Wildlife Ecology
College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences
Wildlife ecology students have the unique opportunity to study the ecosystem while being in the spectacular environment of Maine. Get valuable experience in the field as you learn practical information from our outdoor courses and exercises that are ideal for aspiring ecologists.
Our undergraduate program includes a core series of wildlife ecology and management courses, along with classes in the basic sciences, natural resource management, mathematics and liberal arts. These experiences are designed to provide the opportunity for certification as a wildlife biologist or fisheries biologist by the Wildlife Society or American Fisheries Society.
While most students in our program aspire to be wildlife or fisheries biologists, ecologists, conservation biologists or natural resource managers, students also can pursue other individual interests by choosing elective courses in concentration areas such as environmental education, forestry and international conservation.
Students have field opportunities throughout their curriculum.They are immersed in field studies of wildlife from their second week of classes. Our summer field course is unique among university wildlife programs; only eight wildlife programs nationwide offer extended field programs in wildlife.
UMaine is located within a spectacular natural environment. Nowhere else in the eastern United States can you find so many millions of acres of forests where moose and bear outnumber people. These forests begin at the edge of campus, with nearly 15,000 acres of university-owned forests, featuring miles of trails for hiking, biking and cross country skiing, and extend north into Canada.
Our faculty strongly believes that field or professional experience enhances career development, and the department actively assists students in obtaining internships or other employment opportunities.
The faculty are joined in research by several cooperating faculty and research associates. Biologists from the U.S. Geological Survey, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stationed on or near campus, participate in the program.
Students with degrees in wildlife ecology from UMaine have gone on to leadership roles in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and have served as waterfowl, endangered species, fisheries, and wildlife disease specialists with that agency. Our students also hold prominent roles in state and national wildlife and fisheries management agencies throughout the U.S. and internationally.
Within Maine, our graduates hold key positions, serve as regional wildlife and fisheries biologists, as enforcement wardens for the Department of Marine Resources and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and for federal agencies, and are responsible for species management for deer, bear, Canada lynx, Atlantic salmon, nongame and endangered species, waterfowl and eagles.
Wildlife Ecology
College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences
Nutting Hall
207.581.2862