Ecology and Wildlife Conservation Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)

Your degree course in Ecology and Wildlife Conservation is delivered in three stages, each of which comprises one year of full-time study, or two years of part-time study, during which you must follow modules to the value of 120 national credits. The curriculum is based around a core of mandatory modules running through all three stages providing a broad base of biology and ecology in Stage one, essential training in systematic and quantitative biology and ecological studies in Stage two and a study of biodiversity and ecosystems and an individual project in the final stage.\
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Stage one comprises a set of mandatory modules that provide the necessary grounding for the study of the subject at degree level. These modules include Ecology and Conservation, Biomes and Ecosystems, Green Planet: Plants and Our Future, Vertebrate Evolution and Biodiversity, Cell Biology, Genetics and Introductory Animal Physiology. In Stage two you take a total of 6 mandatory modules to the value of 90 credits and choose the remaining credits from the options available. These take the students beyond the basic foundations laid in stage one and the choices available enable students to specialise. The mandatory modules include Plant Biotic Interactions and Ecological Networks, Food Security, Sustainability and Green Biotechnology, and Evolution, as well as a solid statistical grounding with Biological Data Analysis and Interpretation. Options include Animal Behaviour, Applications of Molecular Genetics in Biology, Invertebrate Biology and Microbiology. Practical Field Ecology is a mandatory field course for this degree, and the residential field course in Marine Biology, held in the Millport Marine Biology Centre in Scotland, provides another option. A mandatory module on professional skills development helps to prepare you for employment. Stage three allows for increasing specialisation as students take 4 mandatory modules to the value of 75 credits and choose further modules from the options available. Most of these modules closely reflect the research interests of members of staff who are all specialists in their fields. The mandatory modules include Conservation Science, Climate Change: Plants and the Environment, and Population and Community Ecology. The modules available as options include Evolutionary Ecology of Vertebrates, Extreme Animal Physiology, and Circadian Biology, as well as the overseas field course in Borneo, the Tropical Rainforest Expedition. Students complete an individual research project providing training in a specialised research area and also in generic skills such as literature searching, report writing, use of word processing, graphics and statistics and in independent work. The project is regarded as your graduate capstone experience, as it is the culmination of your training in experimental design, research techniques, data analysis and presentation.\
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The course provides coverage across a range of modern ecology topics, and involves training in a variety of practical techniques and skills relevant to research in the biological sciences. The system is also flexible and allows the students to transfer to other degree streams within the Department up to the start of the second year. You can also take up to 30 credits outside of the Department of Biological Sciences, but within other Science Departments during stage two/three. Options are selected in consultation with your Personal Tutor and the Director of Teaching.