Program Overview

If you're passionate about the environment and want the skills and knowledge to make a difference, this could be the degree for you.

La Trobe's Bachelor of Wildlife and Conservation Biology draws on many areas of science including botany, genetics and zoology. You'll learn to apply ecological concepts to the conservation of species and ecosystems and explore the legal framework for conservation.

Your curriculum will cover biology fundamentals – including how organisms, the environment and human populations interact with each other – as well as climate change and sustainability. As you progress in your studies, you'll advance your understanding of conservation issues, learn to use different technologies to collect and process data, and design your own detailed conservation management plan. You'll be taught by La Trobe experts involved in conservation projects, and who work with partners in state and federal government departments and non-government organisations such as Bush Heritage and Trust for Nature.

To truly understand wildlife and real-world conservation, you need to experience it first-hand. Throughout your degree you'll spend plenty of time immersed in the environment – previous field trip destinations include Wilsons Promontory, Heron Island, Falls Creek, the Mallee, Buchan and the Ovens River. These trips will give you the opportunity to interact with a range of flora and fauna, apply your knowledge in real settings and get hands-on experience using remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) technology to collect and analyse data.

The practical side of your degree isn't limited to off-campus experiences. Our on-campus Wildlife Sanctuary is your very own 30-hectare laboratory, where you can study the behaviour of bat species and mosquito fish, and help preserve the natural habitats of species including the long-nosed potoroo, brolga, black wallaby and sugar glider.

With the Bachelor of Wildlife and Conservation Biology, you can study what you're passionate about. In addition to your core biology, conservation and quantitative skills subjects, you can choose from a range of electives – including anthropology, Indigenous studies, and environmental and resource economics – and tailor your study experience to suit your career aspirations.

You'll learn:

• Ecology and biodiversity: Explore the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Learn how to protest the earth's biodiversity.
• Climate change and sustainability: Learn how our actions and choices affect the natural, economic, social, political and cultural systems – both now and in the future.
• Environmental law: Understand the scope, structure and regulatory tools of environmental law and how to research, analyse, discuss and evaluate specific areas of Australian environmental law.
• Endangered species biology and management: Understand the theory, concepts and issues of species conservation and how to review or prepare your own environmental management plan.
• Research: Learn how to draw conclusions from data, design surveys and experiments, and critically evaluate the statistical arguments made in scientific reports and journal articles.