Wildlife and Fisheries Major/jobs?

Question

Hey everyone, I'm really interested in a wildlife and fisheries major but I'm afraid of the poor variety of jobs available to me when I come out of the program. I love being outside, I love wildlife, and I love science. However, most jobs look like they have pretty much c**p pay and you have to move quite far away for them, which would be fine, but I really like the area I'm from and want to raise a family here and get, well, old.

Here's my ultimate dream. To be able to move far away, maybe even overseas for a while, and work and have a well-paying job there. Like working in another country studying birds.Then to be able to come back home and do the same line of work. I'm from SD which is pretty much the boonies, so what do you think?

If that doesn't work out, I'd love to work in a zoo.... Would I need a biology or zoology major for that, though?

Please give me your most honest opinions on this major so I can get some feedback on what to decide! Thanks!

Answer 1

If you want to travel and study birds, get into a biology program, do well, and do extracurricular research with a professor of interest.  After completing your Bachelors go on for a Masters or PhD in wildlife ecology.  As a graduate student there are many opportunities to travel the world and study birds (or other wildlife).  In my graduate program, there is a student that travels to panama a couple times a year and records bird sounds (bioacoustics).  Then she records birds in forests in the Midwest and studies migration patterns.  It a lot of hard work, but a lot of fun too!

Grad school can be costly, but if you do very well in school you can find professors with grants that may help to support your school and research. The options after grad school are basically to become a professor or a governmental scientist (working for the Fish and Wildlife service, National park service, state natural resource department, etc.).  

A degree in biology/zoology will help you get a job in a zoo.  It will also help improve your ability in the general job market, if all else fails.