Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Master of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology (M.F.W.C.B.)

Gain the knowledge and skills to confidently design, review, and interpret studies and communicate their results in order to arrive at informed decisions related to natural resource management.

Coursework will provide students with an advanced knowledge in ecology and conservation of fish and wildlife and develop competencies in:

• Population ecology, sampling, and advanced quantitative/statistical methods.
• Wildlife habitat management strategies.
• Current issues in fish, wildlife, and conservation biology such as maintaining biodiversity, endangered species management, and potential impacts of climate change on species management.
• Effective strategies for conservation decision making including stakeholder identification, communication, and conflict resolution.
• Understanding human/wildlife interactions including animal damage and zoonotic diseases.

Curriculum

The master's in fish, wildlife, and conservation biology requires completion of 30 credits, including 21 credits of required core coursework and 9 credits of electives. This is a coursework-only degree and does not require completion of a thesis.

• Up to 9 credits may be taken before formal admission to the program.
• 24 credits must be earned from Colorado State University, 21 of which must be earned after formal admission.
• Course substitutions may be possible with approval of the Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Department

Required Courses

Students must complete 21 credits (7 courses) from the following list. The eighth core course can be taken as an elective, contributing to the 9 credits of electives (see below).

• FW 551 – Design of Fish and Wildlife Studies (3 cr.)
• FW 552 – Applied Sampling for Wildlife/Fish Studies (3 cr.)
• FW 553 – Adaptive Fish and Wildlife Management (3 cr.)
• FW 555 – Conservation Biology (3 cr.)
• FW 562 – Fish and Wildlife Population Dynamics (3 cr.)
• FW 564 – Science of Managing Human-Wildlife Conflicts (3 cr.)
• FW 577 – Management of Wildlife Habitat (3 cr.)
• NR 515 – Natural Resources Policy and Biodiversity (3 cr.)

Electives

Students choose at least 9 credits from the following elective courses (if they are using an eighth core course as an elective (see above) they will only need 6 credits from this list):

• FW 544 – Ecotoxicology (3 cr.)
• FW 558 – Conservation Genetics of Wild Populations (3 cr.)
• FW 563 – Analyses for Managing Wild Populations (3 cr.)
• FW 567 – Wildlife Disease Ecology (3 cr.)
• FW 572 – Wildlife Conservation Communications (3 cr.)
• FW 579 – Wildlife Conservation Policy - Current Events (3 cr.)

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