Conservation Science and Practice (BSc Program)
Annie Booth, Professor
Philip Burton, Professor
Mark Dale, Professor
Arthur Fredeen, Professor
Ian Hartley, Professor
Dezene Huber, Professor
Chris Johnson, Professor
Staffan Lindgren, Professor Emeritus
Hugues Massicotte, Professor
William McGill, Professor
Chris Opio, Professor
Mark Shrimpton, Professor
Ché Elkin, Associate Professor, and FRBC/Slocan Mixed Wood Ecology Chair (Ecosystem Science and Management)
Scott Green, Associate Professor
Phil Mullins, Associate Professor
Brent Murray, Associate Professor
John Shultis, Associate Professor
Oscar Venter, Associate Professor, and Forest Renewal BC Endowed Chair in Growth and Yield and Forest Valuations
Pamela Wright, Associate Professor
Sinead Earley, Assistant Professor
Eduardo Martins, Assistant Professor
Jennifer Wigglesworth, Assistant Professor
Ian Picketts, Adjunct Professor
Richard Shuster, Adjunct Professor
Roy Rea, Senior Lab Instructor
Ecological systems underpin human well-being in many ways from art and culture to food security. Conservation professionals work to ensure that ecosystems continue to provide these values for future generations. However, we are facing an increasingly complex set of challenges as human populations and resource development increase and the global climate changes. Meeting these challenges requires an integration of human and ecological values across a broad range of ecosystems at increasingly larger spatial and temporal scales.
Students pursuing a BSc in Conservation Science and Practice focus on understanding and addressing the contemporary challenges facing the sustainable use and conservation of our environment. Navigating these challenges requires a strong scientific foundation, including the necessary appreciation for both the natural and human dimensions of conservation and management. This degree equips students with the knowledge to enter a solutions-based career that actively contributes to solving today’s conservation and management problems. Our goal is to provide students with the philosophical foundation, scientific theory, and technical skills to address the challenge of maintaining the functioning of ecosystems across developed, developing and still-wild landscapes.
The BSc in Conservation Science and Practice allows students to pursue one of two majors:
- Wildland Conservation and Recreation
- Landscape Conservation and Management
The major in Wildland Conservation and Recreation focuses on portions of the landscape where conservation values, including recreation and aesthetic values, are the priority land-use activities, and where these activities intersect with other values, priorities, and uses. Topics of study include: the promotion of and advocacy for conservation; integrated management of legally designated parks and protected areas; conservation area design; and human activities across these areas, including recreation, ecotourism and the associated positive and negative impacts on ecological integrity. Students develop the skills necessary to identify, plan, monitor, and manage conservation values within the parks, recreation and tourism sectors.
The major in Landscape Conservation and Management focuses on natural and human-modified systems across broad spatial scales. The emphasis in this major is on integrated landscapes that support a wide variety of values and activities, including the maintenance of biodiversity, the rights and practices of Indigenous Peoples, ecosystem services, and resource extraction. Courses in this major consider human activities across a range of ecological scales but with an emphasis on landscape and ecosystem-level processes. Graduates from the major develop the skills to work with cutting-edge tools and data that are necessary for the planning and management of multiple values across space and time.
Both majors are premised on an interdisciplinary and multi-value perspective. The degree is focused on the natural sciences, and draws on ideas, theory and practice from the social sciences. This broad perspective recognizes that humans are part of socio-ecological systems; thus, the human dimensions of conservation, management and natural sciences are integral components of the curriculum.
Major in Wildland Conservation and Recreation
Program Requirements
Lower Division Requirement
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 |
| ENVS 101-3 | Introduction to Environmental Citizenship |
| FNST 100-3 | The Aboriginal Peoples of Canada |
| NREM 100-3* | Field Skills |
| ORTM 100-3 | Foundations of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism |
*Note: 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 |
| FSTY 201-3 | Forest Plant Systems |
| or BIOL 301-3 | Systematic Botany |
| GEOG 204-3 | Introduction to GIS |
| NREM 204-3 | Introduction to Wildlife and Fisheries |
| NREM 209-3 | The Practice of Conservation |
| ORTM 200-3 | Sustainable Recreation and Tourism |
| ORTM 205-3 | Outdoor Skills and Leadership |
| STAT 240-3 | Basic Statistics |
Upper Division Requirement
300 Level
| ENPL 304-3 | Mediation, Negotiation and Public Participation |
| or ENVS 326-3 | Public Engagement for Sustainability |
| GEOG 300-3 | Intermediate GIS |
| NREM 303-3 | Aboriginal Perspectives on Land and Resource Management |
| ORTM 300-3 | Recreation and Tourism Impacts |
| ORTM 305-3 | Protected Area Planning and Management |
| ORTM 332-3 | Outdoor, Environmental and Experiential Education |
| ORTM 333-3 | Field School |
| BIOL 302-3 | Limnology |
| BIOL 304-3 | Plants, Society and the Environment |
| BIOL 307-3 | Ichthyology and Herpetology |
| BIOL 308-3 | Ornithology and Mammalogy |
| BIOL 318-3 | Fungi and Lichens |
| BIOL 322-3 | Entomology |
| BIOL 323-3 | Evolutionary Biology |
| BIOL 333-3 | Field School |
| BIOL 350-3 | Ethnobotany |
| NREM 333-3 | Field Applications in Resource Management |
400 Level
| BIOL 411-3 | Conservation Biology |
| NREM 400-4 | Natural Resources Planning |
| NREM 409-3 | Conservation Planning |
| ORTM 400-3 | Conservation Area Design and Management |
| ORTM 307-3** | Land Relations and Communities in Recreation and Tourism |
| ORTM 401-3** | The Culture of Adventure |
| ORTM 405-3** | Leadership Praxis |
| ORTM 409-3** | Critical Approaches to Outdoor Recreation Activities |
| ORTM 433-(1-6) | Field School II |
| ORTM 440-(2-6) | Internship |
| ORTM 498-(1-3) | Special Topics |
| ORTM 499-(1-6) | Independent Study |
| BIOL 402-3 | Aquatic Plants |
| BIOL 404-3 | Plant Ecology |
| BIOL 406-3* | Fish Ecology |
| BIOL 410-3* | Population and Community Ecology |
| BIOL 412-3* | Wildlife Ecology |
| BIOL 420-3* | Animal Behaviour |
| BIOL 421-3 | Insects, Fungi and Society |
| BIOL 409-3 | Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems |
| BIOL 413-3* | Wildlife Management |
| BIOL 414-3* | Fisheries Management |
| NREM 413-3 | Agroforestry |
**Note: Students should note that some senior-level ORTM classes are offered in alternating years.
Elective Requirements
BSc Honours - Conservation Science and Practice (Wildland Conservation and Recreation)
The Honours in Conservation Science and Practice (Wildland Conservation and Recreation) offers students a higher level of education and substantial research experience for proceeding to post graduate studies.
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 entry into the Honours Program, which is at the discretion of the Conservation Science and Practice Curriculum Committee. 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 Conservation Science and Practice (Wildland Conservation and Recreation). In addition, each student must also complete an additional 6 credit hours in the form of an undergraduate thesis (normally NRES 430-6) 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.
Major in Landscape Conservation and Management
Program Requirements
Lower Division Requirement
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 |
| ECON 100-3 | Microeconomics |
| FNST 100-3 | The Aboriginal Peoples of Canada |
| MATH 152-3 | Calculus for Non-majors |
| NREM 100-3 | Field Skills |
| NREM 101-3 | Introduction to Natural Resource Management and Conservation |
| NRES 100-3 | Communications in Natural Resources and Environmental Studies |
200 Level
| BIOL 201-3 | Ecology |
| ENSC 201-3 | Weather and Climate |
| ENVS 306-3 | Human Ecology |
| or ENVS 225-3 | Global Environmental Change: Science and Policy |
| FNST 249-3 | Aboriginal Resource Planning |
| GEOG 204-3 | Introduction to GIS |
| NREM 204-3 | Introduction to Wildlife and Fisheries |
| NREM 209-3 | The Practice of Conservation |
| STAT 240-3 | Basic Statistics |
300 Level
| BIOL 325-3 | Ecological Analyses |
| ENPL 304-3 | Mediation, Negotiation & Public Participation |
| or ENVS 326-3 | Natural Resources, Environmental Issues and Public Engagement |
| ENSC 302-3 | Low Carbon Energy Development |
| or ECON 305-3 | Environmental Economics and Environmental Policy |
| GEOG 300-3 | Intermediate GIS |
| NREM 303-3 | Aboriginal Perspectives on Land and Resource Management |
| BIOL 301-3 | Systematic Botany |
| BIOL 307-3 | Ichthyology and Herpetology |
| BIOL 308-3 | Ornithology and Mammalogy |
| BIOL 318-3 | Fungi and Lichens |
| BIOL 322-3 | Entomology |
| BIOL 350-3 | Ethnobotany |
| FSTY 201-3 | Forest Plant Systems |
| BIOL 409-3 | Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems |
| or ENSC 425-3 | Climate Change and Global Warming |
| BIOL 411-3 | Conservation Biology |
| ENPL 401-3 | Environmental Law |
| ENVS 414-3 | Environmental and Professional Ethics |
| FSTY 405-3 | Forest Ecosystem Modelling |
| or ENSC 406-3 | Environmental Modelling |
| NREM 400-4 | Natural Resources Planning |
| NREM-409-3 | Conservation Planning |
| ORTM 400-3 | Conservation Area Design and Management |
BSc Honours - Conservation Science and Practice (Landscape Conservation and Management)
The Honours in Conservation Science and Practice (Landscape Conservation and Management) offers students a higher level of education and substantial research experience for proceeding to post graduate studies.
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 entry into the Honours Program, which is at the discretion of the Conservation Science and Practice Curriculum Committee. 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 Conservation Science and Practice (Landscape Conservation and Management). In addition, each student must also complete an additional 6 credit hours in the form of an undergraduate thesis (normally NRES 430-6) 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.
