About the Department
The mission of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences is the discovery
and communication of knowledge relevant to wildlife and fisheries resources issues.
This mission is accomplished through an integrated teaching, research and extension
program, comprised of:
- academic instruction and training for undergraduate and graduate students;
- scholarly research that advances scientific knowledge and emphasizes conservation
and management of wildlife and fisheries resources; and,
- extension educational activities that are research-based and are designed to meet
the needs of Texans and guided by the principle of "helping people to help
themselves."
Programs are focused on native vertebrates and their exotic counterparts, both in
natural and man-made habitats. Long term goals include developing an understanding
of the bio-physical and socioeconomic issues related to fish and wildlife resources,
identifying associated opportunities and problems; then generating and applying
adaptive management strategies to exploit opportunities and mitigate problems. At
each step, observations from nature and experimental results are used to evaluate
hypotheses generated from existing theory and to develop new ones to guide future
decisions.
The Texas AgriLife Extension educates Texans in the areas of agriculture, environmental
stewardship, youth and adult life skills, human capital and leadership,and community
economic development. Extension offers the knowledge resources of the land-grant
university system to educate Texans for self-improvement, individual action, and
community problem solving. The Texas AgriLife Extension is a statewide educational
agency and a member of the Texas A&M University System (TAMUS) linked in a unique
partnership with the nationwide AgriLife Extension System and Texas county governments.
Extension values and promotes principles of citizen and community involvement, scientifically-based
education, lifelong learning and volunteerism. It provides access to citizens
in all 254 Texas counties and works agrilife with other TAMUS parts and external
agencies and organizations to achieve its goals.