I am a junior in high school and I want to pursue a career in wildlife biology/animal behavior. Right now the top college I am looking at is Whitman College. They offer a Biology degree, and have a very well reviewed biology department, but there is no animal science major or zoology major. Would this be detrimental to future job prospects? And any advice in general on entering the wildlife biology field would be appreciated!
Animal science generally deals with food animals; as a field of study, it’s primarily found in colleges of agriculture at public land-grant universities.
Traditionally, biology was divided into botany (or plant science) and zoology departments at larger universities. More recently, it is more common to have departments of ecology and evolutionary biology (or, ecology and organismal biology), which is where you will find most of what was formerly included in zoology departments. There are relatively universities that retain the traditional departmental designation of “zoology,” most of which are located at public land-grant universities. Most colleges and many smaller universities retain a unified biology department, rather than dividing it into separate departments based on the various biology subspecialties.
For your stated interests of wildlife biology/animal behavior, the answer to your question depends on what aspects interest you. If your interest is a career in wildlife management and conservation, for example, with a state or federal natural resources agency, a major in wildlife biology/wildlife management might be more directly relevant. Majors in this field usually are found in departments of wildlife biology in colleges of agriculture &/or natural resources at public land-grant universities. (You can always do a graduate degree in this field after an undergrad major in general biology.) If you are interested in research or the broader field of ecology, then a biology department would be fine. This also applies if your primary interest is animal behavior (though a psychology department would be appropriate if you’re interested in the behavior of some species, e.g., dogs or monkeys; a anthropology department also might be appropriate if you’re interested in primate behavior). If you’re primary interest in wildlife is along the lines of conservation of endangered species in various areas f the world, then a biology major would be fine. If you look at staff bios at organizations such as he World Wildlife Fund (https://www.worldwildlife.org/experts), for example, you’ll see that they have a diverse range of backgrounds.
Probably not - what’s really going to help you are internships, part-time jobs and similar experiences. If you majored in biology but interned with a conservation organization, for example, you’ll have good prospects. You could also get an MS later on in a more specialized area.
Thank you both for your insight!