Zoology With Herpetology

Highlights

Our BSc (Hons) Zoology with Herpetology is Britain’s only specialist degree in Herpetology. It covers topics and projects focused on reptiles and amphibians, animal behaviour, conservation, ecology and evolution. Herpetarium featuring venomous snakes and handling facilities.

Fieldtrips to Welsh Mountain Zoo, and other places in the UK with the option to travel to the Arizona desert and New Mexico. Friendly, supportive staff with a team of herpetologists, many conducting cutting-edge research. Their expertise covers venom, biomechanics, reptile disease, genetics, genomics, ecology, and conservation.

Active student community offering socials, excursions and talks, with well-established Herpetological Society and ZooSoc. Annual Venom Day, supported by the British Herpetological Society. Bangor University has its own natural history museum with diverse vertebrate and invertebrate specimens.

Course overview

Reptiles and amphibians such as snakes, turtles and lizards have long been popular subjects for research due to their sensitivity to environmental changes. Now, alarming species decline and a growing focus on conservation is fuelling the demand for professional scientists with both specialist and broad zoological knowledge. The only specialist course of its kind in the UK, this degree in Zoology with Herpetology provides opportunities to study lizards, frogs, geckos, reptiles and amphibians in captivity and in their natural habitat.

You’ll also be exposed to current methods of working with reptiles and amphibians in the UK, and study things such as acoustic communication in frogs, detection of chytrid fungus in amphibians and eDNA detection of newts in ponds. We are a leading centre for teaching and research in herpetology, particularly venom and toxins, physiological ecology, conservation genetics, and reptilian diseases: our staff have been researching snakes around the world for decades. More recently, their efforts have focused on India, where half of 100,000 global deaths from snakebite occur.

They also contributed to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) expert panel on snakebite envenoming. Our location, in close proximity to an exceptional range of terrestrial, marine, and freshwater habitats, is ideal for study sites for final-year research projects and field work. As well as large modern teaching and research laboratories, computer rooms, and study spaces, we have dedicated onsite facilities for reptiles, rodents and insects.

Treborth Botanic Garden has a pigeon loft for bird cognition, physiology, and biomechanics research, and you can find Alpaca, sheep and bee hives on the farm at Henfaes Research Centre. We have strong links with a range of employers connected to animals and the environment, which provides opportunities for work placements and volunteering; some also contribute to teaching. It is home to the Environment Centre for Wales, a partnership with the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH), whose Welsh branch is based there.

We also host the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Wales. Elsewhere in Bangor, you’ll find regional offices for Natural Resources Wales (NRW), Dŵr Cymru/Welsh Water, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and North Wales Wildlife Trust (NWWT). Strong links with these employers provide opportunities for work placements and volunteering, and some contribute to teaching.

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Placement year

What is the Placement Year? This exciting opportunity allows you to spend a year working with a self-sourced, professional organisation relevant to your studies. You'll typically start between June and September of your second year and finish by the following June or September.

Placements can be UK-based or even overseas. Why choose a Placement Year? Gain practical experience that complements your academic learning Make valuable industry contacts that could open doors for future careers Strengthen your employability by gaining…