WILDLIFE ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT PHD PROGRAM

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

The Wildlife Ecology and Management profession at PhD level acquires:

A fundamental and scientific knowledge and practical skills in wildlife resource area including:

• wildlife resources assessment, inventory and cataloguing
• wildlife status determination,
• identification and understanding wildlife ecological requirements,
• identifying actual and potential threats, their impacts and research based solutions
• trend analysis, modeling and predicting future prospects appropriate precautions for the wildlife in question
• wildlife rehabilitation, recovery, development, conservation and management
• appropriate conservation strategies specific to the wildlife in question
• appropriate strategies for sustainable utilization specific to the wildlife resources in question

A commitment of teaching, undertaking research, providing leadership and consultancy services in wildlife and related areas

A developed attitude of love and respect for all wildlife resources and always working for maintaining their ecological integrity

GRADUATION PROFILE

A PhD graduate in biology (Wildlife Ecology and Management):

Instructs the Wildlife systematic, ecology, conservation and management courses at higher learning institutions.  Identifies, designs and implements research projects independently or in leadership of a research team to seek practical solutions to societal problems; Conduct advanced, original studies of fundamental ecological and sociological aspects (e.g., ecosystem, community, landscape ecology, human dimensions), to further the understanding of the society for the wildlife ecology and to improve conservation of wildlife resources.

Provides advice and consultancy service to government, non-government and the private sectors on issues related to wildlife;

Transforms theoretical knowledge of Wildlife ecology and management into practice in local and global contexts;

Works towards identifying, developing, designing Regional and National wildlife conservation areas for restoration, recreation, sustainable utilization of wildlife resources of the country under this fast changing world

Develops and manages programs and protocols related to his/her particular field of specialization to a wide range of clients;

Positively influences society, and serves as an agent of change in matters related to wildlife resources, their ecosystem, conservation, development and their sustainable use etc.

Consult, advice, and counsel the Government, NGO’s or the private sector on issues that require expert on wildlife ecology, management and conservation, development and related areas;

Administer programs and protocols on wildlife development, management and conservation;

Teach and train in higher learning institutions

THE DURATION AND PROGRAM PROFILE

The duration of the study in Wildlife Ecology and Management, PhD program is four years. In exceptional cases, extension of year/s will be determined by the DGC and college AC following the University legislation. The training covers theoretical knowledge and skills in research, wide application of conventional and modern, field and laboratory techniques in

the cataloguing wildlife resources, understanding their ecology, determining their status and conservation strategies, their management and procedures for sustainable utilization for lasting human-wildlife co-existence and healthy ecosystem functioning.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

A candidate should satisfy the following:

M. Sc degree in Ecological and Systematic zoology, Animal science, Wildlife Management Eco-tourism and Wildlife management, conservation            biology, biodiversity management, Natural Resources Management, Environmental Sciences, Dry land Biodiversity and related disciplines from recognized higher learning institutions.

Candidates are expected to have a minimum of 3.00 cGPA while completing their MSc training.

If the Department feels that a candidate is deficient in major area in the M.Sc program, bridging (remedial) courses will be arranged. In such cases, only courses nominated from MSc program are graded.

When necessary, the Department of Biology may give a written entrance exam to which the candidates must score a “pass” (i.e. >50 %, or as will be determined by the department). The entrance exam (if any) encompasses language test, basic computer skills, research ethics and others. The purpose of the Candidacy Examination is to ascertain whether the candidate capable of the independent and thoughtful research for the doctoral degree

The prospective candidate is required to submit a summary (Concept note) regarding his/her doctoral research idea or take an entrance exam that the department set to ascertain whether the candidate capable of the independent and thoughtful research for the doctoral degree

In case the decision is to submit the concept note (the preferred option) it should includes the problem topic (title), background and justification, research questions, the hypothesis, objectives, the study area, protocols (methods), time limit, budget, expected outcomes, etc to the prospective advisor. After the course work, the candidate will develop the concept note to full dissertation proposal for implementation. Meet the general JU admission requirements. Having publication(s) in a reputable journal(s) is a plus advantage. Successful candidates during the first one to two years will pass to Doctoral Dissertation work.

GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

• A candidate should have between 14 and 16 credit hours course work and 12 credit hour Dissertation works.
• A total of 6-8 credit hours per semester shall be regarded as full load
• One credit hour of a graduate program shall be one lecture hour or three laboratory hours per week per semester. Book reviews, laboratory reports, term papers, mini-projects etc. shall normally be required for each graduate course.
• If there is a chance to link a candidate’s project to foreign universities, a candidate in the sandwich scheme is required to spend at least 1 ½ years at the Department. Six credit hours of the 12 required graduate courses may be completed by residence courses taken at an accredited University or institute other than JU. However, the equivalence of the courses taken abroad will be evaluated against the course list of the launched program.
• The Doctoral Dissertation (as a partial fulfillment of the doctoral degree) shall constitute individual effort in academic pursuits to identify and analyze problems by applying sound methodology.
• A candidate should:
• Publish at least one article in reputable peer reviewed journals.
• Submit at least one article. For the submitted article, the candidate should produce evidence from editorial board
• Present a compiled monograph for final open public defense of his/her Doctoral Dissertation. However, special cases can be entertained to permit a candidate to

defend the Doctoral Dissertation by getting approval/advice from the candidate’s advisory board in consultation with respective supervisor(s) regardless of the criteria listed a and b above

• All graduate students must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average (cGPA) of 3.0
  • ‘B’ grade is the minimum grade for any PhD courses taken
  • A candidate must get a “pass” mark in his/her thesis work.
  • Candidates should also fulfill other requirements as per the legislation of Jimma University..

The student’s doctoral dissertation will be evaluated and graded by two examiners (External and Internal). The average of the two examiners will constitute the final grade. A Student must first submit the thesis, in an acceptable form, to the Advisor, who will return it, with any comments, within six weeks. The revised Doctoral thesis may then be passed to the Advisory Committee which will then determine whether the Thesis is ready for submission. The Student’s Advisor(s) in consultation with the Advisory Committee recommend potential external (international) and internal examiners. The public oral defense of the thesis is arranged by the Department and conducted according to rules and regulations of JU.

DEGREE NOMENCLATURE

The PhD Degree in Biology (Wildlife Ecology and Management) to be awarded upon successful completion of 12 credits of course work and credited Doctoral Dissertation shall be designated as:

In English: Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Biology (Wildlife Ecology and Management)

In Amharic:

LIST OF COURSES

Compulsory and elective courses provisionally selected for the PhD program and their load

No.	Course	Course Code	Course Title	Cr.hr	Remark
Category
A	Compulsory	PhD Seminar	Biol. 861	1
Wildlife ecology and management	Biol. 863	2
Phylogeny and classification	Biol. 868	2
Distribution modeling	Biol. 860	3
The diversity and conservation of	Biol. 865	3
Wildlife
Wildlife field techniques	Biol. 880	2
Wildlife disease	Biol. 862	2
Subtotal		14
Doctoral Dissertation		12
B	Elective	Zoogeography	Biol. 864	2	One elective
Conservation genetics	Biol. 866	2	course
PhD independent research	Biol. 875	2
Ecosystem Management	Biol. 831	2
Behavioral ecology	Biol. 897	2

                                                      COURSE SCHEDULE

YEAR I			SEMESTER I	SEMESTER II
		Code	Cr. hr	Code	Cr. hr
		Biol. 861	1	Bio. 860	3
		Biol. 863	2	Biol. 880	2
		Biol. 865	3	Biol. 868	2
		Total	6	Total	7
YEAR II			Biol. 862	2	Total 4 Cr. Hrs.
		ELECTIVE I	2
YEAR II-IV			**Biol 869	12	**PhD dissertation

Total credit hour required are 17 (course works) + 12 (PhD dissertation) = 29 cr. hrs