Wildlife education in the United States: thoughts from agency biologists

Enhancing the preparation of students for careers in wildlife conservation has been an objective of The Wildlife Society for many years. Among recent: graduates, we have detected a general decline in knowledge of natural history and evolutionary biology. We suggest that additional formal training in those disciplines will result in personnel that are better prepared to contribute in meaningful ways to wildlife conservation in the future. Agency personnel and university faculty share responsibility for ensuring that adequately trained individuals are available to meet the needs of conservation agencies.