Research Activities
FER Home : Fisheries & Wildlife Sciences : Research Activities
The Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences Program provides opportunities for students to build their skills of inquiry and discovery while collaborating with professionals from several departments and organizations.
Much of our nationally-recognized research is conducted through the NC Agricultural Research Service, and we work closely with such organizations as NC’s Wildlife Resources Commission's Division of Inland Fisheries and the Division of Wildlife Management and the NC Division of Marine Fisheries.
Working with these partners, our wildlife and fisheries faculty are constantly seeking to uncovering new knowledge in population ecology and analysis, endangered species, the preservation and management of wildlife communities, habitat interrelationships, biotelemetry, the application of new sciences such as geographic imaging and much more.
We also develop and employ original approaches in quantitative analysis, experimental design, field studies, modeling and genetic techniques.
Over the past five years, the Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences Program has conducted research into such areas as wildlife population ecology; winter bird community structures; endangered species conservation and policy; game bird ecology and management; impacts of forest management on wildlife; wildlife biology; wildlife-habitat interrelationships; spatial and temporal habitat modeling; population analysis and estimation; fur-bearer ecology; biotelemetry; conservation of nongame wildlife; wildlife management using native plants; urban wildlife management; and the use of remote sensing and geographic information sciences technologies to address the impact of land use changes on water habitats and fisheries ecology.
One of our most important research initiatives is the North Carolina Cooperative Fisheries and Wildlife Unit, a partnership between NC State, the NC Wildlife Resources Commission and the U.S. Department of the Interior. This partnership provides resources and information to facilitate graduate education and research.
Graduate Student Research
Graduate students have played an important role in Fisheries & Wildlife research, studying a variety of topics as part of their hands-on education. See the current list of fisheries and wildlife graduate student research projects. For a look at completed graduate student research in this area, please visit the Dissertation Library of the NC State Graduate School.
NEW for 2008
Research assistantships are currently available in Endangered Species Conservation and Deer Population Dynamics.
Research Facilities
Much of FER’s fisheries and wildlife research is conducted on-campus in laboratories maintained by the College of Natural Resources, the Department of Zoology or the School of Veterinarian Science. Many studies also take place in NC State's Forests & Facilities, particularly:
The Bull Neck Swamp Research Forest: this waterfront property on NC’s Albemarle Sound is a unique wetlands research site that covers 5,500 acres, including more that seven miles of rare, undisturbed shoreline. Here FER students and faculty study critical environmental issues, including coastal water quality, wildlife management, forest regeneration and environmentally sound timber management.
Schenck Memorial Forest: this 245 acre tract is located in western Wake County about 10 minutes from the NC State campus. Students of forestry, botany, zoology and recreation all use the forest for educational purposes.
The Hill Demonstration Forest: a 2,400-acre tract in Bahama, N.C. about one hour from the NC State campus. This forest is home to a number of research initiatives as well as a full-time summer school residential program held each year that allows fisheries and wildlife students to participate in a variety of hands-on field courses, including wildlife management.
These resources are augmented by other outstanding field facilities such as the Pamlico Aquaculture Field Laboratory; research and extension centers in eastern and western N.C.; NC State’s Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology; The Center for Marine Sciences and Technology in Morehead City; and facilities operated by various state and federal agencies or private organizations.
