Master of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences
FER Home : Graduate Students : Master of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences
This is an intercollegiate, non-thesis professional degree program administered by the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources in conjunction with the Department of Biology and the College of Veterinary Medicine. No minor is required.
Past Master of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences candidates have explored such fisheries and wildlife topics as:
- Wetlands restoration and ecology;
- Wildlife biology;
- Specific fish populations and habitats throughout the Southeast;
- The effects of different fishing practices on species harvests;
- How variations in the oxygen level and other environmental factors affect fish and wildlife species;
- Migratory, habitat selection and growth patterns of various fish and wildlife species;
- Shallow groundwater habitats;
- Implications of wildlife management techniques on population demographics and mating systems;
- The conservation of target species in selected habitats, and much more.
Please note that this is an interdisciplinary degree program. Students who pursue specific aspects of fisheries and wildlife science are supervised by Fisheries and Wildlife faculty from several departments, and reside in the department of their major professor.
Degree Requirements
The Master of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences degree requires a minimum of 36 credits, including four to six hours of special problems and one to two hours of seminars. A professional paper is also required. Further requirements may be imposed by a student’s advisory committee.
The seminar requirement for MFWs students, regardless of the department in which they reside, is to take FW 602 at least once. Substitutions and/or additional seminar requirements must be approved by the student’s graduate committee. Students can take FW 602 a maximum of two times for credit, and additional times without credit.

