Has anyone studied zoology/marine zoology at Bangor University?

Question

I want to work at an aquarium/wildlife park/sea world type place etc., and this course looks really interesting. I just wanted some first hand feedback from people that have been or know someone that has and what kind of work it lead to.

Answer 1

I did Marine Biology/ Zoology at Bangor, my boyfriend did Marine Zoology/Zoology at Bangor.

Both of us are now due to start our  MSc. course in Animal Behaviour and Welfare at Queens University Belfast as well as successfully applying an completing two 3 month internships with Mote Marine Lab in Florida.

As such, we haven't worked yet as we were both intent in gaining more experience and our MSc. before applying for jobs, however other people I know are working as aquarists in the Anglesey Sea Zoo for example and I think the guy who did walking with Monsters is a Bangor Graduate, though I'm not sure he actually did Zoology.

As for the course, I enjoyed my time at Bangor, the work was quite practical based with a lot of field trips (also on the Uni's own research vessel) and lab sessions and had some great lecturers as well, there is a reason it is ranked as one of the best schools for Marine Science in Europe.

You also have the added advantage of being offered opportunities to participate in research programs abroad during time off for relatively little cost, or to go on a research cruise on the school's research vessel-all of this is quite competitive but the opportunities are there.

It's changed a little since I left so I am not sure how up to date the information is.

Overall I found that Marine Zoology/Zoology was better organised than Marine Biology/Zoology with less overlap and repetition which was probably down to the fact that Marine Zoology/Zoology is organised by the School of Biology, whereas Marine Biology/Zoology was supposed to be a collaboration between the two. With Marine Zoo/Zoo you do a lot less oceanography and primary producers and it seemed overall to be the easier option of the two, maybe with little less general information on general marine ecology which was a part of my course I found very helpful and enjoyable. Another advantage of Marine Bio/Zoo was that- while I moaned about it at the time- the more extensive statistics modules do give you a better foundation for doing your third year project as you get a better overall knowledge on using and applying statistics.

One thing you do need to be aware of, zoos and aquaria deal mainly with large charismatic animals as these are the ones people are drawn to. This is not what either of these courses is about, for a lot of the time you will be dealing with mussels, copepods and barnacles.

I think we only covered marine mammals briefly in about 2 or 3 lectures concerning diving and that was it. You do get to 'play' with snakes and lizards in some of the practicals which is really cool and do some behavioural experiments with fish but be prepared to not seeing anything larger than your hand for most of the course.

Bangor does offer quite a number of different courses in that general area, their newest being Marine Vertebrate Zoology which you may also be interested in:

http://www.sos.bangor.ac.uk/prospective/...

I wouldn't highly recommend it as I find it is far too specific for an undergrad course as it does not provide a very broad spectrum of knowledge.

For discussion on Bangor/ British Unis offering Marine Bio, have a look at these links:

http://planktonforums.org/viewtopic.php?...

http://planktonforums.org/viewtopic.php?...

http://planktonforums.org/viewtopic.php?...

http://planktonforums.org/viewtopic.php?...

http://planktonforums.org/viewtopic.php?...

However before you get stuck into Marine Zoology, why not contact some of the places you would consider working at and enquire there as to what they would prefer?

University courses usually aim to prepare for research related work, which is not always equivalent to Zoo work, so they may have more specific wishes.

Seeing Uk aquarium laws are luckily a lot stricter and animal shows for the sake of entertainment a la SeaWorld are thankfully not as common (or in the case of cetaceans prohibited) most training only being related to maintenace, they will probably require a Marine Bio or Zoology related degree but I could see some places also being happy with a degree in Psychology and some animal related work experience.

I believe there is also a specific training for people working in zoos.

Have a look at this: 'What it takes to become an animal keeper':

http://www.chesterzoo.org/Home/Working%2...

Chester Zoo is one of the best zoos in Britain and dedicated to Conservation so I would trust them to only employ people they find highly qualified, so the path they draw up here is probably a good alternative to if you want to get involved in Zoo/ Aquarium work.

Have a look at these website as well for more information on this alternative path :

http://www.sparsholt.ac.uk/schwww/anman/...

http://www.bca.ac.uk/courses/animalcare/...

http://www.chester.ac.uk/undergraduate/f...

Hope that helped a little and feel free to ask any more specific questions you have.

Answer 2

Yes i have

Answer 3

I haven't studied at Bangor University, but their "Zoology with Marine Zoology BS" seems like a good start.

Along with education you should also start getting some experience with animals or at a aquarium.

see this Y!A for some more info you might find useful

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

For seaworld , prior experience with animal and speaking ???!??!!?!?