Wildlife & Fisheries Conservation Courses

Program | Faculty | Master's | Doctoral | Courses

All courses carry 3 credits unless otherwise specified.

NRC 549 Ecosystem Management (2nd sem)
Explores the historical context and key contributing ecological concepts of ecosystem management and alternative approaches for its implementation. Prerequisite: senior or graduate status in Natural Resources Conservation or consent of instructor. Credit, 4. Mr. McGarigal

NRC 592G Introduction to GIS for Natural Resources Management (1st sem)
Introduces students to the construction, display, and analysis of spatial information using Geographic Information Systems. Hands-on use of ArcGIS on a PC platform. Mr. Schweik

NRC 597O Watershed Management (online course) (2nd sem)
Concepts in watershed conservation, with integration of biotic, abiotic and socioeconomic components. Transdisciplinary introduction to watershed-based ecosystem management and policy. Uses online tools, interactions, threaded discussions, and class projects. Mr. Randhir

NRC 597R Watershed Science and Management (2nd sem)
Concepts in watershed systems, with integration of biotic, abiotic and socioeconomic components for conservation and management. Transdisciplinary introduction to watershed-based ecosystem management and policy. Taught in-class using computer modeling, case studies, and exercises. Mr. Randhir

NRC 597W Water Resources Management and Policy (1st sem, even yrs)
Topics in water resources including institutions, law, economics, politics, infrastructure, planning, analysis, and sustainability. Case studies, lectures, and exercises on various topics from around the world.

NRC 601 Research Concepts in Natural Resources Management (1st sem)
Introduction to the research process in the natural resources sciences. Focus on research philosophy, concepts, and design, progressing from development of hypotheses, questions and proposals, to grants and budgeting, to delivery of such research products as reports, publications, and presentations. Mr. DeStefano

NRC 621 Landscape Ecology (1st sem, odd yrs)
Introduction to the evolving discipline of landscape ecology, with emphasis on the theoretical underpinnings. Focus on ecological scaling; landscape structure; agents of landscape structure; consequences of landscape structure to populations, communities, and ecosystem processes; landscape dynamics; and landscape management. Emphasis on modeling. Prerequisite: graduate standing in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology or Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation, Forestry, or consent of instructor. Credit, 4. Mr. McGarigal

NRC 697D Social Conflict and Natural Resource Policy (1st sem)
Introduction to the social factors that influence social value formation, and how the different meanings and values ascribed to natural resources in modern society contribute to political conflicts over resource allocation and management. Develops awareness of strengths and limitations of approaches, tools, and techniques of conflict resolution in policy development. Mr. Muth

NRC 697E Human Dimensions of Resource Management (2nd sem, odd yrs)
The social, behavioral, economic, and political aspects of natural resource management. Introduction to the concept of Human Dimensions, resource management as an expression of social value, and the contemporary resource management paradigm having Human Dimensions as a central component. Review of theoretical foundation, and case studies. Mr. Loomis

NRC 697M Multivariate Statistics for Natural Resources (1st sem, even yrs)
Provides natural resource scientists with a conceptual and practical working understanding of the classic multivariate statistical techniques, as well as a framework for choosing the most appropriate technique given the question of interest and the properties of the data set. Emphasis on analyzing real data sets using ordination (unconstrained and constrained), cluster analysis (nonhierarchical and hierarchical), discriminate analysis, classification and regression trees, and a variety of other nonparametric procedures. Credit, 4. Mr. McGarigal

NRC 697P Natural Resources Policy and Administration (2nd sem, odd yrs)
The fundamental actors and institutions in the process of public natural resource policy formation at the state, national, and international levels. Focusing on forestry, wildlife, and fisheries, the role of significant laws, resource management agencies, interest groups, and judicial decisions. Mr. Muth

NRC 697S Applied Biostatistics for Natural Resources (2nd sem)
Intermediate statistics illustrated using examples from ecology. Topics include ANOVA, linear regression (simple and multiple), correlation, logistic regression, contingency tables, and nonparametric methods. Techniques discussed in lectures and applied in laboratories. Prerequisite: introductory statistics course. Credit, 4. Mr. Sievert

NRC 697T Information Technologies in the Public and Non-Profit Sectors (2nd sem)
Discussion of information technology management issues in public and non-profit organizations. Web system development, information technology planning, and relational database applications. Mr. Schweik

NRC 697W Advanced Watershed Management (2nd sem)
Seminar on the latest topics and research in watershed management. Students lead, and discuss research papers, write critical summaries, and develop a review paper on a topic. Mr. Randhir

564 Wildlife Habitat Management (1st sem)
The dynamics and management of forested, open woodland, and savanna habitats in North America and elsewhere. Topics include wildlife ecology, habitat classification, resource utilization, impacts on humans, and management techniques. Prerequisite: W&FCONSV 261. Credit, 4. Ms. McComb

564 Wildlife Habitat Management (online course) (2nd sem)
The dynamics and management of forested, open woodland, and savanna habitats in North America and elsewhere. Topics include wildlife ecology, habitat classification, resource utilization, impacts on humans, and management techniques. Prerequisite: W&FCONSV 261 or equivalent. Ms. McComb

565 Wildlife Population Dynamics and Management (1st sem)
Basic techniques and concepts of the management and population dynamics of wildlife populations; emphasis on estimating animal population parameters, development of population growth models, and principles of population management. Includes field and laboratory techniques for estimating population parameters for wildlife. Prerequisites: W&FCONSV 261, RES-ECON 211 or Introductory Statistics. Credit, 4. Mr. Griffin

571 Fisheries Science and Management (1st sem)
Introduction to the principles of fish stock assessment, with emphasis on harvest modeling and forecasting techniques. Implications of overfishing and habitat degradation. Prerequisite: W&FCONSV 470. Credit, 4. Mr. Juanes

577 Ecosystem Modeling and Simulation (1st sem, odd yrs)
Systems modeling and analysis used to understand the complexities of natural systems. System representations, modeling, experimentation, optimization, and policy modeling. Computer modeling using Stella and GIS. Cross-listed with FOREST 577. Mr. Randhir

587 Digital Remote Sensing (2nd sem)
Computer processing of digital images as a means of obtaining information about natural resources. LANDSAT images primarily used. Image processing, classification, and image enhancement techniques discussed and applied. Mr. Finn

597M Water Resources Management and Policy (1st sem, even yrs)
Concepts in water resources management through regional and global ecosystems, systems analysis and planning, water management, and conservation and policy. Mr. Randhir

597W Wetlands Assessment and Field Techniques (2nd sem, odd yrs)
Supplemental field techniques to provide in-depth information on the Massachusetts wetlands regulatory program. Also field techniques for wetlands classification, boundary delineation, wetland plant identification, and wildlife habitat evaluation. In-class and field sessions to develop essential skills needed to conduct a wetlands environmental review as required under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act. Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Credit, 2. Mr. Griffin

697A Conservation Biology (2nd sem, even yrs)
Seminar reviewing the ecological principles of conservation biology and strategies used to conserve biological diversity. Emphasis on ecological, community, and population processes. Topics include conservation genetics, population demography and viability analyses, and insular ecology, including edge effects, habitat fragmentation, connectivity, and reserve design. Journal articles provide case histories for examining conservation strategies. Mr. Griffin

697I Interpretation of Ecological Data (alt yrs)
Examines the literature to see how basic analysis tools are interpreted for common ecological problems. Examples of different types of research questions, related approaches to analyses, and use of technical knowledge of the organism and the system to try to interpret the analyses in a meaningful way. Prior statistics and ecology courses required or a willingness to do extra work to keep up. Ms. Mather

697R Trophic Dynamics (2nd sem, odd yrs)
Seminar exploring predator-prey dynamics from theoretical and empirical perspectives. Students analyze and interpret large food habits databases and lead weekly discussions on selected topics. Mr. Juanes

697U Urban-Suburban Wildlife Ecology and Management
Current topics in urban wildlife ecology, such as altered biotic community structure, invasive species, altered trophic dynamics, urban evolutionary biology, and urban ecological theories. Other issues and topics determined by the composition of student enrollment. Ms.Warren

697V Urban-Suburban Wildlife Ecology and Management Lab
Credit, 1. Ms. Warren

699 Master’s Thesis
Credit, 1-10.

720 Ecological Interactions of Fishes (2nd sem, even yrs)
Overview of fish population interactions with their biological environment. Consent of instructor required. Ms. Mather

757 Advanced Fisheries Management (1st sem, odd yrs)
Scientific basis for modern fisheries management, emphasizing coldwater fishes, anadromous species, large reservoir and river fisheries, and conflicts of interest with other water uses. Mr. Juanes

758 Advanced Wildlife Research and Management (1st sem, even yrs)
A discussion course with varying current topics in wildlife management, including habitat assessment and management, migratory bird management and conservation, and suburban wildlife ecology and management. Mr. Fuller

768 Advanced Wetland Ecology (2nd sem, odd yrs)
Ecological functions and assessment of resource values of wetlands. Major wetlands of the world used as case history studies. Consent of instructor required. Mr. Griffin

791 Seminar: Communicating Science
Final presentations of research by Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation graduate students. Credit, 1. Mr. Fuller

796 Independent Study

899 Doctoral Dissertation
Credit, 10.