Applied Ecology and Conservation – (M.Sc.)

The course runs over a full calendar year starting with a field course. You will take a combination of taught modules during the first half of the year with the second half spent on an individual research project, often overseas. In addition to core modules in ecological survey methods, current issues in conservation, research skills for ecologists and statistics, you will be able to choose from a broad range of optional modules, including Geographical Information Systems (GIS), practical conservation and work placement, restoration ecology, conservation genetics, biodiversity conservation and human society and ecological modelling.

Conservation biologists and ecologists in the Schools of Biological and Environmental Sciences and leading conservation organisations conduct most of the teaching.

In addition to in-depth exposure to global conservation issues the course provides training in a range of transferable skills and will provide you with an opportunity to establish valuable contacts with potential employers through short and long term work experience and research interaction with a range of national and international conservation organisations.

Examples of some recent research projects conducted by students on this MSc course include:

* The vulnerability of birds to climate change (with Birdlife International)
* Mandrills in Gabon: current status and threats (with the Wildlife Conservation Society)
* Microhabitat and dietary preferences of Telfair’s skink on Round Island: implications for translocation (with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation)
* Nest-site selection and poaching in Yellow-headed Amazon parrots (with the World Land Trust)
* Crab as indicators of habitat quality (with Nature Seychelles)