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Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.)

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Wildlife Biology and Conservation (WBC)

Department of Integrative Biology, College of Biological Science

The core of this major will provide students with an integrated foundation in three disciplines necessary to understand the origins, interactions, and protection of biological diversity: evolution, ecology, and conservation biology. After the second semester, the student has the opportunity to take a wide variety of electives, including courses that meet his/her specific interests within one or two of these disciplines. The program offers a sound scientific background in preparation for careers in resource management, conservation, ecological consulting, teaching, and government service. This major also qualifies students for post-graduate work in ecology, evolutionary biology, environmental sciences, or wildlife management.

Major (Honours Program)

Students may enter this major in Semester 1 or any semester thereafter. A student wishing to declare the major may wish to consult the Faculty Advisor. A minimum total of 20.00 credits is required to complete the major.

Semester 1
BIOL*1070 [0.50] Discovering Biodiversity
CHEM*1040 [0.50] General Chemistry I
MATH*1080 [0.50] Elements of Calculus I
PHYS*1080 [0.50] Physics for Life Sciences
0.50 Arts or Social Science electives

Students lacking Grade 12 or 4U Biology, Chemistry or Physics should follow the revised schedule of study for this major found at https://www.uoguelph.ca/bsc/revised_SS

Semester 2
BIOL*1080 [0.50] Biological Concepts of Health
BIOL*1090 [0.50] Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology
CHEM*1050 [0.50] General Chemistry II
PHYS*1070 [0.50] Physics for Life Sciences II
0.50 Arts or Social Science electives
Semester 3
BIOC*2580 [0.50] Introduction to Biochemistry
MBG*2040 [0.50] Foundations in Molecular Biology and Genetics
1.50 electives or restricted electives
Semester 4
BIOL*2060 [0.50] Ecology
BIOL*2400 [0.50] Evolution
STAT*2230 [0.50] Biostatistics for Integrative Biology
1.00 electives or restricted electives
Semester 5
BIOL*3010 [0.50] Laboratory and Field Work in Ecology
2.00 electives or restricted electives
Semester 6
BIOL*3040 [0.50] Methods in Evolutionary Biology
BIOL*3060 [0.50] Populations, Communities & Ecosystems
BIOL*3130 [0.50] Conservation Biology
1.00 electives or restricted electives
Semester 7
BIOL*4110 [1.00] Ecological Methods
BIOL*4150 [0.50] Wildlife Conservation and Management
1.00 electives or restricted electives
Note: For students considering graduate research programs, BIOL*4110 may be substituted by an independent research course (1.00 credits minimum). Course options include: (IBIO*4500 and IBIO*4510), IBIO*4521/IBIO*4522.
Semester 8
BIOL*4500 [0.50] Natural Resource Policy Analysis
2.00 electives or restricted electives
Restricted Electives

Note that some courses have prerequisites, so be sure to consult the undergraduate calendar.

  1. A minimum of 1.00 credits of Arts and/or Social Science electives are required. The list of approved Arts and Social Science electives for B.Sc. students is available at: https://www.uoguelph.ca/bsc/Approved_electives

  2. A minimum of 0.50 credits from:

    BOT*2100 [0.50] Life Strategies of Plants
    ZOO*2090 [0.50] Vertebrate Structure and Function
    ZOO*2700 [0.50] Invertebrate Morphology & Evolution

  3. A minimum of 0.50 credits from:

    BOT*3050 [0.50] Plant Functional Ecology
    ZOO*3600 [0.50] Comparative Animal Physiology I

  4. A minimum of 0.50 credits from:

    BIOL*3020 [0.50] Population Genetics
    BIOL*4120 [0.50] Evolutionary Ecology

  5. A minimum of 3.00 credits from any of the following lists of courses. The courses are broken into disciplines for which they are most suitable to help students tailor their electives towards a specific field if desired.

    *Some of the restricted electives will require additional courses outside of the required courses listed in Semesters 3-8

    ** Please note not all restricted electives are considered science electives for B.Sc students. If the non-science restricted electives are chosen, students are reminded that they will still be responsible for meeting the minimum of 16.00 credits in science and that the credit summary may vary from what is specified below.

Evolution
BIOL*3020 [0.50] Population Genetics
BIOL*3300 [0.50] Applied Bioinformatics
BOT*3710 [0.50] Plant Diversity and Evolution
ENVS*3090 [0.50] Insect Diversity and Biology
ENVS*3180 [0.50] Sedimentary Environments *
MBG*3040 [0.50] Molecular Biology of the Gene
MBG*4110 [0.50] Epigenetics *
MBG*4270 [0.50] DNA Replication, Recombination and Repair *
ZOO*2700 [0.50] Invertebrate Morphology & Evolution
ZOO*3050 [0.50] Developmental Biology
Ecology
ANSC*3180 [0.50] Wildlife Nutrition *
BIOL*3450 [0.50] Introduction to Aquatic Environments
ENVS*3000 [0.50] Nature Interpretation
ENVS*3270 [0.50] Forest Biodiversity *
ENVS*4350 [0.50] Forest Ecology *
NUTR*3210 [0.50] Fundamentals of Nutrition
ZOO*4300 [0.75] Marine Biology and Oceanography *
ZOO*4570 [0.50] Marine Ecological Processes *
Conservation
BIOL*4350 [0.50] Limnology of Natural and Polluted Waters *
ECON*1050 [0.50] Introductory Microeconomics
ECON*2100 [0.50] Economic Growth and Environmental Quality **
ENVS*2030 [0.50] Meteorology and Climatology
ENVS*3010 [0.50] Climate Change Biology
FARE*2700 [0.50] Survey of Natural Resource Economics **
GEOG*1220 [0.50] Human Impact on the Environment **
GEOG*2480 [0.50] Mapping and GIS
GEOG*3480 [0.50] GIS and Spatial Analysis
GEOG*4230 [0.50] Environmental Impact Assessment *
GEOG*4480 [1.00] Applied Geomatics
Integrative/Cross-Disciplinary
IBIO*4500 [1.00] Research in Integrative Biology I
IBIO*4510 [1.00] Research in Integrative Biology II
IBIO*4521/2 [2.00] Thesis in Integrative Biology
MCB*2050 [0.50] Molecular Biology of the Cell
ZOO*3610 [0.25] Lab Studies in Animal Physiology I
ZOO*3620 [0.50] Comparative Animal Physiology II
ZOO*3630 [0.25] Lab Studies in Animal Physiology II
ZOO*3700 [0.50] Integrative Biology of Invertebrates *
ZOO*4070 [0.50] Animal Behaviour
ZOO*4910 [0.50] Integrative Vertebrate Biology *
ZOO*4920 [0.25] Lab Studies in Ornithology
ZOO*4940 [0.25] Lab Studies in Herpetology
ZOO*4950 [0.25] Lab Studies in Mammalogy
Field Courses
BIOL*4410 [0.75] Field Ecology
BIOL*4610 [0.75] Arctic Ecology
BIOL*4700 [0.50] Field Biology
BIOL*4710 [0.25] Field Biology
BIOL*4800 [0.50] Field Biology
BIOL*4810 [0.25] Field Biology
BIOL*4900 [0.50] Field Biology
Credit Summary (20.00 Total Credits)

4.00 - First year science core

6.50 - Required science courses semesters 3 - 8

4.50 - Restricted electives (# 2, 3, 4 and 5 in restricted electives list)**

1.00 - Approved Science electives

1.00 - Approved Arts and/or Social Science electives (#1 in restricted electives list)

3.00 - Free electives - any approved elective for B.Sc. students

Of the total credits required, students are required to complete 16.00 credits in science of which a minimum of 2.00 credits must be at the 4000 level and an additional 4.00 credits must be at the 3000 or 4000 level.

University of Guelph
50 Stone Road East
Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1
Canada
519-824-4120