Research conducted through the Department, and hence our graduate studies program, is as diverse as our faculty expertise. Ongoing program areas include conservation biology, landscape and restoration ecology, wildlife ecology, human dimensions of natural resource management, and tropical conservation. The many specialties within these program areas are described in the research section of the WEC website at www.wec.ufl.edu.

Affiliated faculty can be found in the Center for Latin American Studies, the Florida Museum of Natural History and the U.S. Geological Services Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, to name a few. Field research, within Florida as well as in Latin America and Africa, is a special strength of our faculty.

Minimum admission criteria for our graduate program include a GPA of 3.2 on a 4.0 scale for all upper-division undergraduate work; and minimum scores of 600 each on the Verbal and Quantitative portions of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). International students also must have scores of 550 on the paper-based (or 213 on the computer-based) TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language); unless English is the native tongue or a degree has been obtained from an institution in an English-speaking country. Applicants for the Ph.D. must have completed a master's degree. Any exceptions for admission to the graduate program from these admission requirements may be granted only upon written petition to the graduate program committee by the prospective graduate advisor.

The final criterion for admission, at either the Master's or Ph.D. level, is that a departmental faculty member via a letter of support must agree to serve as the student's graduate advisor. Such agreement is contingent on the availability of space, support funds, and faculty time. Prospective students are responsible for contacting professors and securing agreement for sponsorship. For more information about prospective graduate advisors visit the research section of the WEC website at www.wec.ufl.edu and the home pages of WEC faculty.

Financial support for graduate student research within the Department comes mainly from two sources: state-funded assistantships and external research grants or contracts. Please note that application for assistantship support is considered separately from that of admission. The state assistantships, which are relatively few, are usually awarded in early March for the following fall semester. The assistantships from external funding usually become available when a grant or contract is awarded to an individual faculty member or group, and thus have no schedule of availability.

If you wish to have a department application packet mailed to you, submit your name and address to: graduateprogram@wec.ufl.edu. If you will be applying online you should notify the department to ensure that you have sent in all of the required documents. Incomplete files will not be reviewed. It is the applicant's responsibility to check with the department to ensure that all documents have arrived and the file is complete.

Refer to the WEC website for admission forms as well as other general information. If you have questions, contact the Student Services Office, Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, P.O. Box 110430, Rm. 110 Newins-Ziegler Hall, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 (Phone 352-846-0635; email: graduateprogram@wec.ufl.edu). Thank you for your interest in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation.

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