Wildlife biology and conservation is going to be the buzzword hereafter as it plays a vital role in mitigating climate change-related issues in the future. Though more than half a dozen institutions in the country are offering courses in this field, one such postgraduation course offered by the Bangalore-based Wildlife Conservation Society is one of the best among them.
Ravi Chellam, Country Director, WCS India Programme, says admissions are open once in two years for fully-funded fellowships. The next course commences in July this year for which the entrance test was held in December last year. The interview would be held in May.
“High levels of flexibility and adaptability allows us to admit students from any academic background and also to source top class faculty to teach the course from all over the world. Strong emphasis on science ensures that students are trained very well and become capable scientists once they complete the course,” he says.
Equal importance is given to the practical aspects of doing conservation. Advocacy and media relations, photography and film making and other essential aspects, important to achieve conservation, are also being taught. Students would get an opportunity to interact with Forest and Police officials and politicians to get a good sense of how the government implements conservation programmes.
Students who completed the course from the Society have published more than 20 peer reviewed papers in international journals, received awards and fellowships, says Dr. Ravi Chellam.
Talking about the scope of the course he says that in some sense it is limitless as long as the individual is capable and willing to take the initiative and work hard.
“There is a severe shortage of human resources in this field and all our alumni are gainfully employed, either doing research or conservation,” he says.
The course is being conducted at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore. The degree is being awarded by the TIFR Deemed University.
At present, the Society has no affiliation with any foreign university, however faculty members from many universities abroad have taught and interacted with the students, he says.
For more details, contact: www.wcs.org
