Letter to Prospective Students
Thank you for your expression of interest in the graduate program of the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. We have a very diverse and exciting graduate studies program. Degrees are offered at the Master of Science level, with thesis or non-thesis options, and at the Ph.D. level.
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 the 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 a combined score of 1200 (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 admissions requirements may be granted only upon formal petition to the graduate program committee by the prospective graduate advisor. Link to department admission requirement's http://www.wec.ufl.edu/academics/grad/admission.htm.
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. Attached is a list of WEC faculty members and their research expertise. For more information about prospective graduate advisors visit 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 basically 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.
Assistantship stipends are usually awarded on a 1/3-time basis and currently pay $11,024 annually for a M.S. student and $11,748 annually for a Ph.D. student. Teaching assistantships are generally awarded on a 9-month basis. The 1/3-time appointment requires the recipient to perform 13.3 hours of teaching/research work per week, under the supervision of his/her graduate advisor. Half-time assistantships may be available on research grants.
If you are not able to apply online and need a hardcopy of the application you should email your request to graduateprogram@wec.ufl.edu. Please send your mailing address and state in the subject line: hard copy of application needed. If you do not request a hard copy one will not be sent to you just by receiving this email reply.
Or write our Student Services Office, attn: Ms. Claire Williams, Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, P.O. Box 110430, Rm. 102 Newins-Ziegler Hall, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 (Phone: 352-846-0633); Again, thank you for your interest in the Department of Wildlife Ecology & Conservation. To check the status of you application go to http://www.isis.ufl.edu/.
Sincerely,
Wiley M. Kitchens,
Professor and Graduate Coordinator
