By Whitney Baxter
To clarify what students will study, the formerly named animal ecology major is now the wildlife and fisheries conservation and ecology major at Iowa State University.
Aside from the new name, no other changes were made – the degree requirements, classes and emphasis areas remain the same.
Students currently enrolled as an animal ecology major can either remain in this major or switch to the new name, depending on what they want listed as their degree of study on their diploma. Fall 2025 incoming students will be classified under the major’s new name.
Stephen Dinsmore, chair of the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, where the major is housed, said there were two reasons for the name change:
- the new name aligns more closely with what the major is called at other institutions – many of which include “wildlife” or “fisheries” in the major’s name
- it prevents confusion with the animal science major.
“Each semester, we’d have several students transfer to the animal ecology major from the animal science major after realizing animal science wasn’t quite what they were looking for,” Dinsmore said.
The name change has been in the works for several years. Dinsmore said they surveyed alums, current students and partners of the NREM department in spring 2024, asking about alternative names for the major.
“There was strong agreement for the new name,” Dinsmore said.
It was important to include “wildlife” as the first part of the major’s name, as wildlife is the biggest component of the NREM department, Dinsmore said.
The animal ecology major at Iowa State was established in 1973. It sought to meet the needs of students who would have enrolled in the former fisheries and wildlife biology major but were seeking a more basic ecological program. The major was part of the Department of Animal Ecology until 2002, when the department merged with the Department of Forestry to become what’s known today as the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management.