Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences
Ecology & Management of Biological Diversity in Texas and the World
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Graduate Courses

Graduate Courses

  1. Field Herpetology. [Taught Spring Only] (0-3). Credit 1. Field work involving collection and preservation of herpetological specimens; natural history, ecological relations. Prerequisites: graduate classification. *
  1. Ecological Modeling. [Taught Spring Only] (3-0). Credit 3. Philosophical basis, theoretical framework, and practical application of systems analysis and simulation within the context of ecology and natural resource management; emphasis placed on development, evaluation and use of simulation models by students. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.
  1. Community Ecology. [Taught Fall Only] (3-0). Credit 3. Overview and in-depth knowledge of community ecology; historical development; current issues, methodologies, and practical applications in natural resource management, biological conservation, agriculture, and human health; practice critical thinking, communication skills, and professionalism. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
  1. Animal Ecology. [Taught Fall Only] (2-3). Credit 3. Concepts of animal ecology which emerge at various levels or organization; the ecosystem, the community, the population and the individual; laboratories emphasis on the quantitative analysis of field data and the simulation of population dynamics. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval of instructor.*
  1. Wildlife Study Design and Analysis. [Taught Spring Even-Years Only] (3-0). Credit 3. Fundamental and advanced aspects of study design applicable to terrestrial animals analysis and review of the scientific literature related to study design; and the development of study design for written and oral presentations. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval of instructor.
  1. Wildlife Restoration. [Taught Spring Odd-Years Only] (2-3). Credit 3. Study of the fundamentals of the restoration of animal populations and the resources they require; factors that control the distribution and abundances of animals in relation to restoration; and how restoration plans for wildlife are developed. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval of instructor.
  1. Aquaculture. [Taught Spring Only] (3-3). Credit 4. Principle of fish production for stock enhancement and human food. Species of fish used for production, cross-breeding and selection; feeds and feeding of fish and nutritional and environmental requirements for optimum productivity; effects of fish production on land and water uses as related to conservation. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval of instructor.
  1. Dynamics of Populations. [Taught Fall Only] (3-2). Credit 4. Principles, models and methods for analysis of population dynamics; analysis of contemporary research emphasizing theory and its uses in evaluation and management of animal populations. Laboratory emphasizes mathematical, statistical and computer modeling of population phenomena.
  1. Ecological Risk Assessment. [Taught Fall Odd-Years Only] (3-0). Credit 3. Approaches used to identify, evaluate, and manage ecological risks of chemicals on aquatic and terrestrial environments; emphasis on methods useful to assess effects of contaminants on ecosystems; testing techniques, site assessment and monitoring procedures, regulatory requirements and field and laboratory techniques. Only one of the following can be applied to the requirements for a degree: WFSC 627 and WFSC 639.
  1. Wetland Ecology. [Taught Fall Only] (3-0). Credit 3. Wetlands as ecological systems that are prime habitats for wildlife and fish; geomorphology, hydrology, limnology, plant and animal communities, and human use and management. Prerequisite: WFSC 403 or RLEM 316 or equivalent.*
  1. Ecology and Society. [TBD] (3-0). Credit 3. Study and compare human and natural ecosystems using diversity, interrelations, cycles, and energy as the conceptional organization; central themes of the course are sustainability, stewardship and science. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval of instructor.
  1. Conservation Genetics. [Taught Spring Even-Years Only] (3-0). Credit 3. Genetic concepts and techniques relevant to management and conservation of biological diversity, research and conservation strategies within a conservation genetics framework. Prerequisite: Introductory courses in genetics and ecology or biological conservation. Cross-listed with GENE 633.
  1. Wildlife Habitat Management. [Taught Fall Only] (3-0). Credit 3. Designed to acquaint with major land use practices on lands that produce wildlife, how these influences wildlife production and alterations or manipulations of habitat used to achieve specific wildlife management goals. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval of instructor.*
  1. Techniques of Wildlife Management. [Taught Fall and Spring] (2-3). Credit 3. Techniques available to directly and indirectly manipulate wild animal populations to achieve balance between socioeconomic and aesthetic values. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval of instructor.*
  1. Wildlife Ecotoxicology. [Taught Fall Even-Years Only] (3-0). Credit 3. Distribution, fate, and effects of environmental pollutants on wildlife behavior and reproduction. Global distribution of pollutants and effects on near and remote ecosystems. Field studies, biomarkers, stable isotope and various techniques for evaluating pollutant hazards on wildlife. Prerequisites: Courses in CHEM and BICH and graduate classification or approval of instructor.
  1. Sustainable Military Land Management. [Taught Fall Odd-Years Only] (3-0). Credit 3. Overview of the Department of Defense (DOD) lands within a temporal, geographic, and environmental context and perspective; major policies/ laws impacting military land use and areas critical to mission sustainment; management strategies important to sustaining installations and ranges. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval of instructor.
  1. Field Military Land Management. [Taught Summer Even-Years Only] (0-2). Credit 1. Review of land management practices and challenges on military and adjacent private lands through field visits of select military installations. Field trips required during Spring Semester. Prerequisite: Graduate classification or approval of instructor. Previous or concurrent registration in WFSC 636 is strongly encouraged.
  1. Wildlife and Natural Resource Policy. [Taught Spring Even-Years Only] (3-0). Credit 3. Review formation and implementation of major natural resource laws and policies that impact land uses; overview of natural resource laws/policies followed by presentations of a selected case study; current natural resource management (including forestry, air, water, wildlife, climate change and energy) programs and institutions analyzed and related to current natural resource policy challenges.
  1. Quantitative Phylogenetics. [Taught Spring Even-Years Only] (2-3). Credit 3. Designed to provide the theory and tools required for inference of phylogenetic (evolutionary) relationships among biological taxa using various types of comparative data including morphological characters, biochemical and molecular characters, and DNA sequences; hands-on analysis of data using contemporary tools. Prerequisites: ENTO 601 or approval of instructor. Cross-listed with ENTO 606 and GENE 606.
  1. Nutritional Biochemistry of Fishes. (3-0). Credit 3. Principles of nutritional biochemistry including nutrient metabolism and biochemical energetics with special emphasis on finfish and shell fish. Prerequisite: BICH 410 or equivalent. Cross-listed with NUTR 647.
  1. Molecular Evolution. [Taught Spring Odd-Years Only] (2-2). Credit 3. Theory and tools used in the analysis of molecular evolutionary patterns of DNA and protein sequences; format combines lecture presentations by instructor discussion of relevant scientific literature, computer exercises, preparation of research proposal or independent research project, and practice in peer-review process. Prerequisite: Basic courses in general Genetics and Evolution. Cross-listed with GENE 648.
  1. Amazon Field School. [Taught Summer Only] (3-0). Credit 3. Introduction to social and ecological complexities of biodiversity conservation in tropical ecosystems; field methods from biological and social sciences evaluate causes, consequences and solutions to biodiversity loss through lenses of ecology, culture and governance. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
  1. Applied Biodiversity Science. [Not currently offered] (3-0). Credit 3. Students will study in the areas of Conservation genetics, metapopulations, landscape ecology, and ecosystem management. Prerequisite(s): Graduate classification. Cross-listed with RPTS 655.
  1. Excel Biometry. [Taught Summer Odd-Years Only] (3-0). Credit 3. Rational and mathematics behind upper level biometrical methods; construct spreadsheets and analyze a common data set; topics include multiple regressions, principle components analysis, multivariate analysis of variance and others. Prerequisites: Graduate classification; STAT 651 or equivalent.
  1. Seminar. Credit 1 each semester. Important current developments in wildlife or fisheries fields with special reference to literature. Students may register up to but no more than two sections of this course in the same semester.
  1. Professional Internship. Credit 1 to 16 each semester. On-the-job training in fields of wildlife and fisheries sciences. Prerequisite: Graduate classification in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences.
  1. Directed Studies. Credit 2 to 6 each semester. Individual study and research on selected problem approved by instructor and graduate advisor. Credit adjusted in accordance with requirements of each individual case. Prerequisite: Approved proposal.
  1. Special Topics in… Credit 1 to 4. Special topics in wildlife ecology, fisheries ecology, vertebrate systematics, evolutionary biology of vertebrates and conservation education. May be repeated for credit.*
  1. Research. Credit 1 or more each semester. Original research on selected wildlife and/or fisheries problem to be used in thesis or dissertation.

*Field trips required for which departmental fees may be assessed to cover costs.