Professional Certification

Certification is widely practiced by the professions as one means of setting standards and guidelines for professional recognition. It serves to upgrade the professional image and is a mark of accomplishment. Certification also is a mechanism to demonstrate responsible peer evaluation. The specific objectives of certification are as follows:

(1) to provide governmental and nongovernmental agencies and organizations, private firms, courts, and the general public with a definitive minimum standard of experience and education for fisheries and wildlife professionals; and

(2) to foster broader recognition of fisheries and wildlife professionals as well-educated and experienced, acting in the best interest of the public. National Professional Organizations conduct professional certification: The Wildlife Society (TWS) for wildlife professionals and The American Fisheries Society (AFS) for fisheries professionals.

A fisheries and wildlife professional is an individual with specialized education in the sciences and technologies involving the structure, dynamics, and interactions of habitat, wildlife (including fish), and humans. He or she may be a generalist in resource management or a specialist in one or more allied disciplines such as aquatic biology, aquaculture, conservation biology, oceanography, biometrics, economics, forestry and zoology among others. Although areas of specialization may be varied, the individual's professional responsibilities must involve fish and wildlife. Fisheries and wildlife professionals are dedicated to high-quality service and the achievement of specific goals and objectives. They promote conservation, optimization of benefits for society while maintaining the integrity, diversity, and sustainability of ecosysytems through research, education, management, and administration. Fisheries and wildlife professionals strive for high standards of competence and integrity to establish mutual confidence and respect and to bring credit to their profession, employers, and community.

Both TWS and AFS certify qualifying recent graduates as "Associates." After four or five years of relevant professional experience one can apply for "Certified" Wildlife or Fisheries Professional.

The Wildlife Society's Certification Requirements and the WFB Curriculum

The American Fisheries Society's Certifcation Requirements and the WFB Curriculum.