Future directions for the graduate curriculum in wildlife biology: building on our strengths

摘要

Wildlife biology as a profession has emerged from a focus on game species to a comprehensive concern for all things wild, yet we are anxious about the future because of the changing context of our profession. In educating professionals, our goal is to help students become effective in bringing science into the decision making processes. Without question, our strengths are the solid grounding our educational programs provide in technical and interpersonal skills. Existing wildlife programs have focused on producing problem solvers and leaders. The success of these programs arises from the focus on the learning process as emphasized by the thesis option. Our weaknesses correspond closely with our strengths. The most common critique of new graduates is that they lack the polished interpersonal skills to be effective, have little experience with the essential elements of personnel and budget management and report writing, and need broader exposure to emerging paradigms in conservation. Calling for change in the curriculum and the faculty is traditional, but not productive. We have the courses that contain the essential concepts and information and we have faculty with the requisite experience. We need to integrate learning experiences more effectively and promote responsibility for lifelong learning. We need agencies that are committed to facilitating this learning.