Human Dimensions in Undergraduate Fish and Wildlife Programs

Traditionally, fish and wildlife management and conservation relied heavily on the natural sciences to guide policy and action. In recent years, it has become widely recognized that utilizing a more interdisciplinary approach,... [ view full abstract ]

Traditionally, fish and wildlife management and conservation relied heavily on the natural sciences to guide policy and action. In recent years, it has become widely recognized that utilizing a more interdisciplinary approach, by incorporating applied social sciences, is needed to produce effective policies and programs. Training undergraduate students in both natural and social sciences, by including human dimensions coursework in curricula, can better prepare the next generation of wildlife managers and conservation biologists to be part of interdisciplinary teams and understand when and how human dimensions can be integrated into their work. The extent to which undergraduate curricula includes such coursework has not been documented since 2001 when Robertson and Butler found that 25 natural resource programs offered a human dimensions class. Our research assessed the current state of human dimensions education in fish and wildlife undergraduate degree programs. Our sampling frame was the National Association of University Fish and Wildlife Programs (NAUFWP) membership list which includes 41 universities and 43 departments that offer undergraduate fish and wildlife majors or concentrations (hereafter “major”). For each department, we examined the undergraduate degree offerings for the presence of human dimensions majors or another type of track (e.g., concentration, certificate, minor) within their fish and wildlife programs. We analyzed all fish and wildlife major curriculum for the presence of human dimensions course requirements. We also analyzed the topics of required or elective courses looking for those that fall under the umbrella of human dimensions and categorizing them. About one-quarter of majors required at least one course with the phrase “human dimensions” in the title. Yet, about 90% of majors required at least one human dimensions topical course. The most common area for human dimensions topical courses was policy/law. One university offered a major in human dimensions and four offered a human dimensions track. These findings indicate that, while fish and wildlife programs require some coursework in human dimensions topical areas, a much smaller proportion of the programs offer students a complete view of the human dimensions of fish and wildlife conservation or opportunities to become proficient in these areas through coursework.