Conservation Biology

Bachelor of Science Major

Human activities are causing the current mass extinction crisis, but passionate people can be the solution. We need people who can deftly navigate the natural, societal, and political implications of protecting our world. Our program is a focused, hands-on effort blending research, instruction, fieldwork, and community engagement to help us better conserve life itself.

If you’re eager to make your mark on our world now, Conservation Biology is an exciting field to study. As ecosystems and species inch closer to extinction, there’s an urgent opportunity to have a lasting impact.

Why study Conservation Biology at Warren Wilson?

Conservation Before Graduation: You’ll engage in hands-on conservation both in the lab and in the field through coursework and capstone projects.
Key Location: Our 1,000+ acres of farm, river, and forest are nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville, NC, one of the most biodiverse regions in North America, with more plant species than any other area in North America, and more salamander species than anywhere else in the world.
Community Engaged: You’ll engage with local community partners who are actively participating in local conservation through your courses, internships, and research.

Every student will complete community-engaged coursework, an internship, and original research as part of their major

A Sample of Our Partnerships

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Conserving Carolina

See how Conservation Biology students put our education into action

Internship

Aimee Shafer worked as a Communications Intern with Appalachian Wildlife Refuge, which included writing a piece on local cave ecology.

Research

Haleigh Ward’s (she/her) research monitored freshwater mussel populations that were reintroduced into the Swannanoa River on campus with community partners at the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

Work

You can work on any crew as a student but many Conservation Biology majors choose to be on crews such as:

Biology
Chemistry
Conservation Biology Sub-crew
Genetics

Study Abroad

In the study abroad course, Everybody Lives Downstream, students traveled throughout Colorado, engaging in experiential and service-based learning with local farmers, environmental lawyers, non-profit organizations, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists. The course focused on issues of water quality and quantity in two distinct regions of North America as they relate to issues of biodiversity loss, climate change, and societal reliance on this vital resource.

Community Engaged Course

In Conservation Biology, you’ll work with the Student Network for Amphibian Pathogen Surveillance (SNAPS), a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey, the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative, AmphibiaWeb, and Environment and Climate Change Canada, that surveys local amphibians for the pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal).

Popular Courses

Introduction to Conservation Biology

Conservation biology is the applied science of maintaining Earth’s biological diversity. In this course, you’ll develop the foundations you need to better understand the history and philosophical underpinnings of the conservation field.

Conservation Biology

The main focus of this course is biological, but also reaches into ethics, economics, and sociology. The explicit goal of this discipline is to conserve biodiversity at all levels of organization from genetics to populations, species, communities, and ecosystems.

Biology of Fishes

In this course, you’ll explore the incredible diversity of freshwater fishes in streams throughout western North Carolina through the lens of their ecological roles and the threats aquatic ecosystems face.

See the Catalog

Meet our faculty