Wildlife and Fisheries (BSc Program)

Staffan Lindgren, Professor Emeritus
Michael Gillingham, Professor Emeritus
Katherine Parker, Professor Emerita

Ken Otter, Professor and Chair
Mark Dale, Professor
Russell Dawson, Professor
Dezene Huber, Professor
Chris Johnson, Professor
Brent Murray, Professor
Mark Shrimpton, Professor
Eduardo Martins, Associate Professor
Lisa Poirier, Associate Professor
Erin Baerwald, Assistant Professor
Heather Bryan, Assistant Professor
Shannon Crowley, Adjunct Professor
Dexter Hodder, Adjunct Professor
Jenia Blair, Senior Lab Instructor
Saphida Migabo, Senior Lab Instructor
Roy Rea, Senior Lab Instructor

Website: www.unbc.ca/wildlife-fisheries

Major in Wildlife and Fisheries (BSc)
Major in Wildlife and Fisheries (BSc Honours)

The BSc in Wildlife and Fisheries provides students with a solid foundation in wildlife and fisheries biology, with considerable indoor and outdoor laboratory experience. It exposes students to an integrated approach to resource issues that confront today's professionals. The combination of theoretical and applied ecology with practical labs and exercises in the Wildlife and Fisheries degree gives students the background to pursue post-graduate studies and public- and private-sector employment in the wildlife or fisheries professions. Students completing all courses in the Wildlife and Fisheries degree meet the education requirements for eligibility as a Registered Professional Biologist (RPBio) in BC.

Students are required to take 24 Biology and Natural Resources Management courses. Of these, 15 courses (45-46 credit hours) must be at the upper-division level.

The minimum requirement for completion of a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries is 123 credit hours. 


Major in Wildlife and Fisheries

Program Requirements

Lower-Division Requirements

100 Level

BIOL 103-3 Introductory Biology I
BIOL 104-3 Introductory Biology II
BIOL 123-1 Introductory Biology I Laboratory
BIOL 124-1 Introductory Biology II Laboratory
CHEM 100-3 General Chemistry I
CHEM 101-3 General Chemistry II
CHEM 120-1 General Chemistry Lab I
CHEM 121-1 General Chemistry Lab II
MATH 152-3 Calculus for Non-majors
NREM 100-3* Field Skills
NREM 101-3 Introduction to Natural Resources Management and Conservation
NRES 100-3 Communications in Natural Resources and Environmental Studies
  or ENGL 170-3 Writing and Communication Skills
PHYS 100-4 Introduction to Physics I
  or PHYS 115-4 General Introduction to Physics
*Applications for exemption from NREM 100-3 must be made within the first year of study in this degree.

200 Level
BIOL 201-3 Ecology
BIOL 210-3 Genetics
CHEM 220-3 Organic and Biochemistry
FSTY 201-3 Forest Plant Systems
     or BIOL 301-3
Systematic Botany 
FSTY 205-3 Introduction to Soil Science
Terrestrial Ecological Classification 
GEOG 204-3 Introduction to GIS
NREM 204-3 Introduction to Wildlife and Fisheries
STAT 240-3 Basic Statistics

Two of the following:
BIOL 202-3 Invertebrate Zoology
BIOL 204-3 Plant Biology
BIOL 315-3 Animal Diseases and Parasites
GEOG 210-3 Introduction to Earth Science
GEOG 310-3 Hydrology
NREM 210-4 Integrated Resource Management

Upper-Division Requirement

300 Level
BIOL 302-3 Limnology
BIOL 307-3 Ichthyology and Herpetology
BIOL 308-3 Ornithology and Mammalogy
BIOL 323-3 Evolutionary Biology
BIOL 325-3 Ecological Analyses
ENPL 305-3 Environmental Impact Assessment
   or ENVS 326-3
Public Engagement for Sustainability 
     or ENVS 414-3 Environmental and Professional Ethics
NREM 303-3 Aboriginal Perspectives on Land and Resource Management
     or NREM 306-3 Society, Policy and Administration

400 Level
BIOL 402-3 Aquatic Plants
   or BIOL 404-3 Plant Ecology
BIOL 406-3 Fish Ecology
BIOL 410-3 Population and Community Ecology
BIOL 412-3 Wildlife Ecology
BIOL 413-3 Wildlife Management
   or BIOL 414-3 Fisheries Management
One of the following:
BIOL 409-3 Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems
BIOL 411-3 Conservation Biology
NREM 333-3 Field Applications in Resource Management
NREM 400-4 Natural Resources Planning
NREM 409-3 Conservation Planning
NREM 410-3 Watershed Management
Elective Requirement

Elective credit hours as necessary to ensure completion of a minimum of 123 credit hours, while insuring 15 courses (45-46 credit hours) are at the upper-division level in either BIOL or NREM.


BSc Honours - Wildlife and Fisheries

The Honours in Wildlife and Fisheries recognizes undergraduate students who both excel at their studies and who complete an undergraduate thesis (normally NRES 430-6).

To enter the Honours Program, students must have completed 60 credit hours and obtained a minimum Cumulative GPA of 3.33. Attaining the minimum requirement does not guarantee admission into the Honours Program, which will be at the discretion of the Ecosystem Science and Management Program. Maintenance of a Cumulative GPA of 3.33 is required to remain in the Honours Program. 

Honours students are required to complete the degree requirements for the BSc in Wildlife and Fisheries. Each student also must complete a 6-credit Undergraduate Thesis (as part of their elective credit hours) under the supervision of a faculty member. Students are responsible to find their own undergraduate thesis research supervisor. Faculty members are under no obligation to supervise Honours students.

Updated: July 10, 2023