The Department of Zoology offers programs of study jointly with the Department of Botany leading to a bachelor's degree in Biology. There is no undergraduate degree in Zoology.
The Department of Zoology offers advanced degree programs leading to the master's and doctoral degree in Zoology.
Facilities are available for advanced study and research in the following areas: aquaculture, biological oceanography, comparative physiology, developmental and cell biology, ecology, entomology, ethology, fish biology and fisheries, genetics, ichthyology and limnology, marine biology, parasitology, vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, and zoogeography. Attention is directed to the following applied fields.
Ecology
The Ecology Group in the Department of Zoology offers research opportunities at the local, national, and international level in aquatic, evolutionary, mathematical, population, and resource ecology.
Entomology
Courses of study are offered through the Department of Zoology and the Faculties of Forestry and Land and Food Systems. Zoology offers introductory and advanced courses in entomology and maintains a museum collection and specialized library. Forestry has courses in insect ecology and in the special problems of forest entomology and forest protection. In the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, the Department of Plant Science offers courses in economic entomology, biometeorology, insect physiology, pesticides, biological control, and plant-disease vectors.
At the graduate level, there is research guidance in problems relating to the classification, structure, function and bionomics of insects, as well as in special areas, such as biological control, biochemical genetics, and plant-insect relationships.
Fish Biology and Fisheries
The Fish Biology and Fisheries Group maintains a strong tradition in fish-oriented research at the University of British Columbia. Studies range from physiology, ethology, biomechanics, systematics and evolution, through marine and freshwater ecology, to fisheries oceanography and management (population modelling, and fisheries economics).
In addition to facilities on campus, federal and provincial agencies encourage research in cooperation with government scientists, many of whom serve on students' research advisory committees. Wildlife management courses of study permitting a student to enter this field of applied zoology can be obtained either through the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), the Bachelor of Science in Agroecology (B.Sc. [Agro.]), or the Bachelor of Science in Forestry (B.S.F.). In each instance the master's degree is essential and students should not attempt to enter the field unless they can meet the academic requirements for it.