Degrees

BA, BS, MS, PhD

The Biology & Wildlife Department has 40 faculty members, and the diversity of their expertise gives students an amazing number of courses to choose including those that take advantage of the greatest natural laboratory of all – Alaska.

While the department boasts strong programs in ecology, animal physiology and wildlife management, its biomedicine programs are rapidly growing. Many students prepare themselves for health professions by getting a comprehensive biology degree that give them hands-on learning.

The school’s location in a state with so many natural resources shapes its program and students’ research. Part of the state is in the Arctic and many faculty and students are investigating how climate change is affecting Alaska’s lands, wildlife and people.

Why study biology and wildlife with us in Alaska?

• Alaska is one of the greatest natural laboratories in the world. Its mountains, tundra, forests, waterways, wildlife and climate all make for riveting research and study. The Arctic is six hours north of Fairbanks, and the university is at the forefront of research about climate change.
• The Biology & Wildlife Department has more than 40 faculty members with a wide range of expertise.
• The department is based in one of the newest buildings on campus – the Margaret Murie Building – which has nearly 100,000 square feet of state-of-the-art laboratories and classrooms.
• There are many opportunities for undergraduate research including a research classes.
• Students interested in wildlife conservation can apply for internships or jobs at the many different federal and state agencies protecting public lands in Alaska. About 80% of the state’s land is public.

 Our classes allow you to explore

Research opportunities on campus

• UAF has research programs and institutions that support graduate and undergraduate research. For instance, programs like the Biomedical Learning and Student Training Program and the Institute of Arctic Biology’s IDeA Network of Biomedical Excellence have greatly enhanced undergraduate and graduate programs in biomedicine.
• Most faculty and students work closely with UAF’s Institute of Arctic Biology, which runs the Toolik Field Station in the Arctic and the Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research program at research sites statewide.
• Several professors in the department are part of the Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit in IAB which employs USGS-salaried scientists who promote research and graduate student training in the ecology and management of fish, wildlife and their habitats.
• The UA Museum of the North supports undergraduate and graduate research related to biology and wildlife.

Some questions researchers are asking

Some UAF institutes, programs and labs that foster student and faculty research