@annielee0134 Colorado State has an extensive conservation program. I live next to a Colorado zoo with a recent CSU bio grad who works there in a relevant position (she also works another job in a field unrelated to her major). I just wanted to point out that the students I saw at MSU were still able to obtain animal research positions despite the lack of a veterinary school.
@whenhen- I’ve actually heard the name U of Montana popping up more than MSU. What do you think of U of Montana vs MSU in regards to their conservation/wildlife biology programs?
@whenhen (and @claryco ?)- Also, I was trying to look up facilities for Colorado State but was having some difficulty navigating the website. Does this sound about right?
Veterinary Teaching Hospital
Agricultural Experiment station
Institute for Livestock and the Environment
Shortgrass Steppe Longterm Ecological Research
Natural Resource Ecology Lab
Herbarium
Ecology and Management of Streams and Stream Fishes
CO Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit
Environmental Learning Center
Larval Fish Laboratory
Ecocore
Applied Physiological Ecology of Fishes
Montana State is the better program for the fields you’re interested in. That being said, the facilities as well as opportunities at MSU do not compare to CSU, Cal Poly, or UC Davis.
I am not an expert in all of CSU’s facilities so I can’t comment if that’s an accurate list or just an abbreviated one. That being said, I’ve attended meetings with geographical conservationists from Ft. Collins and would say that they also have
My D friend from HS is a student at U of Findlay. It will be a couple of years before we know how her application to vet school goes. She is extremely busy and is getting a lot of practical experience. She is currently interning in Washington State at an animal refuge. Purdue University also has a vet school and a strong pre-vet program.
OP, I wondered if you had considered any British or Australian universities for animal conservation programs?
The Environmental Learning Center in particular is a CSU resource that might fit your needs nicely. They employ a lot of students in term time work, including a program in conjunction with the Raptor Center rehabilitating birds of prey, which sounds like something you might be interested in.
I would say your list is accurate, but a lot of those resources or programs contain many smaller labs, opportunities, projects etc. that are more specialized.
@annielee0134 - UC Davis would seem to be a good option for you…
If you are looking for the intersection of all your interests, then that would be a field called “Marine Conservation Medicine”.
Conservation Medicine is an emerging field and “Marine” is a specialty within that field - so we are talking about a pretty obscure field.
Tufts is a pioneer in the interdisciplinary “One Health” concept and the Vet School is a leader in the specialty of Conservation Medicine. It offers a masters program (that should be easier to get into) as well as a DVM program. The “Marine” part is not as strong at Tufts as some of the other schools you have listed, but they have some links with the New England Aquarium ( both a DVM alum and a Biology Phd alum) for potential research/intern opportunities. One is a Wisconsin undergrad and one is a Cornell undergrad.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Health
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_medicine
http://vet.tufts.edu/center-for-conservation-medicine/
At the undergrad level, Tufts can offer small class sizes and some related majors.
A Biology first major coupled with an Environmental Science second major could provide a good way to explore/prepare for a career in this area. At Tufts, Environmental Science is classified as a “second major” because it is very interdisciplinary and must be coupled with a “first major” to ensure that the student acquires depth of knowledge in a particular discipline to complement the breadth of knowledge provided by the interdisciplinary major. It also includes an internship for academic credit.
http://as.tufts.edu/environmentalstudies/about/index.htm
http://ase.tufts.edu/biology/undergraduate/
Involvement with the Pre-Vet Club and potentially the WAZE (Wildlife,Aquatics,Zoo and Exotic Medicine) club at the Vet School would also be beneficial. Tufts’ Vet School is in Grafton (not Medford/Somerville), so it is tougher to participate in activities, but success in specialized areas like this is as much (if not more) about making personal connections than it is about academic performance.
https://sites.tufts.edu/tuftsprevetsociety/
https://www.facebook.com/tuftswaze
Unfortunately, Tufts undergrad is going to be more of a reach than a match for you (and could be expensive if you do not qualify for aid), but the following schools also have relationships and early admittance programs with Tufts’ Vet School - UMass Amherst, University of Vermont and WPI. All three of these schools offer some merit aid. UMass Amherst has brand new honors college campus and cross registration with Amherst College. UVM is a small public school with a beautiful, old campus (some call it a “Public Ivy”) and great environmental programs. WPI is a great engineering school, but I am not sure that it matches your interests.
If this seems like an interesting area to you, then I would recommend that you start to build a “professional network” by reaching out to Rosiland Rolland at the New England Aquarium - she specializes in Marine Conservation Medicine and may be able to answer questions and provide you with names of other people in the field to talk to.
Good Luck.
http://www.neaq.org/conservation_and_research/projects/project_pages/researchers.php
http://www.neaq.org/conservation_and_research/projects/project_pages/documents/Rolland_CV.pdf
Tufts is also offering a new gap year program (with full financial aid for those who need it) and one of the options is helping to save the otters in Brazil…
http://now.tufts.edu/articles/tufts-14-service-sites-selected
@whenhen- Thanks for all the help! I’ll do a bit more research on Montana State. (Although you’re right, I am favoring CSU, Cal Poly SLO, and UC Davis)
@lvvcsf- Thank you so much! I’m just glad that there’s a lot of practical hands on experience. And I’ll definitely look into adding Purdue on my list.
@zapfino- I never looked into them, but I have taken an coursera online class from University of Edinburgh. Other than that I don’t know that much about British/Australian universities. But I am open to them!
@claryco- Thanks! I’m trying to make a list of the facilities/resources for all my colleges 
And the Raptor Center sounds like it will definitely be up my lane.
@Mastadon- I’ve actually heard about conservation medicine! It sounds like something I may be interested in. I actually didn’t know Tufts specialized in some of this! I like that it has a little bit of everything that I am looking for including a lot of interesting connections (especially the vet school and New England Aquarium).
I think someone already sent me a link to a Tufts/UVM early admit program but I’ll check out UMass Amherst too. And now that I think about it, I actually may have mixed up UMass Amherst and Amherst college on this list… I’m not sure now.
Was looking at UW-Madison Bio for my daughter yesterday and think it might be right up your alley. Check out the study abroad options in Quito and the primate research center ( which might provide a useful context for thinking through what working with animals might mean in a research setting).
Can’t tell whether you have visited UCSC yet, but we were in Santa Cruz last week and thought UCSC’s marine bio facility sounded interesting. There’s a public outreach museum that highlights the research being done and tours that include a brief look at the area where scientists study marine animals. Lots of other enviro stuff there as well.
One problem with the reach-match-safety frame on admissions is that it could lead students with excellent credentials to discount less selective schools that are actually better “matches” from the standpoint of their academic interests. So while it makes sense to be sure your list includes places where you’re a shoe-in for admissions, don’t order your list on that basis. Sounds like you’re already doing the kind of research re facilities that will help you avoid that pitfall. Good luck with your search!
I think you probably did mix up Amherst college and Umass Amherst. Umass has a fantastic animal science & vet program. Amherst college…not so much.
@exacademic- ooh i did not know that UW-Madison had a primate research center! I haven’t visited any colleges yet, but my boyfriend did go there for his COSMOS program. When I go visit I’ll definitely check out that museum.
Thank you so much for your advice on the safeties! My parents actually think my safety schools are too easy for me, but I think I’m pretty satisfied with all the opportunities that they provide and am seriously considering some of them.
@Qwerty568- Whew, thanks for helping me clear that up, I was super worried I would apply to the wrong one lol