Ecology, BS

The mission of the Bachelor of Science: Ecology program is to provide students an innovative and applied undergraduate education in ecology, the study of relationships between organisms and their environments. We educate our students in the scientific and quantitative skills needed to work at scales from genes to the biosphere and from minutes to millennia. Our program strongly supports student engagement in ecological research and community outreach through internships, cooperative education, and thesis opportunities.

The BS: Ecology degree is appropriate for students interested in careers as diverse as fish and wildlife biology, statistical ecology, agroecology, botany, forestry, conservation biology, disease ecology, and landscape ecology. Ecologists are most frequently hired by universities, research institutions, private consulting firms and industry, state and federal government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and zoos and aquariums. In addition, the curriculum is tailored to provide all the coursework necessary for students to apply for professional certification from several ecological organizations (Ecological Society of America, The Wildlife Society, and The American Fisheries Society) and to attend top M.S. or Ph.D. graduate programs in ecology-related fields.

Founded in 1893, Montana Western is an institution committed to teaching, learning, and student success.

To further that commitment, our faculty and staff designed Experience One, an educational program unique in public higher education. Students here take one course at a time, allowing them not only to focus on a single area of exploration but to engage in real-world, hands-on learning.

Our award-winning faculty members focus on one group of students at a time, frequently including learning experiences in the community, places of business, national parks, fields, and streams. Our dedicated staff members ensure that Montana Western students receive guidance and support from day one.

The results, more than a decade after Experience One was created, are extraordinary. Students at Montana Western finish what they start. We lead the state in enrollment growth, percentage of courses completed, number of degrees, even the average credit load that students take. All of this adds up to fewer wasted hours, fewer wasted dollars, and greater learning. Our graduates are highly competitive, whether entering the job market or pursuing graduate studies.

All of this takes place in an extraordinary environment, the charming and lively town of Dillon, which is surrounded by the beautiful mountain ranges and valleys of southwest Montana and on the western edge of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem.