Kama's question

[Elyse Orecchio]

Hi Trish, I'm posting this for a member, Kama since she couldn't make the discussion:

I'm a college student and was curious what courses (and major) I would have to pursue in order to become an animal behaviorist. Anything you can offer would be great! (So far my advisors have told me to pursue vet. studies. Is there more to it?)

[Trish McMillan]

Hi Elyse,

While vet school is an honorable pursuit, and can lead to the career of veterinary behaviorist, there are many other branches of the animal behavior world.

I generally recommend people start by learning to train dogs well on their own, through apprenticeships, volunteering at shelters, training their own dogs, joining APDT, taking CCPDT certification. Having all the academic credentials in the world doesn't help if you don't know how to hold a leash!

Then take some learning, ethology and animal behavior courses at your local university. These may be offered through the psychology or biology departments (and some universities are now offering “biopsychology” as a subject.) Volunteering with university researchers is another great way to learn how science works and see if academia is truly the route you wish to pursue.

There are not that many graduate degrees offered in animal behavior in North America, and, confusingly, they may be offered under different names: biology, ethology, zoology, psychology, behavior analysis, cognition. It’s worth taking classes in each area to see which one interests you most. The ABS website has a listing of national and international programs:
http://www.animalbehavior.org/ABS/Guides/

I understand there's a new Master's program starting in Urbana, Illinois, under the guidance of our own Dr. Pamela Reid.

Good luck with your studies! It's a fascinating field. I wish I'd known it existed earlier on in my career (My degree is a Master of Science in Animal Behavior from the University of Exeter, but I didn't finish the degree until I was in my 30s!)