Conservation Biology Major

Conservation Biology Major

Protect our planet. Shape our future.

The Conservation Biology major is designed for passionate students who want to understand the natural world—and actively protect it. If you are independent, driven, and want the flexibility to build a personalized degree around your specific interests, you will find your community here.

Why Choose Conservation Biology?

• Tailor Your Degree: This is one of our most flexible majors. Whether your passion lies in hands-on field ecology, environmental policy, or social science, you can customize your curriculum to match your exact goals.

• A Living Legacy: Founded in the 1940s by legendary conservation pioneer Aldo Leopold and botanist Norman Fassett, our program has been shaping the field of conservation for nearly a century.

• Built-In Community: Join a passionate, like-minded network of peers through our active Wisconsin Society for Conservation Biology-student chapter.

Where Will Your Degree Take You?

The world needs conservation experts more than ever. Our graduates don’t just study the natural world—they actively manage and protect it.

Diverse Career Pathways

Our alumni pursue rewarding careers across the public, private, and non-profit sectors, including:

• Wildlife & Land Management: Park rangers, game wardens, and forest managers.

• Research & Recovery: Endangered species recovery, wildlife biology, and ecological research.

• Education & Advocacy: Environmental educators and leaders at private conservation organizations.

Prepped for Graduate Success

This major provides a foundation for advanced degrees. Many of our students go on to specialized graduate programs in high-demand fields like Environmental Conservation, Freshwater & Marine Sciences, or Professional GIS (Geographic Information Systems).

Empowering Citizens of the Natural World: Whether you see yourself as a hands-on field scientist or a policy changemaker, this major equips you with the rigorous scientific training and broad perspective needed to make a real difference.

See a sample 4-year course plan for the Conservation Biology major

Land Acknowledgment

The University of Wisconsin–Madison occupies ancestral Ho-Chunk land, a place their nation has called Teejop (day-JOPE) since time immemorial. In an 1832 treaty, the Ho-Chunk were forced to cede this territory. Decades of ethnic cleansing followed when both the federal and state government repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, sought to forcibly remove the Ho-Chunk from Wisconsin. This history of colonization informs our shared future of collaboration and innovation.

Learn more through resources such as UW-Madison’s Our Shared Future  which represents UW–Madison’s commitment to respect the inherent sovereignty of the Ho-Chunk Nation and the other First Nations of Wisconsin. It is a first step that calls on each of us—faculty, staff, and students—to deeply consider our shared past and present with Indigenous peoples in this place, Teejop, and to make our own personal and institutional commitments to achieve a shared future.

Explore, Learn, and Reflect

Mapping Teejop is a digital mapping project that guides users on Indigenous walking tours of the UW-Madison campus, created through partnership between our American Indian & Indigenous Studies Program and the Department of Geography’s Cartography Lab. Mapping Teejop provides content and context for visitors to learn about Ho-Chunk and Native history and presence at the University of Wisconsin, a region long known as Teejop, and also opportunities for critical and self-reflection.