We currently offer 7 courses focused on birds
- Ornithology
- Systematics of Birds
- Avian Conservation and Management
- Songbird Netting and Banding
- Estuarine and Marine Birds
- Introduction to Marine Mammals and Birds
- AVES seminar
The Goal of FLOCK
To expand our offerings so that students can take a bird course EVERY year they are here. Why wait two years before you start taking bird courses? That's no fun! We know of no other university that provides this diversity of bird courses.
We also plan to offer an Advanced Bird Identification series whose focus will shift periodically (for example, gulls one year, shorebirds the next) so that it can be taken multiple times. Seriously? You could get college credit for learning how to identify gulls? Now that's super cool! Right?
Not everyone who wants to study birds is a birder. We also have plenty of expertise in bird behavior, ecology and conservation. So don't feel shy about letting us know that you just love watching birds and love learning how they live their lives.
Choose Your Own Adventure
If you major in Wildlife Science, you get to create your own Specialization (a 24-credit set of electives that you choose yourself), along with the required Core classes.
An example Specialization could include as many of the bird classes as you like, along with other specialty courses that might be related to your vision of what type of job you want someday. For example, some students take classes in GIS, statistics, foreign languages, botany or entomology. Remember that your Specialization is about your choices and adds flexibility to your academic training. Of course, you can always get ideas from your academic advisor, too.