Master’s Degree in Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management
Master of Science
Our department offers two options for students interested in pursuing a master’s degree in rangeland, wildlife and fisheries management. Students can choose to pursue a master of science or a non-thesis master’s option. Our cross-cutting, research-based master’s program trains future management professionals to confidently enter a variety of natural resource related professions within state, federal, or private entities. Research in these fields is supported by our disciplinary expertise in autecology and synecology, evolutionary biology, resource sociology, animal behavior, physiology, animal diseases and parasitology, bioenergetics, nutrition, genetics, and systems analysis, and modeling. Although much of the research program is without geographic bounds, the more site-specific aspects of the program focus on Texas, Mexico, and the neotropics. A unique aspect of this program is the flexibility for students to tailor their education and research interests through focusing their curriculum around one of our subject matter areas to include:
- the study of vertebrates and invertebrates
- plants and natural resource systems
- wildlife ecology and management
- fisheries ecology and management
- aquaculture
- biodiversity and systematics
- conservation education
- human dimensions of wildlife
- fisheries resource management
- policy related to the conservation and management of environmental resources.
Non-Thesis Master’s Degree
This degree is offered as a mix of on-campus and distance-based courses, or 100% distance-based, making it ideal for working professionals who want graduate training in the field of natural resources with an emphasis in either policy or applied research and management. The curricula promotes critical problem-solving skills necessary in natural resource conservation, along with developing a strong foundational understanding of the interrelationships among ecology, policy, and human dimensions. Specific workforce skills and certifications are offered as part of this program.