Mātai Hauropi, ngā Momo Koiora hoki—Ecology and Biodiversity

Study Ecology and Biodiversity at Victoria University of Wellington and gain hands-on experience in forests, islands, and real-world conservation projects.

Mātai Koiora—Biology

In this degree, you’ll learn by doing. Explore the diversity of life on Earth—from plants and animals to microbes—and understand how species evolve, interact, and form the ecosystems that sustain our planet. Fieldwork, practical labs, and real-world projects are woven through your learning.

Wellington is your natural laboratory. Within minutes of campus you can study and work in remarkable reserves such as Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne, Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush, and Mātiu/Somes Island. These sites offer hands-on experience with native biodiversity, ecological restoration, and conservation science in action.

You’ll tackle the big environmental challenges of our time including biodiversity loss, climate change, biosecurity, and ecosystem recovery, while gaining practical skills in ecological research, data analysis, and field methods that employers value.

Where can this degree take you? Graduates move into careers in conservation, biosecurity, environmental policy, ecological research, restoration, sustainability consulting, wildlife management, education, and environmental monitoring.

Major requirements

1. BIOL 111 (Cell and Molecular Biology), BIOL 113 (Biology of Plants), BIOL 114 (Biology of Animals), STAT 193 (Statistics in Practice).
2. Four courses at 200 level. You are required to take BIOL 222 (Ecology and Environment), and BIOL 241 (Genetics) or STAT 292 (Applied Statistics). In addition, you will pick two further courses from BIOL 227, BIOL 228, BIOL 236, or BIOL 241.
3. Three courses at 300 level. You are required to take BIOL 327 (Population and Community Ecology). You can pick two courses from BIOL 325, BIOL 328, and BIOL 329.

In summary, for your major you’ll need to have at least 210 points from 200- and 300-level courses. You’ll need to have at least 120 points from courses listed for the BSc, with at least 75 points from courses numbered 300–399.

An example programme of study for an undergraduate Biology major is shown below. Note that this is an example—there is flexibility.

Example programme of study

Required courses for the Biology major are highlighted in bold.

	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3
T1	BIOL 113 Biology of Plants BIOL 114 Biology of Animals ESCI 111 The Earth System: Understanding our Dynamic Earth and Environment GEOG 114 Environment and Resources: The Foundations	BIOL 222 Ecology and Environment STAT 292 Applied Statistics 2A BIOL 228 Animal Diversity	BIOL 327 Population and Community Ecology BIOL 325 Global Change Biology GEOG 224 Geomorphology
T2	BIOL 111 Cell & Molecular Biology STAT 193 Statistics in Practice MAOR 123 Te Iwi Māori me āna Tikanga/Māori Society and Culture BIOL 132 Biodiversity and Conservation	BIOL 241 Genetics BIOL 227 Plants and Algae: Function and Diversity BIOL 236 Microbes and their Environments	BIOL 328 Behaviour and Conservation Ecology BIOL 329 Evolution GEOG 214 Environment and Resources: New Zealand Perspectives