If you want a career that combines science and nature, wildlife biology is a good option. You will research animals in the wild and share your insights into aspects such as how to manage wildlife populations. Wildlife biology is constantly evolving, especially with the rise of sophisticated analytics. You may love being outdoors and studying animals but as your career advances, you are more likely to find yourself indoors behind a computer screen. Competition is high and employers can choose candidates with the credentials that perfectly match their requirements. In this environment, you need to make some careful choices if you want to study wildlife biology.
A bachelor’s degree gives you a good foundation
A wildlife biologist’s career path usually begins with a bachelor’s degree. It takes four years and will give you a good foundation in some of the scientific disciplines needed. This is a requirement for teaching positions, field research, and lab research. It’s also a requirement for a master’s degree. It is usually only when you do a master’s degree that choosing a specialization is necessary.
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Choose the right courses
Your studies will be more directed if you do some research into job postings and the type of jobs you would consider doing before you choose your courses. For example, if you want to be an urban ecologist you will choose different courses for someone who wants to study primates. For some jobs, you may exceed the criteria but without a specific course under your belt, you won’t qualify. Some of the subjects you can choose to study include:
- Biology
- Zoology
- Animal conservation
- Natural resources
- Conservation biology and ecology
- Marine biology
- Ecology
What do animal biologists do? Basic ideas about what it takes usually start at a young age. You may go on a field trip to an aquarium and decide you want to pursue marine biology. Each sector of wildlife will have various pros and cons based on your goals. You may want to work at state and federal agencies or for nonprofits and NGOs. Perhaps you want to pursue academic research. You may also end up consulting in private industry.
Gain experience in the field
If you want to become a wildlife biologist you can develop important skills and experience long before you go about applying for an advanced degree. This can also help you to discover where your passions really lie. Even while you’re still a high school student, you can apply for various internship programs that offer hands-on experience in the field. An apprenticeship or an internship while studying enables you to apply the theory you learn to real-life work. You can also volunteer to assist a professor with a research project. Your master’s degree advisor and your lab can have the reputation and connections that open up opportunities for you.
You must love research
As a wildlife researcher, you must analyze and interpret the data you collect in the field. It helps to do courses that enhance your statistics and coding skills. Many people think about being outdoors but forget about the research part. You need to love asking questions and testing hypotheses to do this work. If you love being around animals but don’t love research, you should rather look for jobs like one at a wildlife sanctuary.
Build up a professional network
You can start professional networking from the time you leave high school or even before you have an opportunity to intern. Your college may have clubs, such as a Wildlife Society, that give you the opportunity to attend conferences with professional wildlife biologists. You may even be able to uncover graduate school opportunities and jobs at these functions.
Conclusion
There isn’t one specific path to becoming a wildlife biologist. You can gain knowledge by doing a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree where you specialize in a certain field. You can do your degrees at a physical college or do them online today. It is important to get experience in the field to build your wildlife biologist skills. You must enjoy doing research to thrive in this role and building up a professional network can open up opportunities for you.