & Conservation Biology | ||
| Choose one: | 3-4 | |
| Wildlife Ecology & Conservation | ||
| Natural History of California's Wild Vertebrates | ||
| Introduction to Conservation Biology | ||
| Preparatory Subject Matter Subtotal | 50-51 | |
| Depth Subject Matter | ||
| Students graduating with this major are required to attain at least a C average (2.000) in all courses taken at the university in depth and area of specialization subject matter. | ||
| ESP 100 | General Ecology | 4 |
| or EVE 101 | Introduction to Ecology | |
| NPB 102 | Animal Behavior | 3-4 |
| or WFC 141 | Behavioral Ecology | |
| Evolution & Ecology | ||
| EVE 100 | Introduction to Evolution | 4 |
| Wildlife, Fish, & Conservation Biology | ||
| Choose WFC 100 or WFC 101 & WFC 101L or WFC 102 & WFC 102L: | 4-7 | |
| Field Methods in Wildlife, Fish, & Conservation Biology | ||
OR | ||
| Field Research in Wildlife Ecology and Field Research in Wildlife Ecology: Laboratory | ||
OR | ||
| Field Studies in Fish Biology and Field Studies in Fish Biology: Laboratory | ||
| WFC 121 | Physiology of Fishes | 4 |
| or WFC 130 | Physiological Ecology of Wildlife | |
| WFC 122 | Population Dynamics & Estimation | 4 |
| or WFC 124 | Sampling Animal Populations | |
| Conservation Biology | ||
| WFC 154 | Conservation Biology | 4 |
| Choose three lecture courses and two laboratory (L) courses: | 14-15 | |
| Biology & Conservation of Wild Mammals | ||
| Laboratory in Biology & Conservation of Wild Mammals | ||
| Biology & Conservation of Wild Birds | ||
| Laboratory in Biology & Conservation of Wild Birds | ||
| Biology & Conservation of Fishes | ||
| Laboratory in Biology & Conservation of Fishes | ||
| Herpetology | ||
| Herpetology Laboratory | ||
| Depth Subject Matter Subtotal | 41-46 | |
| Strongly Recommended, But Not Required | ||
| Anatomy, Physiology & Cell Biology | ||
| Comparative Vertebrate Organology | ||
| Landscape Architecture | ||
| Introduction to Geographic Information Systems | ||
| Statistics; choosing one is recommended: | ||
| Applied Statistical Methods: Nonparametric Statistics | ||
| Applied Statistical Methods: Analysis of Variance | ||
| Applied Statistical Methods: Regression Analysis | ||
| Restricted Electives | ||
| Choose one of the four Areas of Specialization: | 12-24 | |
| No course may be used to simultaneously satisfy the Depth Subject Matter and the Area of Specialization. | ||
| No course may be used to simultaneously satisfy two Area of Specialization requirements. | ||
| Areas of Specialization | ||
| Restricted Electives Subtotal | 12-24 | |
| Total Units | 111-129 | |
Areas of Specialization
(1) Wildlife & Conservation Biology
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| WFC 151 | Wildlife Ecology | 4 |
| or WFC 168 | Climate Change Ecology | |
| Choose one: | 2-5 | |
PLB/PLS 102 | (Discontinued) | |
PLB/EVE 108 | (Discontinued) | |
| Plant Ecology | ||
| Population Biology of Invasive Plants & Weeds | ||
| Introductory Mycology | ||
PLS 131 | (Discontinued) | |
| Trees & Forests | ||
| California Plant Communities and California Plant Communities Field Study | ||
| Biology & Management of Aquatic Plants | ||
| Choose two: | 6-9 | |
| Biology & Conservation of Wild Mammals | ||
| Biology & Conservation of Wild Birds | ||
| Biology & Conservation of Fishes | ||
| Population Dynamics & Estimation | ||
| Sampling Animal Populations | ||
| Tropical Ecology & Conservation | ||
| Herpetology | ||
| Ecology of Waterfowl & Game Birds | ||
| Ecology of Human-Wildlife Conflicts | ||
| Plant Geography | ||
| Coastal Ecosystems | ||
| Animal Coloration | ||
| Climate Change Ecology | ||
| Note: Students interested in certification as a Wildlife Biologist from The Wildlife Society should consider additional courses in plant sciences and statistics. | ||
| Total Units | 12-18 | |
(2) Fish Biology
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Fish Biology | ||
| WFC 120 | Biology & Conservation of Fishes | 3 |
| WFC 120L | Laboratory in Biology & Conservation of Fishes | 2 |
| Choose one: | 3-5 | |
ENT 116 | (Discontinued) | |
| Biology of Invertebrates and Biology of Invertebrates Laboratory | ||
or EVE 114 | Experimental Invertebrate Biology | |
| Choose three courses including at least one course from each of the following two groups: | 9-13 | |
| (a) Aquatic Systems | ||
| Fish Production | ||
| Principles of Hydrologic Science | ||
| Oceanography | ||
| Biological Oceanography | ||
| Limnology | ||
| Limnology Laboratory | ||
| Coastal Oceanography | ||
| Wetland Ecology | ||
| Marine Ecology | ||
| Ecohydrology | ||
| Wildlife Space Use & Habitat Conservation | ||
| (b) Water Policy/Law | ||
| Environmental Law | ||
| Environmental Policy | ||
ESP 166N | (Discontinued) | |
| Water Policy & Politics | ||
| Water Law | ||
| Total Units | 17-23 | |
(3) Wildlife Health
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Note that this Areas of Specialization recommends additional preparatory courses; prerequisites for admission to Veterinary Medicine vary among schools and students should confirm the specific requirements of the school(s) to which they wish to apply. | ||
| WFC 151 | Wildlife Ecology | 4 |
| Choose BIS 102 & BIS 103 or ABI 102 & ABI 103: | 6-10 | |
| Animal Biochemistry & Metabolism and Animal Biochemistry & Metabolism | ||
or | ||
| Structure & Function of Biomolecules and Bioenergetics & Metabolism | ||
| Choose one: | 3-5 | |
| Biology & Conservation of Wild Mammals | ||
| Biology & Conservation of Wild Birds | ||
| Biology & Conservation of Fishes | ||
| Population Dynamics & Estimation | ||
| Sampling Animal Populations | ||
| Tropical Ecology & Conservation | ||
| Herpetology | ||
| Ecology of Waterfowl & Game Birds | ||
| Behavioral Ecology | ||
| Marine Conservation Science | ||
| Ecology of Human-Wildlife Conflicts | ||
| Climate Change Ecology | ||
| Choose one: | 3-5 | |
| Animal Welfare | ||
| Principles & Applications of Domestic Animal Behavior | ||
| Ethics of Animal Use | ||
| Comparative Vertebrate Organology | ||
| Developmental Biology | ||
MIC 101 | (Discontinued) | |
| Introductory Microbiology | ||
| Introductory Microbiology Laboratory | ||
| Systemic Physiology | ||
| Principles of Environmental Physiology | ||
| Infectious Disease in Ecology & Conservation | ||
| Additional Preparatory | ||
| Recommended, not required: | ||
| Genes & Gene Expression | ||
| General Chemistry | ||
| Organic Chemistry for Health & Life Sciences | ||
| Organic Chemistry for Health & Life Sciences | ||
| Organic Chemistry for Health & Life Sciences | ||
| General Physics | ||
| General Physics | ||
| General Physics | ||
| Total Units | 16-24 | |
(4) Individualized
Students may, with prior approval of their advisor and the curriculum committee, design their own individualized specialization within the major. The specialization will consist of at least four upper division courses with a coherent theme.