From Fall 2001 the senior thesis may be pursued in one of two courses, WLDF 495 (Field Problems) or WLDF 490 Honors (Field Problems for Honors Students). The format of the two classes are different but the ultimate goal is the same - to produce a "quality" senior thesis that reflects the culmination of your learning at HSU. Given this ultimate goal, it would be wise to complete this project in one of the last two semesters so you can take advantage of the many experiences gained from your upper level courses.

WLDF 495 will meet on a regular basis for classroom instruction, reviewing the process of conducting a field project and writing up a final report. We will assume that the WLDF 490 Honors student has greater command of the "field problems" process and will work in a more independent manor with the guidance of a professor. The Honors option (WLDF 490 Honors) will normally be reserved for students with a grade point average of >3.0. While you may sign up for WLDF 495 during regular "online" registration, you will need to arrange the Honors option in advance with a particular professor (and obtain a magic number from them). Both are 3 unit courses. See additional subsection below for further details on the Honors option.

The aim of both of these classes is to "encourage students to use their own resources (as acquired in general education and the wildlife curriculum) in formulating a research question, conducting independent research, analyzing the data, and writing a final paper." This requires the development of a formal proposal. Students are provided with suggestions (rather than answers) of how to pose questions and solve problems. The essence of the exercise is to enable students to use their own academic and professional skills to integrate their total educational experience into solving the problem they state and produce a final written report.

We use the traditional format of a scientific paper. The thesis must be written in manuscript format for a peer-reviewed journal in the natural sciences. For ease and consistency, we recommend The Journal of Wildlife Management (see Ratti, J. T., and L. M. Smith. 1998. Manuscript guidelines for the Journal of Wildlife Management. Journal of Wildlife Management 62:1-36).

We expect that most senior theses will be 5-10 pages in length (exclusive of tables, figures, and literature cited); in rare cases a longer thesis may be appropriate. Your thesis should include an appropriate statistical analysis and presentation of the data. We will be looking for a well written and concise manuscript; grammar, spelling, organization, and style counts. In short, you should display a level of writing proficiency befitting a university graduate in the natural resource sciences.

Proposal and time requirements

Aim high! Your senior thesis should be the best product you are capable of producing. We may use it to evaluate you long after you leave HSU (i.e. recommendations and references). We wouldn’t recommend anyone for graduate school if they did a haphazard job on their senior thesis. On the other hand, we might strongly recommend someone for graduate school despite a marginal GPA if they demonstrated the necessary skills to conduct field research projects and prepare useful manuscripts. Several senior theses have been published in quality scientific journals. Through your senior thesis you should attempt to make a useful contribution to the field.

Conservation Ethic

To meet the requirements of graduation with a Wildlife major, you must also write a short essay that explains your own conservation ethic and how it relates to your total academic experience at HSU. The ethics essay is meant to be a personal statement of your beliefs, and we will not criticize its content. There is no specific length requirement, but most people should be able to express this in 1-2 pages. You should submit this along with the final draft of your senior thesis.

Students pursuing the Honors option must have an instructor’s approval before enrolling in this class. You can register with any permanent faculty member in the Wildlife Department, but you should approach the professor whose expertise most closely matches the subject area of your proposal. Individual instructors may vary slightly in their requirements (e.g., written proposal vs. verbal agreement), so be sure to check with your instructor well before the enrollment deadline. Here is a list of our main interests:

• Dr Black — waterfowl ecology/management, social evolution
• Dr Colwell — shorebird ecology/behavior
• Dr George - bird (especially passerine), small mammal behavior/ecology/populations
• Dr Golightly — carnivore and seabird ecology/populations, mammalian energetics
• Dr Johnson — wildlife-habitat relationships (song birds, amphibians, etc)
• Dr Szykman Gunther — behavior, ecology, and mammal ecology/populations

Students pursuing the honors option must write a proposal and have it approved before collecting data. Your proposal should include an introductory section (background, hypothesis/predictions, objectives), a methods section (including both field and statistical methods), and appropriate references. We do not require in depth proposals, but we do expect you to adequately outline your objectives and methods, and have an adequate grasp of the relevant literature (2-3 total pages of text should suffice). The proposal will be graded (A through F).

While students that plan ahead and devote more than a semester to their project generally produce the most successful projects, we do not stipulate any particular amount of time to collecting data. The amount of field effort will be dictated by the question you are asking. If you are in doubt about whether you have collected enough data, ask your supervisor. In general, "enough data" will mean enough data to statistically evaluate your hypothesis.

Turn around time for critiquing the proposal and the thesis

Talk to your instructor and agree a timetable for submitting the final version and perhaps a preliminary draft. If you hope to finish your thesis in the same semester in which you registered, you will often need to get your first draft submitted no later than four weeks before the end of classes (i.e., enough time for 1 revision).

Sign up and grading

Final grades are based on the entire process including initial discussions with the professor, meeting agreed deadlines, and producing a final paper. The course is for 3 units and is graded A through F. Grades will reflect the student's status as a wildlife professional. You only need enroll once.