Wildlife and Forestry Conservation Degree Programs
A degree in wildlife or forestry conservation could allow you to study animal behavior, migration and mating. Find out degree levels available along with specialty options and commonly offered courses.
What Programs Are Available in Wildlife and Forestry Conservation?
Generally, if you want to study conservation you need to look at wildlife and forestry separately. You should decide which of the two appeals to you and then focus on what level of education you want to study. In either instance, you'll study the human impact on the environment and how we can protect it. Wildlife conservation has many offerings through colleges, even online programs in rare instances. You can currently earn a bachelor's, master's or doctorate degree in wildlife conservation. Forestry conservation is a bit more limited. While there are no online programs in forestry conservation, bachelor's degrees are available through many universities but master's and doctorate degrees aren't as common.
Something you don't see in many programs is the commonality between undergraduate and graduate work. Undergraduate work tends to lean towards the theory and application of the things you study. Many times graduate programs spend more time on research and finding solutions to problems. However, with a conservation program you'll find that research and solutions to problems are the primary goals and theory and application is part of the research and solution.
| Degrees | Bachelor's degree, master's degree, doctoral degree |
| Common Courses in Wildlife Conservation | Biology, statistics, data analysis, aquatic toxicology, animal behavior |
| Common Courses in Forestry Conservation | Forest ecology, natural resource management, recreation planning, public lands, protected areas |
What Will I Study in a Wildlife Conservation Program?
Wildlife conservation is often paired with fisheries conservation. In these programs, you'll study management, restoration, organizational planning and conservation skills along with sciences. With the use of technology and field trips, you'll expand your learning of researching, surveying and observing the environment and animals. Along with the human impact on wildlife, you'll also study how wildlife impacts their habitats. Other topics may include:
- Biology
- Statistics
- Data analysis
- Aquatic toxicology
- Animal behavior
- Population dynamics
- Wildlife ecology
- Genetics
- Conservation law
- Watershed ecology
What Will I Study in a Forestry Conservation Program?
While the forestry conservation programs do spend some time on wildlife and animal conservation, the primary goal is to understand how humans impact the environment. This type of conservation is concerned with keeping humans safe as well as wild animals. Forestry conservation programs allow you to research issues like sustainability, alternate energy, environmental laws and acts, clean water, clean air and wild lands restoration. You'll study plant taxonomy, herpetology, ecotourism, organic chemistry and some of the following subjects in your degree program.
- Forest ecology
- Natural resource management
- Recreation planning
- Public lands
- Protected areas
- Flue harvesting
- Photogrammerty
- Range inventory
What Jobs Are Available in Wildlife and Forestry Conservation?
With a degree in wildlife or forestry conservation, you could work as a range manager, conservation land manager, urban forester or soil and water conservationist. The median salary in 2020 for all conservation scientists and foresters was $64,020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Jobs are expected to grow by 5% in the 2019-2029 decade.