conservation biology vs wildlife conservation degree

[Jodielm]

i'm having trouble deciding on what to go for.. i went to nottingham trent open day today and the course sounded great, with them saying they can train you to be a bird ringer, newt handler etc but one massive downside..its in the middle of nowhere!.
Has anyone done a conservation biology degree at lincoln or anywhere..is it hands on or mostly lab work?

hope you can help and ease my crazy mind!!

Jodie

[Jenny W]

It kinda depends on what side of conservation you want to eventually go into. A wildlife conservation degree would be more appropriate for a wardening/practical type job, whereas the more academic conservation biology would be better for more research/office based sort of work.

Saying that, even wildlife conservation/countryside management degrees arn't that practically based, at that level of education it's mostly classroom based.

Hope this helps

[clarkemcrobb]

Hi there, I cant give you any sturdy advice, but I can tell you what ive seen of conservation and ecology degrees at my university.

I am in 3rd year of a zoology degree up in Aberdeen. Obviously I cant assume that the uni your looking at would even have a similar structure, but its worth taking a look at the degree plans for both courses and Im guessing youll probably find that most definstely for first year, and even quite likely in second year, itll be identical!

Most biological sciences degrees will be identical in first year, basic chemistry, biology, a conservation course, etc. Maybe even some basic geography, depending on what the department is good at.

This means that you can change your degree, or rather finalise it at the end of your first, or even your second year.

I started my zoology degree, and am finishing it, but at any point up until recently, Ive had the choice to change it to 37 different other bio related degrees. the first years are so broad that it probably doesnt matter what you sign up for initially.

[eeyore]

my feeling is probably neither

if you want to go into practical countryside management - warden, ranger project officer etc then you ought to look at a countryside management qualification (good ones at bangor, UEA, Warwick, moulton etc) while if you want to be an ecologist/consultant then you're probably better off with an ecology degree. (bournemouth do a good one) While if you want to reserach then a zoology or biology degree in your chosen field - for example if you were into mamals the best two are at oxford with david macdonald, or at bristol with stephen harris

The trouble with some conservation biolgy/ wildlife conservationcourses (though ive no direct expeience of the lincoln one) is that they can teach you a little bit of everything leaving you jack of all trades master of none on graduation.

the other thing to bear in mind is that however good your degree course you will also need practical experience so look at volunteering while you are at uni, and make sure that this volunteering is relevant to what you want to do (for example if you want to work with british wildlife, volunteer in britain as holidays spent in the tropics while good fun wont be that helpful to getting a job 3 years hence )

take a look at "countryside jobs service" and "environment job" websites both to find volunteering and also to check out the kind of jobs you eventually want to do to see what the eseential person spec is.

and finally if you havent already get a driving licence before you graduate - not being able to drive will put an enourmouse hole in your job prospects in virtually every conservation field.

[Ally86]

conservation biology vs wildlife conservation degree
i'm having trouble deciding on what to go for.. i went to nottingham trent open day today and the course sounded great, with them saying they can train you to be a bird ringer, newt handler etc but one massive downside..its in the middle of nowhere!.
Has anyone done a conservation biology degree at lincoln or anywhere..is it hands on or mostly lab work?

hope you can help and ease my crazy mind!!

Hi Jodie,

I have just graduated with a 2:1 in Wildlife Conservation Bsc Hons. I too looked around Nottingham trent and freaked out!! 1 mile to the nearest shop was not my idea of uni! Luckily I had other uni's to look at and opted for a different one. I looked around; Liverpool John Moores, Salford, Nottingham, and Plymouth (University of East Lond - i think do Wildlife Conservation too) I chose Plymouth and it has to have been one of the best decisions I could ever have made.

My degree course consisted of a fair bit of lab work, lectures, seminars, field trips field based modules (such as Borneo, Mexico etc etc!) My lectures were fantastic, with approximately only 30 people ion a lecture, you really benefit from individual attention. Modules I have studied have included; In and Ex situ conservation, Habitat Management, Sustainable Agriculture, Animal Behaviour, Animal Science, etc.

However, having said how amazing everything has been, I am struggling to get a job. Many of the conservation companies/charities I have been applying to are merely asking for experience. I would have a big think about what you would like to do with your degree, and perhaps if a degree in this discipline is actually worth it. As sad as I am to say it, my degree at present seems rather worthless

If you would like to know anythign else dont hesitate to get in touch.

Ally

[charlieb]

Originally Posted by eeyore

The trouble with some conservation biolgy/ wildlife conservationcourses (though ive no direct expeience of the lincoln one) is that they can teach you a little bit of everything leaving you jack of all trades master of none on graduation.

The reason being that jobs are in demand - if you start to specialize at such an early stage in your career you've no chance of getting a job (which really applies to any career choice).

I would prefer as much variety as possible in a degree course.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by charlieb

The reason being that jobs are in demand - if you start to specialize at such an early stage in your career you've no chance of getting a job (which really applies to any career choice).

I would prefer as much variety as possible in a degree course.

yeah but employers (of which i am one as a mid level manager these days) dont want you to know a little about a lot of feilds - they want you to know a lot about their area of opperations

thus if you want to be a practical conservationist/ countryside manager you need a course that covers practical skills like chainsaw use, different habitat management skills, and countryside and rights of way law (and for prefference one with a sandwich year that gives you propper ojt experience) - warwick is very good in this regard.

On the otherhand if you want to be an ecologist you only need a basic appreciation of the practical management skills but you need to know a lot about the ecology of habitats and species id etc plus ideally the relevant licences - bats, newts etc

If you want to be a field teacher or education officer then idealy you need a teaching qualification plus a basic appreciation of the other areas

and so on and so forth

The bottom line is that if you specialise early you will only have a realistic chance of getting a job in that field - but if you dont specialise you run the risk of not knowing enough to get a job in any of the conservation fields without having to take an expensive second degree or more vocational training

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Ally86

My degree course consisted of a fair bit of lab work, lectures, seminars, field trips field based modules (such as Borneo, Mexico etc etc!) My lectures were fantastic, with approximately only 30 people ion a lecture, you really benefit from individual attention. Modules I have studied have included; In and Ex situ conservation, Habitat Management, Sustainable Agriculture, Animal Behaviour, Animal Science, etc.

.... As sad as I am to say it, my degree at present seems rather worthless

without wanting to be unkind this kind of bears out what i was saying higher up - while feild trips to borneo, mexico , outer mongolia etc are no doubt a fantastic experience they do not actually help you get a job in the UK ( and jobs abroad are extremly feircely competed for. )

For example In my last job we interviewed for a seasonal ranger position (an entry level job) and once we had weeded out those that were not suited, didnt have driving licences etc we were left with five interviewees (out of over 100 applicants) for two jobs

of these one spent 90% of their interview time talking about the amazing field work she'd done in costa rica, peru, the russian steppe etc etc - while another told us about the time spent volunteering in a major british city working with under priviledged kids doing pond dipping , bug hunts etc.

I've no doubt you can see where i'm going with this - we appointed the latter one, but not the former , which was a shame as she was a nice girl and i'm fairly sure she could have done the job , but without the experience or qualification to prove that it is very unlikely that any employer will take a risk on "fairly sure" or even be able to as most employers have an objective criteria for interviewing againt meaning that candidates must tick all the boxes on the essential criteria to be offered the job.

[metalfish]

Originally Posted by Jodielm

i'm having trouble deciding on what to go for.. i went to nottingham trent open day today and the course sounded great, with them saying they can train you to be a bird ringer, newt handler etc but one massive downside..its in the middle of nowhere!.
Has anyone done a conservation biology degree at lincoln or anywhere..is it hands on or mostly lab work?

hope you can help and ease my crazy mind!!

Jodie

I went there and unless the teaching staff have changed over the past 6 years I wouldn't bother. A few of them are excellent but the rest certainly aren't, a lot of promises made that are not forth coming.
OOps, just seen you posted this in february. Oh well. If you are at Brack then make things happen yourself and get the most you can from those good quality teachers. Also get as many certificates as you can so you can compete against all the other graduates in the future. Good Luck

[thebeard]

I'm currently at brackenhurst doing Bsc wildlife conservation. i think the course has its ups and downs, the best bit is actually going out and doing some practical work, especially the week out in spain in the second year, beautiful and brilliant. like metalfish says some of the staff are a bit rubbish, but some are absolutely fantastic and really know their stuff.
as for living in the middle of nowhere, i lived there in my first year and didn't like it much, but moved to nottingham for my 2nd and 3rd years which is fine, if you dont mind 40mins to get there on the bus.
the course covers stuff from habitat management and biodiversity surveying to more 'sciency' stuff like anatomy, health and genetics. theres very good ecology modules as well with dr nick ray, he is very knowledgeable, but hard to get on with!

hope this helps and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask!!!

also- it was posted in october wsnt it????