Integrating conservation practice into ecology education for students seeking non-academic careers

Universities are criticized for not preparing students with professional skills.  The UC Davis Conservation Management program has taken this to heart and surveyed employers in conservation to identify key skills sought by employers. These skills are dominated by (a) things we think students should have already learned (writing skills), (b) things we think we teach well (e.g., critical thinking skills), and (c) things we think we have no business to teach (interpersonal skills). Our program supposes that we, may be wrong on all three accounts and need to rethink conservation education. This talk will focus on how we do that.