UWA Handbook 2025

Major Overview

Description

If you are interested in gaining skills in research and management that protects and restores the world's biodiversity and ecosystems, then Conversation Biology is the major for you. In this major, you will gain theoretical and practical knowledge and skills to understand and minimise the human impacts on natural ecosystems and biodiversity. WA is an ideal living laboratory for your studies with diverse ecosystems stretching from the arid to tropical zones, and including WA's South West region which is considered one of the world's 36 'biodiversity hotspots'. In this major, you will undertake several field trips including one to the highly diverse South Coast Region near Albany and interact with world experts in conservation sciences.

Outcomes

Students are able to:

1. understand global biodiversity and its distribution, the evolutionary history of biodiversity in Australia, and particular species and communities that are highly threatened
2. appreciate the crucial relationship between species biology and ecology and vulnerability to environmental change
3. discuss major threats to biodiversity, their causes, and management and research mitigating them
4. explain the role of different stakeholders in shaping policy and decision-making
5. demonstrate the necessary analytical and communication skills to participate in modern conservation research
6. demonstrate competency in fieldwork study, report writing, oral presentation and team work skills suited to gain employment in Conservation Biology.

Broadening guidelines

All students studying towards a Bachelor's Degree at UWA are required to Broaden their studies by completing a minimum

of four units (24 points) of study outside their degree specific major. Broadening is your opportunity to explore other areas

of interest, investigate new disciplines and knowledge paradigms and to shape your degree to suit your own aspirations and

interests. You will find here some broadening suggestions related

to your degree-specific major. While we know that many students value guidance of this sort, these are only suggestions

and students should not lose sight of the opportunity to explore and make their own Broadening Choices. Advice can also be sought from your Allocated Student Advising Office.

Suggested broadening units for Conservation Biology: INDG Boodjar Moort; Katitjin: Introduction to Indigenous Heritage and Knowledge (Sem 1);

ANIM2001 Darwinian Revolution (Sem 1); GENE2250 Principles of Inheritance (Sem 1); ANIM2297 Human-wildlife conflict in the Tropics (Non standard semester) PLNT2204 Plant diversity & Evolution (Sem 2); ENVT3363 Ecological Processes (Sem 2); PLNT3306 Australian Vegetation (Non standard semester).

If you are interested to further develop your skills in Science Communication we also recommend the Science Communication Minor as a set of four related broadening units: SCOM1101 Communicating Science (already part of your major); SCOM2208 Science Writing (Sem 1); SCOM2205 Science Presentations (Sem 2); SCOM3319 Exhibitions and Interpretation (Sem 1).

Prerequisites

Mathematics Methods ATAR or Mathematics Applications ATAR with a mathematics unit taken in the first year. Students without ATAR mathematics will take two first year mathematics units.

Courses

Conservation Biology can be taken as a degree-specific major in the following degree courses:

• BP004 Bachelor of Science
• BH005 Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours)

Units